Long Term Lowering Of Ph

[RipSlider]

My tap water has a pH of about 7.6, and when this has been in the tank a few days, it raises to about 7.8, which is a bit high for a community tank.

I have tried pH Nuetral and pH down, but this only works for a day or so. Therefore, I'm looking for a longer term solution for how to buffer my pH around the nuetral mark or there abouts.

I have got some peat granuales for my ehiem, but ehiem reccommend you only use these for a few weeks. I know bog wood lowers it slightly, but again, not very much without having a tank so stuffed with bogwood that it has no room for fish!

How do other people keep their pH balanced?

Many thanks

Steve

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. The peat and the bogwood are going to be the 2 main options people will recommend. A pH of 7.6-7.8 really isn't uncommon and fish are able to live happily in a pH of that range. My own tank is around that level also, maybe even a little higher and the fish do fine. The problem with chemicals like pH up and down is that they are only a temporary solution as the KH of the water is going to work against you to raise the pH back up to where it was originally. The problem with this is that the swings in pH are more harmful to your fish (because of stress) than having a pH of 7.8 in the first place.
This topic is discussed often, so if you peruse the other forums or do a search you will find many other opinions on the subject.
Bloozoo posted this site in another post, and as i was just going to read it, i will share it with you:
http/www.drhelm.com/aquarium/chemistry.html

 

[Bloo]

Great to have someone else to help spread the word on that fabulous link