How to lower ph?

[Pintoo]

hi everybody
I want to know that how can i lower the ph of my tank. It is above 8. i want to keep it around 7. Is there any natural way to reduce the ph without adding RO water?

[marsaiko]

why 7?

[Zakk]

what kind of fish are you currently keeping?

[apuda2010]

You cannot lower the pH of water. Water has buffering capabilities which allow it to restore pH even after you lower it. Unless there is a sustained chemical intervention , you will not be able to beat the buffering. Here is what I mean by sustained chemical intervention :

1. Remove alkalis or alkali derivatives at the source. For example , you can pass the water through an RO system to remove carbonates and soluble sulphates.
2. Drive CO2 in forced dissolved state using a pH controller. This is something done by many hobbyists in planted tanks where the CO2 source is connected to a pH controller. The controller allows and stops the flow of CO2 basis the pH of the water.
3. Add commercially available hardness removing compounds. These will precipitate dissolved calcium and magnesium but will not necessarily lower the pH below 7 (if you are targetting below 7 that is).
4. Distil the water. Easier said than done at home.

The easiest option is to keep fish which are not too bothered by high pH. Plants do not seem to mind a high pH but beneficial bacteria resident in sponge and canister filters will get affected by very high or very low pH.

[vikram]

Is your pH 8 of the tank water and have you tested the pH of fresh water before adding to tank?

[bobvin]

some ph lowering products are available in market. btw why do u want to lower ph.

[Aquachem]

after all the studying and asking around that i have done, i believe -

1 - it just plain unnecessary effort trying to reduce Ph using commercially available product cuz as zak says, the buffering capacity of your water will turn your Ph back up. and you will just have to keep adding that reagent or whatever to balance your Ph orelse your fish will stress out badly.
2 - the best for small tanks is to go for RO, mostly makes your water Kh - 4 and Ph 7, It's perfect for most fish and plants unless any specifications. why for small tanks, because during water changes it's easier. just imagine changing water for a 200Lt tank with RO. , well i havnt seen any RO which pours water like the tap. if there is 1, go for that.
3 - pressurized CO2 for big tanks is brilliant. i just added a cylinder 3 days back, my Ph has come down to 7.5 from 8 which is good for me now as my Kh is high, so now i have about 13 ppm of CO2. Im adding fish now, slowly, the are all fine.


apart from all this, i guess the main concern should only be of adding CO2 or not, and not lowering Ph. I have had Ph 8 for the last 4 years, and all was OK ( not brilliant but ok-good). now i have to see how much does Ph change effect my plant and fish health. Im starting a thread on Ph and Kh. let's see what all discussions happen there.

[Achintya]

some ways to reduce ph level(apart from using RO):

1.adding pressurized CO2
2.adding indian almond leaf
3.adding peat filtration
4.else you commercial products

[Romi]

You cannot lower the pH of water. Water has buffering capabilities which allow it to restore pH even after you lower it. Unless there is a sustained chemical intervention , you will not be able to beat the buffering. Here is what I mean by sustained chemical intervention :

1. Remove alkalis or alkali derivatives at the source. For example , you can pass the water through an RO system to remove carbonates and soluble sulphates.
2. Drive CO2 in forced dissolved state using a pH controller. This is something done by many hobbyists in planted tanks where the CO2 source is connected to a pH controller. The controller allows and stops the flow of CO2 basis the pH of the water.
3. Add commercially available hardness removing compounds. These will precipitate dissolved calcium and magnesium but will not necessarily lower the pH below 7 (if you are targetting below 7 that is).
4. Distil the water. Easier said than done at home.

The easiest option is to keep fish which are not too bothered by high pH. Plants do not seem to mind a high pH but beneficial bacteria resident in sponge and canister filters will get affected by very high or very low pH.

well said apuda! you make such comprehensive posts.. my two cents is, not just almond leaves, but driftwood also makes water acidic.

[marsaiko]

I wonder where Mr.Pintoo is , lets understand his situation