# Hello Some Serious Help?



## h1n1 (Apr 5, 2011)

hello i have a wild caught rhom and want to make him as comphy in his tank as possible. and i wanna set up a amazon biotype high acidity low ph and soft water with PLANTs but i wat to knw what plants would be best i have 2 peices of drift wood considering getting more but idk homw to increase acid and my ph is normally around 7 and ecpert advice is more than welcome thank u


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## MPG (Mar 14, 2010)

> Hello, I have a Rhom and want to make sure he is well cared for. I want to set up a biotope with plants. Which plants would be best? I have two pieces of driftwood, should I get more? Also, How do you increase PH?


I think two nice pieces of driftwood would be fine. I think you should go with some crypts and maybe a few swords. You can increase the PH of your water by adding crushed coral and lower it by adding peat, but you should know that a stable PH level is much more important then a certain pH level. Just make sure your PH is stable and you're fine.


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

stable ph is best as said above. but peat and driftwood lower the ph which is what your trying to do. coral raises the ph.


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## Good (Jan 13, 2011)

agreed


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## h1n1 (Apr 5, 2011)

thank you but i kinda already knew that but i dont know how to decrease my hardness and acidity bc my hardness is 150 and wot go below it but idk if its bc i have alot of minerals in my water or what but idk how to remove the minerals from my water other than reverse osmosis. any one have any ideas but i ave no clue how to naturaly add acid to the water.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

h1n1 said:


> hello i have a wild caught rhom and want to make him as comphy in his tank as possible. and i wanna set up a amazon biotype high acidity low ph and soft water with PLANTs but i wat to knw what plants would be best i have 2 peices of drift wood considering getting more but idk homw to increase acid and my ph is normally around 7 and ecpert advice is more than welcome thank u


http://www.piranha-fury.com/pfury/index.php?/topic/131579-thinking-of-setting-up-a-planted-tank/

Hi and welcome to P-fury.

Congrats on the acquisition of your P.

However.. We know very little about your aquarium knowledge, tank size, and what exactly you want to accomplish with your tank. More info would help us help you!

I suggest reading the above link for the plant part. And you can try http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=6
This link for picking the specific plants you want to try and grow.

Hope that helped


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## h1n1 (Apr 5, 2011)

thank u very helpful.

i have 1 8inch rhom in a 40 gal breeder soon to upgrade hopefully. with mainly japaneese moss balls in it my tank trying to getmore plants i have a floraglow baulb and i was also thinking about putting like duck weed in there it floats ontop and would prob dim the lights a lil for my rhom and he loves it when its dark. but i want to mimic the biotype of the amazon river in my tank so lower acidity, lower ph, lower hardness. i have 2 peices of drift wood which dont seam to do anything


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

really the main reason we say keep it stable is because adjusting ph hardness etc can cause ph swings which will kill fish VERY quickly. some experienced members have lost very rare fish in the past as a result of this. its not really worth it but the peat will work much better then the driftwood for you. you can get some peat pellets at places like home depot and add them to your filter which is probably the easiest thing to do and the cleanest way to lower your ph. you also can put some peat in panty hose and hang it in the tank or sump if you have one. as for the minerals and hardness etc. a combination of RO and dechlorinated tap water would help adjust those to where you want. but you have to know where your levels are for all the parameters before you start. i know there are a few people on the forum who are good with the water stuff some of them because of their saltwater experience.


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## h1n1 (Apr 5, 2011)

Tensa said:


> really the main reason we say keep it stable is because adjusting ph hardness etc can cause ph swings which will kill fish VERY quickly. some experienced members have lost very rare fish in the past as a result of this. its not really worth it but the peat will work much better then the driftwood for you. you can get some peat pellets at places like home depot and add them to your filter which is probably the easiest thing to do and the cleanest way to lower your ph. you also can put some peat in panty hose and hang it in the tank or sump if you have one. as for the minerals and hardness etc. a combination of RO and dechlorinated tap water would help adjust those to where you want. but you have to know where your levels are for all the parameters before you start. i know there are a few people on the forum who are good with the water stuff some of them because of their saltwater experience.


well idk what my acidity is but my minderal content of my tap water must be high bc its always hard ad i really wanna make my tank naturalso thank u very much for the ideas tho im gonna try the peat


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## Tensa (Jul 28, 2008)

no prob also pman has a nice thread about a peat reactor heres the link click me


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

I think you are about covered with these answers..

If you have a nice big stump to put in there, and you grow some giant duckweed or some floating plant, and then put maybe a few low light plants in there, then do the peat thing like was suggested, that would be a nice natural setup.


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