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Lowering tap water Ph

1K views 12 replies 7 participants last post by  Jessy.luzi@gmail.com 
#1 ·
Hello I’m new here and is why I’m not sure if I posted right yesterday so I’ll post again. I’m using RO water for my 72 gallon tank but need to switch to tap water as I am no longer able to lift those 5 gallon jugs for my weekly water charges due to back injury that I actually got during lifting my 5 gallon jugs . My issue is my tap waters PH is 8.4 and I need it at 6.8/7 , wondering what is the best product to use to prep my water . I know it needs to be carbonated base because of the plants that’s all
 
#2 ·
Ouch! Sorry to hear that. Apologies if stating the obvious, but is it not possible to switch to smaller jugs? Reason I mention is that I have recently switched my 20 litre barrels to smaller 10 litre ones and they are soooo much easier to deal with, even if you need twice as many. Obviously half the weight, but also so much easier to handle because they are physically smaller. Sure you already considered that though.... Other thought is to use a submersible pump in the jug to pump it into tank / drain, rather than lifting.

Regarding your tap water, you'd need to let us know at least the hardness (GH / KH) of your tap water and also your tank parameters for anyone to advise regarding the pH. If its higher pH because of higher hardness then not sure much you can do. Have you tried letting the tap water age for a day or two in a barrel and see if/how the pH changes?
 
#4 ·
Sorry to hear about your back issues, I was diagnosed with degenerative disk disease last year myself. I use a storage tank for my RO water, and just have a pump with a hose on it to fill tanks. Maybe something like that would work if your tap is less than optimal (which it sure sounds like).
 
#5 ·
Do you have an RO unit, or are you purchasing the RO (hence the 5 gallon jugs)?

If you have your own unit, can you collect the RO in a container and use a pump to transfer?
 
#6 ·
Bunsen Honeydew I have to go to store every week to fill my 4 , 5gallons jugs unfortunately. I feel like I will have to invest in an RO filter because I’m unable to keep doing this but wanted to see if there was a way of treating my tap water . I use to have a 60gallon yrs ago and always used my tap water with treatment and everything seemed ok but now everyone seems to tell me it’s not good especially for a planted tank .
 
#8 ·
Are you injecting CO2? If not, you can definitely keep plants at high pH. When I lived in MN, my tap water was liquid rock with high GH, KH and a pH around yours.
 
#10 ·
Get one of these for $60 and save yourself all that back breaking lugging around of huge jugs of water!!!!
https://www.amazon.com/Aquatic-Life-Changing-Deionization-Cartridge/dp/B00204CQF6

Bought one of these myself recently and can confirm they work great (consistent 0 TDS output), even at this ridiculously low price. Replacement filters similarly cheap. If your tap water has chloramine added, also consider adding on this extra carbon filter to preserve the life of everything else in the setup:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EPV465U/

Big bucket, submersible pump and long hose. Make life easy for yourself! =]
 
#12 ·
Not sure if this advice will be helpful, but I thought I'd throw it out there. My tap water is almost liquid rock - pH 8+, GH and KH 300+. I have a heavily planted tank with a large piece of cholla wood. Once the plants all got established and growing quickly and the wood began breaking down (not sure which of the two was responsible), the pH has dropped to ~ 7 (consistent), and the KH is 40-80. GH is still 300+. So my point being, your plants (and driftwood) might adjust your water parameters, leaving you with minimal work.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
Fish Guy and by using these products it brings your tap water down to a Ph 7 ? That’s the best Ph for my angelfish and rainbows I’ve been told and read also

Thank you for all the advices . I’m still a little scared to convert back to tap even though it is so much easier and several yrs ago when I had another aquarium that is what I used and also had plants and an Angelfish and other fishes and they all seemed to do good besides my plants had always a little harder time , now my plants are doing really good so I don’t want to mess it up .
 
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