filteration help

[cleadus1]

you know how when u have driftwood in the tank and the water goes brown, using activated carbon removes the colour but will it also reduce the acidity of the water? i ask becuse i want to keep it kinda acidic for my rams.

[kiwiplymouth]

That's a good question.

I for one don't know.

Try it and tell us what happens

[Jennifer]

If your tank is acidic because of the tannins (tannins are molecules that have lots of acid type functionalities) then activated carbon will remove the tannins and hence the acidity. If, however, your tank is also becoming acidic due to other non-organic reasons, activated carbon may not remove the source of that acidity.

[cleadus1]

so what would be a good way to keep the ph around 6.0 and the water clear?

[Floater]

so what would be a good way to keep the ph around 6.0 and the water clear?

I've found from experience that messing with the pH is a bad idea and is usually a lot more trouble than it's worth, especially if you don't know what you're doing.

On the note of removing tannins, I wouldn't waste money on buying carbon. In a few months and x water changes later your driftwood will have stopped leeching and your water will be clear.