Cuttlefish ~ would you use it to lower your PH?

[FineArtist]

I have heard that Limestone is a good natural way to lower the PH...

I have tested my PH level and it is BLUE... I want it to be natural

the petstore sold me a Cuttlefish.

what is it ? and is it better than limestone???

any comments are welcome

[tHEcONCH]

Limestone (and Cuttlefish) raises pH! Before you do anything, tell us what sort of fish you want to keep and then we can suggest the most appropriate method. In many cases a nuetral pH (7) is fine.

[FineArtist]

what the hell !!!!

I told the women that when I did the test it was BLUE and alkaline and that I wanted something natural to make it more acid...

i have general fish... guppies, tetra, Suckermouth Catfish, neons, etc

[tHEcONCH]

In that case you want to aim for a nuetral pH, but with a little bit of hardness for your guppies. A lot depends upon the nature of you water from the tap (so test that and post the parameters up so we can be a little more specific), but as a general rule all you will need to do is add some bogwood to your tank. Bogwood releases all sorts of (beneficial) compounds in addition to lowering pH. Stay away from 'PH-UP and PH-DOWN' type products - it is really important to maintain a stable pH. Bogwood will also stain your water a tea colour for a while (it will eventually stop), but there are ways around that too if you don' like the look.

[Faran]

A "blue" pH means that your pH is high (7.1-7.6+) and you need to add driftwood to the aquarium to acidify and neutralize it. This is a natural way to get your pH where you want it and the reason why you don't see driftwood in african cichlid tanks where a high pH is needed.

"Personally I use peat and driftwood to lower pH and limestone to raise it."

So high pH <7 would need wood and possibly peat to neutralize to 7

Low ph >7 would need limestone to neutralize to 7

Cuttlefish - That’s actually quite clever. It’s made out of Calcium Carbonate – same as Limestone. The only concern I would have is hardness. Cuttlebone is fresh and limestone is petrified CaCO3 and so they might behave differently underwater. Remember, you don't need it though!

[Caryl]

If your fish are happy I would leave the pH as it is.

[alanmin4304]

Keep your cuttlefish. Half to your turtle and half to Bud

[VinsonMassif]

As long as you acclimatise your fish well, they will adapt to a range of pH. It is the water chemistry and dissolved compounds that impact the fish too, rather than simply the pH of the water.

What exactly is your pH reading. "Blue" pH may well be "natural" for where you live. If your fish are already living in, and healthy in this water I would recommend you not to do anything to it.

Also wood/bogwood/driftwood does not always affect the pH like we think it will, or makes only a very slight difference. It depends on the water, and type of wood.

My tanks at home have wood in, and are acid, along with the water. I look after another tank with 3 pieces of wood and a pH of 8.0 constant.

[nemines]

Just try and avoid major pH swings, let you fish adjust slowly (bogwood should allow this). having some carbonate hardness is not a bad thing as it helps to stabilise pH.