Lowering Ph For Angels And Rams

[LoriF]

Hey everyone, I have set up a 75 gallon tank to keep Angelfish and possibly one pair of rams and of course a school of cardinals. My problem is the ph and hardness of the water from my tap. Untreated my tap water is very hard and high ph and I want to know if I can safely lower both with peat and keep it stable. The water that the angels are raised in is about 7.2-7.4 ph and and a hardness level between 80 and 110. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[Monty-2010]

What is your PH?
If you carefully acclimatise the fish they should be ok in even hard water. As you probably know is a stable ph is more important than a low ph.

There are a few safe ways such as bogwood or peat filtration, but i'd stay away from bottled chemicals

 

[StandbySetting]

Which species of Ram specifically?

 

[LoriF]

What is your PH?
If you carefully acclimatise the fish they should be ok in even hard water. As you probably know is a stable ph is more important than a low ph.

There are a few safe ways such as bogwood or peat filtration, but i'd stay away from bottled chemicals

 

[LoriF]

My ph is about 7.8 to 8.0 and kh very hard. I know that stable ph is better so I want to know if using peat in the water will stay constant or will it fluctuate with that. The people that raise these angels don't mess with the water too much and say that they are used to hard water but their water is still a little lower in ph and kh than mine and I thought that if I could bring it down a little it would make for happier fish. Haven't even given chemicals a thought because I don't want to go that route.

Which species of Ram specifically?

I was thinking a pair of blue rams but if there is something that is a little more tolerant of harder water I am open to suggestions. Thanks

 

[StandbySetting]

Well if you can reduce the PH then things should be fine, the Angels and Blue Rams will be happy at 28oC, so pick tank mates that are comfortable at this sort of temperature.

 

[LoriF]

Sorry I meant to say GH not KH

 

[LoriF]

Well if you can reduce the PH then things should be fine, the Angels and Blue Rams will be happy at 28oC, so pick tank mates that are comfortable at this sort of temperature.

Thanks, My idea was to have four angels, a pair of blue rams, 10 cardinals and six oto cats. I was told that general hardness matters more to blue rams than the ph. I've been able to get the ph down and the kh but not the gh. Will that matter too much or should I try something else. Other than R/O water because I don't have access to that.

 

[StandbySetting]

If you can get tank bred Rams the GH wont matter so much, also I would avoid Otto's for the first year, they're sensitive fish, and can only be sustained with soft algaes.

 

[LoriF]

If you can get tank bred Rams the GH wont matter so much, also I would avoid Otto's for the first year, they're sensitive fish, and can only be sustained with soft algaes.

Thanks for the advice on the oto's. I am still doing the research on them. I think that they are pretty cool though so I will leave room for them at a later date. They are sensitive in what way?

Back to my original question though. If I lower the ph with peat will it stay stable in the tank?

 

[StandbySetting]

They're sensitive to swings in water parameters, which are common in new set ups, also they generally starve in home aquaria due to a lack of food.

The PH will remain stable with peat yes, but it will shift slightly when you do water changes.