Fish: Re: [tropical fish club] ph down

Steve,

I already assumed your pH was too high to fit your opinion of your needs
since your question was how to lower it. -- but that still doesn't answer my
question. Why do you feel you need to lower it to pH 6.8? What fish are you
keeping at pH 6.8 (or pH 7.0) that you feel wouldn't do as well at pH 7.4?
Unless you're breeding certain fishes with specific needs -- and even then,
many domestic fishes will breed at a wider pH range -- the additional work
and attention you need to constantly keep on top of to maintain a pH
different than your source is rarely worth the trouble, not to mention the dangers
of what can go wrong if you misjudge your additions any one time, of the pH
reducing products you'd be using.

While a pH of 7.4 would usually (but not always) indicate a fairly decent
KH value (buffering capacity), if this carbonate hardness of yours is not as
high as might first be presumed, you stand the chance of pH crash if not
keeping right on top of your parameters at all times, when using a pH lowering
agent. I don't see the gain from it when taking into consideration the
risks also involved with it. If you're more experienced with manipulating water
conditions, and intend on keeping tabs on your water parameters, ongoing,
you'd be better suited to do it although it may not even be needed anyway.
It all goes back to why you feel you need to do this; what fishes are you
keeping that won't do just as well at pH 7.4 . . . and, are you intending to
breed these apparently acid-water-condition-needing fishes?

Ray