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need help lowering general hardness & ph

Discussion in 'Aquarium Equipment & Decor' started by shouter, Jul 14, 2009.

  1. shouter

    shouter Thread Starter New Member

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    Well, My Laborett test kit from Tetra came today, I tested the General Hardness....its a whopping 28 on the scale! How do I lower that? Also, the Ph is at 8, it seems too high also for my liking...I currently have 2 Zebra Danios in my tank (end phases of Nitro Cycle).
     
    shouter, Jul 14, 2009
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  2. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    Here's for the pH
    pH - What is it? Do I need to adjust it?

    as for lowering the GH, distilled water or ro/di water.

    Ps. also read an article about how running the water through Peat Moss & Sodium Bisulfate may possibly work for lowering GH

    and last but not least as a last ditch effort you could try the water softener pillow
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jul 14, 2009
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  3. KingKedros452

    KingKedros452 New Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    I wouldn't even bother, so long as its stable. Fish you buy in your area will likely be accustomed to simlar water anyway, and danios aren't picky. Having a constantly changing pH or hardness will kill your fish long before a stable high. I've got a pH of 8.4 and extremely hard water and I've kept all sorts of fish including South American cichlids and tetras who live in the wild in low pH. They aren't from the wild though, they're from a pet store. Whenever I buy fish I always test the water in the bag from the store.
     
    KingKedros452, Jul 14, 2009
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  4. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    Mine is very low 6.0>>and if PROPERLY acclimated you should do okay with many species that you wouldn't have thought possible to keep.

    Just be prepared for some losses along the way and totally agree with KingKedros452 about testing the water from the store to see what your dealing with acclimation wise...or just ask the store right out "what pH do you keep your tanks at?"
     
    MOD_Dawn, Jul 14, 2009
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  5. James0816

    James0816 New Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    Definately keep it stable. Don't try to muck with it by using chemicals like PH Up or PH Down.

    Look at using natural buffering agents like Peat.
     
    James0816, Jul 14, 2009
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  6. KingKedros452

    KingKedros452 New Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    As a bonus, with a stable high hardness and pH you can decorate with limestone without problem.
     
    KingKedros452, Jul 15, 2009
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  7. LemonDiscus

    LemonDiscus Active Member

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    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    I agree... stable is better than low in 99% of the cases....

    IF you alter PH use Peat Moss in your filter and that will soften the water some AND lower the PH.... it is touchy though and you CAN use too much and drop your PH down to nothing or even drop it too fast killing everything anyhow. Also this method will turn your water brown. It has been the best way and I do this myself in my tanks BUT I keep fish that NEED softer water and lower PH.... yours dont.

    UNLESS you REALLY need it down for a reason (some fish WONT breed in hard water or the eggs wont develop) DONT do it... its useless and will be more of a headache later.
     
    LemonDiscus, Jul 15, 2009
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  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Guest

    Top Poster Of Month

    Re: Hardness and Ph Help!

    To lower your Ph you could try two things... 1) oak leafs will lower the Ph, but they MUST be oak, or 2) drift wood... the oak leaf will be over a short amount of time, drift wood will be over about a month, but still both work:D
     
    Anonymous, Jul 19, 2009
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