What is your ph lowering technique?

[avex30]

i rather use artificial vinegar for cooking to make my water acidic instead of using the calibration liquid.

Organic vinegar can use???

[Navanod]

i rather use artificial vinegar for cooking to make my water acidic instead of using the calibration liquid.

I second that. Recently used it to clean some stains off my new tank and after wiping dry before filling with water, the tiny bits of residue still able to bring the pH from 7.8 down to 6.3.
But this method is not long term...have to keep dosing...alot of troubles and pH fluctuations for the shrimps to endure.

[avex30]

I second that. Recently used it to clean some stains off my new tank and after wiping dry before filling with water, the tiny bits of residue still able to bring the pH from 7.8 down to 6.3.
But this method is not long term...have to keep dosing...alot of troubles and pH fluctuations for the shrimps to endure.

Bro you lost me there you use ariticial vinger or calibration liquid to clean glass???

[kiantkh]

Why not you give it a try and give ask a head up... would love to have a alternative way.... Than i can drop out or sell away all this mosura ph down,Softwater,Super peats moss.... Maybe i can even do soiless tanks.

Would love to try but i will feel bad if anything happens to the shrimps. Maybe i will try it one fine day when i wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something. haha

[kiantkh]

Instead of getting creative, why not just use the LIFE brand distilled water that you can buy at your nearest NTUC? 2x 1.5L bottles are 95cents. I've bought 24 bottles on 3 separate occasions. The first recorded a 6.3 pH, second 6.0, and third (only a few days ago) 6.1 pH. As you can see, the pH is very very low.. lower than your pH buffer solution. Start doing weekly water changes (more if u want faster results) purely using distilled water and you'll start to see your pH stabilizing to a lower pH within a few weeks..

I didn't know that distilled water can bring down the ph that much. Had i known this beforehand, i wouldn't even think of using buffer solution since your method is much safer.

How did you achieve the massive drop in ph? I asked because i bought a bottle of Spritzer brand distilled water from giant at $4.99 for 5.5L(should have gotten the one you bought instead -.-") and the ph measured to be ~7.

[Navanod]

Bro you lost me there you use ariticial vinger or calibration liquid to clean glass???

distilled vinegar bro

[rcw]

bro use sera peat.my Ph is 5.6....shrimps breeding well

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[Navanod]

bro use sera peat.my Ph is 5.6....shrimps breeding well

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Yea, I'm considering Sera Super peat...seems like it functions kinda like mosura softwater. Different chemistry perhaps, but similar outcomes

[Noobz]

So Sera peat or mosura softwater better?

[cheetf]

So Sera peat or mosura softwater better?

Different way of application bro.

[avex30]

distilled vinegar bro

Hahaha okie you scare me there

So Sera peat or mosura softwater better?

Sera peats - lower down the Ph slowly (try not to dump the whole box in) it is natural doesn't affect GH only lower Ph can use to maintain tank Ph stablity. Can use direct to tank.

Mosura softwater - So far it the fastest way to lower (i've try both i know) If you do it correctly that is it went from 7.3 down to 6.5 within 4-5 hrs.... If i leave overnight hmmm the will hit 4 also gh will be affect it is best to use it aging water and not directly in tank.

[sqwerc]

I just started using peat to lower my pH in my planted angel fish tank. Previously using a pH down from seachem but I find that it is not effective. I add it to the the water I age but the pH always rises in my tank after a few days after the water change. Peat seems to be much better in stabilizing the pH levels in my opinion. Sometimes it is more important to have a stable pH rather that a specific one.

[Navanod]

So Sera peat or mosura softwater better?

Different way of application bro.

Erm...I cannot be 100% sure but from my limited understanding, Mosura softwater is ion exchange resins. It exchanges sodium ions for the magnesium and calcium ions in the water, thus reducing KH & pH and to some extent, GH. However, according to this link
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html

"Typical home water softeners soften water using a technique known as ``ion exchange''. That is, they remove calcium and magnesium ions by replacing them with sodium ions. Although this does technically make water softer, most fish won't notice the difference. That is, fish that prefer soft water don't like sodium either, and for them such water softeners don't help at all. Thus, home water softeners are not an appropriate way to soften water for aquarium use."

So although the GH may be lower when we test with our test kits, there's actually the same amount of ions in the water as before. This means that we should just use softwater as a form of pH control and note that it'll throw our GH test kits off. It's supposed to work really fast though, so pros and cons.

Peat works by releasing acids and probably taking some calcium ions out of the water, so the pH, KH and GH all falls. Kinda different from ion exchange.
Similar to Borneowild humic and Benibachi Fulvic grains I guess.

[gryphon]

Hahaha okie you scare me there



Sera peats - lower down the Ph slowly (try not to dump the whole box in) it is natural doesn't affect GH only lower Ph can use to maintain tank Ph stablity. Can use direct to tank.

Mosura softwater - So far it the fastest way to lower (i've try both i know) If you do it correctly that is it went from 7.3 down to 6.5 within 4-5 hrs.... If i leave overnight hmmm the will hit 4 also gh will be affect it is best to use it aging water and not directly in tank.

Bro, for sera peats do you keep the peat in your tank or canister permanently after your PH has dropped to a suitable level?

For Mosura softwater which you use to treat aged water, do you know if the PH drop is temporary? That is, if the Mosura softwater is removed, does the aged water PH increases over time?

