High pH level!!

[p.albert]

hi guys just wanna find out what can i use, to lower the ph level in a tank for keeping shrimps. its around 7.8 - 8 according to the ph card, that sea chem, stuck on the glass kind. thats a little high is it?
my tank setup's bog wood, charcoal tube, the gravel's a shiny black kind. got flame moss, java moss, spiky and christmas. i have got ceramic rings, charcoal and anti-ammonia rock by Niche in the filter. temp's around 27 to 29 in the day. added slightly less then a cap of flourish excel and a cap of black water extract. and yea anti chlorine.

[dwarflala]

adding peat moss to your filter helps. You got to keep changing them though after a few months...

[bossteck]

Yes, it is not normal, considering you're adding black water extract.
Could you try measuring your tap water (without the additives)?

Suspect the pH tester is faulty.

[p.albert]

hmm i have switched the substrate to the Gex shrimp & plant soil. its now 7 after a night. my brother felt that it was the gravel used, some sparkling black gravel, so we changed it.
just for knowledge, lava rocks do lower the PH right? do they cause big drops in the ph value?
dwarflala - thanks man for the tips
bossteck - i haven done so, will try it out after this. just curious, i thought the tap water Ph should be quite uniform through out the island? since they go thru the treatment plants and all.

[bossteck]

Actually, based on your description, I would have thought you're using black quartz sand, it should be inert and does not affect pH.

I've re-read your post and suspected that it is the ammonia-absorbing stone, I believe those are call zeolite to be the culcript. I may be wrong.

The pH of our tap varies from location to location.

[sheng]

For your reference :
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=55360

[p.albert]

this is the black sand. my bro actually used it quite some time back. washed it with hot water before storing it. washed it and used it again recently.
hmm i added the ammonia stones after taking the ph 8 reading. i stay at nee soon/mandai area, seletar reservoir, for the location with regards to water ph.
after changing the soil everything's ok.
current ph is 6.6 and yeah, its zeolites, but its supposed to maintain the ph between 6.5 to 7.5
i spoke to the khatib shop aunty earlier on. she says that shirmps shouldn't be kept with the black shiny soil. they wont survive long lol.
anyone care to share their experiments/experiences with lava rocks?