Need opinions on possible method for ph reduction.

752 Views 6 Replies 5 Participants Last post by lauraleellbp, May 2, 2014

Grah the great

Discussion Starter · May 1, 2014

The idea is to have a container with a safetsorb substrate and peat moss. Water would be placed in the tank, left to settle for some time, and then used for tanks which need soft water and low ph. Every two weeks the peat moss would be replaced, and every month the safetsorb would be replaced. Do you think that this would work to make water suitable for black water fish?

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lauraleellbp

· #2 · May 1, 2014

I'd use RO water with the peat moss. You might also consider buffering with Seachem Stability to ensure consistency.

Starting with a known (the RO water) is a much better way to ensure consistent water parameters from water change to water change. Otherwise you possibly could end up with dramatic differences between water that's been sitting in this setup for one week versus two, three, etc.

Unless you're setting this up to breed something, it's probably unnecessary.

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Grah the great

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 1, 2014

The idea is to get water suitable for black water species, such as many wild bettas, apistogramma cichlids, and the licorice gourami species. I would buy a pretty good test kit before trying this, and would try to get good at this method before using it for fish.

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buckwheet

· #4 · May 1, 2014

lauraleellbp said:
I'd use RO water with the peat moss. You might also consider buffering with Seachem Stability to ensure consistency.

Starting with a known (the RO water) is a much better way to ensure consistent water parameters from water change to water change. Otherwise you possibly could end up with dramatic differences between water that's been sitting in this setup for one week versus two, three, etc.

Unless you're setting this up to breed something, it's probably unnecessary.

good advice:thumbsup:

should also read this about PH crash, and how to avoid it:fish:

http://www.ventralfins.com/misc_articles_lowering_ph.html

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Hoppy

· #5 · May 1, 2014

That is an interesting write up on using Seachem Acid Buffer and Alkaline Buffer to arrive at a buffered pH you want. However, as soon as you add CO2 to the water, there is no more buffering than you had when you started. The carbonates are still there in the water, so the CO2 still forms carbonic acid, which reaches an equilibrium value with the carbonate and dissolved CO2. The pH will then be something other than what you buffered it to be. CO2 dissolved in water, carbonic acid, and carbonates form a interrelated group that always affect the pH, buffer or no buffer.

I'm not 100% sure of this, but almost.

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Diana

· #6 · May 2, 2014

I have thought that idea would work:
Run a canister filter with Safe-T-Sorb in several trays and peat moss in at least one tray. This will not likely lower the GH, though, just the KH. That will allow the pH to drop.
But look up the GH of the livestock, and make sure the end result is good for them that way, too.

Starting with RO, and adding just a little bit of the right minerals will give you the GH, KH and TDS for the livestock, and the pH ought to be in the ballpark when these other things are right.

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lauraleellbp

· #7 · May 2, 2014

Hoppy said:
That is an interesting write up on using Seachem Acid Buffer and Alkaline Buffer to arrive at a buffered pH you want. However, as soon as you add CO2 to the water, there is no more buffering than you had when you started. The carbonates are still there in the water, so the CO2 still forms carbonic acid, which reaches an equilibrium value with the carbonate and dissolved CO2. The pH will then be something other than what you buffered it to be. CO2 dissolved in water, carbonic acid, and carbonates form a interrelated group that always affect the pH, buffer or no buffer.

I'm not 100% sure of this, but almost.

I don't know that those dissolved gas-related pH fluctuations would affect fish breeding??? Interesting question though... especially with egglayers, since my understanding is that pH can impact nutrient exchange across egg membranes and embryonic development. I wonder if anyone has actually studied it under scientific controls?

Though... if you're creating a blackwater breeding tank, in practice, I doubt anyone would be running CO2 on that tank anyways. So probably a moot point LOL

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