[reiner09]

Erm...I cannot be 100% sure but from my limited understanding, Mosura softwater is ion exchange resins. It exchanges sodium ions for the magnesium and calcium ions in the water, thus reducing KH & pH and to some extent, GH. However, according to this link
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html

"Typical home water softeners soften water using a technique known as ``ion exchange''. That is, they remove calcium and magnesium ions by replacing them with sodium ions. Although this does technically make water softer, most fish won't notice the difference. That is, fish that prefer soft water don't like sodium either, and for them such water softeners don't help at all. Thus, home water softeners are not an appropriate way to soften water for aquarium use."

So although the GH may be lower when we test with our test kits, there's actually the same amount of ions in the water as before. This means that we should just use softwater as a form of pH control and note that it'll throw our GH test kits off. It's supposed to work really fast though, so pros and cons.

Peat works by releasing acids and probably taking some calcium ions out of the water, so the pH, KH and GH all falls. Kinda different from ion exchange.
Similar to Borneowild humic and Benibachi Fulvic grains I guess.

Hmm..bro navanod and avex, i am having this problem of a rather high gh and ph from my taps..so in this case do you think it will be advisable to use mosura softwater to lower ph and gh of the water so that it will be suitable for ageing water for shrimp tanks?

then again ,from what you said i guess peat might be a better alternative because of the ion exchange method used in resins probably isn't really safe due to the release Na ions.

[Navanod]

Hmm..bro navanod and avex, i am having this problem of a rather high gh and ph from my taps..so in this case do you think it will be advisable to use mosura softwater to lower ph and gh of the water so that it will be suitable for ageing water for shrimp tanks?

then again ,from what you said i guess peat might be a better alternative because of the ion exchange method used in resins probably isn't really safe due to the release Na ions.

I'm using mosura softwater and as long as you're careful, its not necessarily unsafe. Otherwise they would've been loads of complaints by now.
Peat is good, but its slower and you probably require a larger volume of the peat to see the same pH changes as ion exchange. I'm also using Borneowild Humic at the same time with softwater to "tahan" my old tank with expired soil until the new tank is cycled.

For aging water, since you have more space to work with and all the time in the world, I would say go with peat based methods. Peat moss is extremely cheap if you get them from nurseries but note that those may stain the water brown.

[reiner09]

I'm using mosura softwater and as long as you're careful, its not necessarily unsafe. Otherwise they would've been loads of complaints by now.
Peat is good, but its slower and you probably require a larger volume of the peat to see the same pH changes as ion exchange. I'm also using Borneowild Humic at the same time with softwater to "tahan" my old tank with expired soil until the new tank is cycled.

For aging water, since you have more space to work with and all the time in the world, I would say go with peat based methods. Peat moss is extremely cheap if you get them from nurseries but note that those may stain the water brown.

ahh...thanks for the advice bro nav

[avex30]

Bro, for sera peats do you keep the peat in your tank or canister permanently after your PH has dropped to a suitable level?

For Mosura softwater which you use to treat aged water, do you know if the PH drop is temporary? That is, if the Mosura softwater is removed, does the aged water PH increases over time?

Hmm for peats i actually leave did in the breeder tank like how i acclamitize shrimp i think Klim posted his way. hahaha I did the same accept i add a wire mesh into it and sorta of add a small pvc elbow to the inlet so it is bascially adding like a drip for the tank.

Mosura softwater i've heard comment on the Ph climbing back up...... I assume they are using tapwater.....(why i try full pail tapwater ph start at 7.3 after mosura softwater over night ph 4-4.5 come home from work ph 6.5 stop) For me i using 1/2 about 5 litres tapwater (my pail is about 15 litres. Then about 8 to 10 bottle of distill mix in.....

How i prep my age is i collect the 1/3 tapwater dose in anti chlorine sit for a day (i also have a sponge filter sitting inside) next day i add those liquid BB in sit another day. Than i add distill water in add a bit of shizhen sit until the day before i using the age water i connect the hose to the airpump and and run the corner filter. overnight..... off in the morning measure 4.5-5 night i came home about 5-5.5 doesn't climb anymore...... and that when i do W/C

[Navanod]

Why add shizhen for distiller water???

[gryphon]

Hmm for peats i actually leave did in the breeder tank like how i acclamitize shrimp i think Klim posted his way. hahaha I did the same accept i add a wire mesh into it and sorta of add a small pvc elbow to the inlet so it is bascially adding like a drip for the tank.

Mosura softwater i've heard comment on the Ph climbing back up...... I assume they are using tapwater.....(why i try full pail tapwater ph start at 7.3 after mosura softwater over night ph 4-4.5 come home from work ph 6.5 stop) For me i using 1/2 about 5 litres tapwater (my pail is about 15 litres. Then about 8 to 10 bottle of distill mix in.....

How i prep my age is i collect the 1/3 tapwater dose in anti chlorine sit for a day (i also have a sponge filter sitting inside) next day i add those liquid BB in sit another day. Than i add distill water in add a bit of shizhen sit until the day before i using the age water i connect the hose to the airpump and and run the corner filter. overnight..... off in the morning measure 4.5-5 night i came home about 5-5.5 doesn't climb anymore...... and that when i do W/C

Thanks for the info. I also heard that using Mosura softwater the PH will climb back up, hence to me its not a good product.