Decreasing ph vs Kh

[marcop]

I have forever had soft water. kh-3deg. is std. lifting that currently to a desired point of 6ish ithe a kh booster. The issue I have is I wish to decrease my ph from around 7.3. I would love to use co2 but it is a cost killer at this time. If I use a PH down product will it not use up my kh buffer I have just created? or should i be looking for a particular type of product.

Cheers

[livingart]

what substrate and rockwork are you using?

[ryanjury]

If your KH is low then just add some peat or oak leaves (dead and brown) or alder cones or something like that it will soften the water.

Without raising your KH was your PH unstable?

[marcop]

My kh at 3deg had lead to a stable ph of 7.2 ish. maybe i should just be happy with this and leave it alone.

a kh of <5deg would be classed as soft already?

Will oak leaves decrease the ph with out affecting kh? I have two oaks on the neighbours side and the only thing i thought they were goog for was blocking the sunlight.

Substrate. was cheep aquarium gravel purchased about 5 years ago and i have dropped in a couple of manawatu river stones for good measure. I was thinking of useing a seachem flourite substrate but thought it might be difficult to vacume the waste up from the fish from such a fine substrate.

cheers

[Joshlikesfish]

I have two oaks on the neighbours side and the only thing i thought they were goog for was blocking the sunlight.

You can put some peat, oak leaves or alder cones into fine mesh(like stockings) and put inside your filter

HTH

[ryanjury]

If it was stable at 7.2 then don't stress about it. Also (unless you are keeping hard water fish) if it is stable at 6 then don't stress about it either

[Bilbo]

I also think if your water is stable then don’t play unless you need it for something specific.

Why do you want to lower your pH and raise your Kh?

[David R]

So why do you want to lower the pH? What fish are you keeping?

Your best bet is to let the tank reach a natural equilibrium, add some driftwood, or peat, or any of the other things Ryan suggested, and keep an eye on the pH. If it drops too much then take the peat/whatever out, or try adding some coral or crushed shell to the filter.

Just remember its far better for it to be stable than to be bang on what some book/website tells you it should be for your fish [within reason of course!].

[marcop]

I have had fish for years but only really starting to get a handle on doing it right. alot of water testing, checking parameters and reading product websites.Maybe that is my problem.

alot/all says min 4-5kh to prevent ph swings. I run a standard 120Ltr com. AR620T tank but are trying to get a better plant growth going on.

Tank currently has drift wood.

was aiming for the nice ph7 neutral zone,

I was hoping that if i increase my kh a bit then some time in the future i might go down the road of CO2 fert. giving me the ability to have some fudge room while setting the system up.

But after all this am quite happy to gain advice from any source and just hoping for a un-commercial view point.

David.

cheers

[marcop]

Fish

Keyholes

Kribensis

Pep. Corys

Blue Gourami

Bristlenose

[David R]

I have had fish for years but only really starting to get a handle on doing it right. alot of water testing, checking parameters and reading product websites.Maybe that is my problem.

I'm in a similar sort of situation, been keeping fish for over ten years, but only started checking the kh/gh when I wanted to see how my DIY background effected the water. As for "doing it right", unless you've had lots of fish dying you're not "doing it wrong" because you're not testing the hardness. The fish you're keeping aren't exceptionally fussy when it comes to water parameters (like say wild caught discus or apistos for example), so don't sweat it too much. If you want to buffer it up a bit try adding some coral or crushed shell to the filter.