# bEST wAY TO GET ph down?



## Curley (Aug 4, 2004)

what is the best way to get PH down? I know peat moss, but does that give a murky dark water effect? thanks


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## dallas (Nov 14, 2003)

Piss in your tank. Just kidding. But i was recently just woundering the same question.


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## Curley (Aug 4, 2004)

lol....I tried pissing in it and all it did was make my P's throwup and raise the ammonia level. Late


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## Genin (Feb 4, 2003)

i'd say use some driftwood. otherwise there are products you can use, i prefer the natural look of driftwood and bogwood. however, both may release tannin in your water and give it a tea type color. your Ps will love it.


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## GoJamieGo (Mar 18, 2005)

Almond leaves will lower your ph to around 6.5 - 7.0. It will also have other positive effects to your water. Do a search on almond leaf.


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## Judazzz (Jan 13, 2003)

Peat, Black Water Extract, driftwood and certain types of leafs all bring down the pH. Most of these give the water a tea color.
Don't mess with it unless it's too high (higher than 8) - otherwise you'll have to constantly measure the pH and make adjustments: and that's much more sressful to your fish than a pH that is slightly higher than recommended.


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

If you have the tank size, i say overstocking. If not peat.


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Bogwood (Driftwood) and peat pellets do an excellent job of lowering and maintaining pH. As for a 'Murky' color, not at all... but it does make it a nice tea color which looks very natural. The 'tea' color is very clear... not cloudy or murky at all.

So many of the pH decreasers you get over the counter don't hold the pH on the acidic side due to the buffers present in the tapwater.
I have found one however, that is both cost effective AND buffers and holds the pH.

Seachem Acid Buffer--- it's chrystalline.
I tested it with buckets of treated and nontreated water over a 72 hour period of time.

My tap water measures pH of 7.2
By adding 1/4tsp of the chrystals to 5 gallons of water the resulting pH is 6.4 and it STAYS there.
When I do water changes 2 times a week, I drain out 50% of the water in the tank and add 2.5 tsp of the chrystals to the fresh water going into the tank.
This has taken time of course to figure out and the amount of chrystals you would use would differ due to your tap water's buffering capacity and pH.

I have got it down to where there is no pH fluctuation from water changes.


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## ICrazyChrisI (May 10, 2005)

Should I always assume that driftwood purchased from a LFC, with a slate connected at the bottom/sorta bleached look, is already treated, and will not cause the water to have this "tea" look?


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

Question: _"Should I always assume...?"_

Answer: _"Assume Nothing."_


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## Piranha_man (Jan 29, 2005)

The 'tea color' diminishes with time, so if you don't like it, just wait it out.
(Boiling it removes much of it too.)

When I first heard about this 'tea color' my reaction was 'that sounds like it would look like sh*t... I don't want that in my tank...'
After I actually experienced it's awesome look in my tank though, I love it.

If you do choose to keep the tea color, this can be done easily by simply adding peat pellets to your filtration and changing monthly.


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