How Can I Lower Ph?

[srem]

I'm trying to get my Harlequin Rasbora to breed and it looks like I may need to lower my pH, any ideas on the best way of doing this....cheap and easy preferable!
thanks

 

[monkey_biz]

ok bit more info required, tap water ph, tank ph, what is in tank ie substrate, ornaments, filter medium ect need ALL info and any chemicals you currently use in the tank
and what ph do you think you need

 

[srem]

its a small 70l tank, with a large piece of bogwood that is still releasing tannins, i have a couple of plants (sorry not sure on these but they have low light requirements it seems), fair amount of java moss in there. gravel substrate. the only chemical i use is aquasafe that i add to tap water when doing a water change, nothing else. sorry i dont have a test kit yet but assumed i would need to lower the ph slightly as it says they breed it quite acidic conditions.

thanks.

 

[monkey_biz]

the bogwood will lower the ph adequately if its still turning the water brown.
get yourselt a test kit you may be surprised how acidic the water is.
breeding can be a hit and miss, i may love my wife and if the conditions are perfect ie ice hockey, mexican beer and tortillas doesnt mean to say i want to breed with her
god i hope she doesnt read this or i aint gonna be breeding for a long time

they will breed when they are ready

 

[srem]

haha, well best of luck with that.
cheers

 

[waterdrop]

Yes I agree with monkey that you could probably stand to have a good liquid-based test kit like the API freshwater master test kit that many here use. pH test is a simple 3 drops and the other tests are there waiting when you need them.

Here's an old web page that's been bouncing around - seems a good summary re pH type things:

http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

~~waterdrop~~

 

[backtotropical]

Agreed. Don't try to lower the pH without knowing what the current pH is. It might already be perfect.

The fish may not be breeding for many reasons, and a good first step to finding out for sure is to get a test kit.

Cheers

BTT