What Can I Do to Change the pH Slowly and Safely? my ph is 8.2 all othr readings are 0. i want lower it but dont want use chemicals thank you

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

That depends on how low you want it. Generally, a good idea is to add something like peat moss, driftwood or even dry leaves (though those will stain your water with harmless tannins). If you don't want to change the look of your tank by adding decorations, just putting the peat moss in your filter will usually do the trick.

__________________
Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.
- Douglas Adams

where do you get peat moss from i live in fla

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

You can usually get it in any gardening store. A quick google search turned up this tutorial:
http://www.marksfish.me.uk/index.php...Filtering.html

A good idea if you want to be more exact with your pH adjustment. Good luck!

__________________
Don't believe anything you read on the net. Except this. Well, including this, I suppose.
- Douglas Adams

lowes, homedept, walmart, they all have it , i konw there aer all 3 in fl

__________________
What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

Be sure to get the "all natural" peat though. You don't want to get any that has been treated with anything.

Good morning joe...

The best thing you can do is let your fish and plants adapt to the pH. As long as you don't try to get creative and change it, the pH from your tap will be constant, that's extremely important.

Tropical fish can tolerate a pH as high as 8.5 with no problem. Plants prefer more acidic water, but will adapt too.

The problems start when we try to change things, because we can't maintain the change. So my advice is, let the fish and plants adapt, they've been doing it for a long time.

Just one old "water keeper's" opinion.

B

__________________
Low Tech Water Building Keeper

You could also do some water changes with RO or distilled water, RO can be had from an aquarium shop, and distilled from the grocery store. They have a pH of almost exactly 7.0 and will help lower your pH, albeit only until the natural buffers in the tank kick in and try and bring it up again.

__________________
Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

i use ro water an its 6.2 an 8.2 in the tank thats what i dont get

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

I agree with B. Fish can adapt to different water conditions (within reason, of course) And making changes, even more natural ones like peat, can be difficult to keep consistent.

Also, what kinds of fish do you have? You can take advantage of the pH you have by keeping fish which naturally live in higher pH environments. African Rift Lake cichlids come to mind, among others.

__________________
40g bow front, planted, 1 cannibalistic lyretail molly and 1 fry with kickbutt survival instincts

2 male halfmoon bettas, 1 female halfmoon betta

i have been useing r o thats what comes out of the tap water

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

Is that the pH straight out of the tap? If so, take some tap water and let it sit for a few hours, THEN test it to get your true pH. More than likely, the 6.2 is caused by dissolved carbonate molecules in the water that will gas out as the water settles, like it would in your tank. Also, your tank might have some things in it like rocks and sand that buffer the pH and cause it to gradually rise.

__________________
Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

If you're filtering your house water with an RO unit, then yes the tap will be RO water. But straight out of the pipes without filtering, tap water has not been put through a reverse osmosis (RO) unit yet.

__________________
Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

i have an ro filter on the tap i use for my friends tank due to having well water

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

i will have to ask her what fish she has its a friends tank i just clean it lol i have my own tanks

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

going to do a water change an theres some rocks in therei want to take out due to not really knowing what they are . got the tank used an they came with it look like river rock but who knows

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!

Doing 100% RO water changes is not a good idea. RO units will usually strip your carbonate hardness that you need to keep your ph stable. The best thing to do is a 50/50, RO/tap mixture for all water changes. This could also be the reason your ph differs so much because it is fluctuating badly in your tank and there is nothing to hold it steady. If you have to, drag in the hose from outside.....just leave it running for a little while before letting the water in your tank. You really do need to set some water aside and test after 24hrs to see if the ph differs from what you are getting from your tap.

Adding partial RO/distilled water is a very safe method of altering a ph or water hardness. The ph will change and the water will not try to go back to where it was. As long as you have not stripped the carbonate hardness (kh) down to a dangerous level, you should be fine.

50/50, RO/tap mixture will try that the next time i a water change . thank you

__________________
if you loan some one money an never see them Again it was money well spent !!!!!