pool ph down?

[ReeferKimberly]

this is probably a no no but i am just curious.

do people use pool products such as "aquachem" in aquariums?
its main ingredient is sodium bisulfate. it is used in pools to lower the ph.also:

where do i find peat and how does it come? ???

i'm a discus newbie and my ph is at 7.6 (too high i know)

what would u guys recommend to lower it?

thankz a bunch!
~kim~ ;D

btw, the reason i am trying to lower it is b/c i'm trying to breed two pairs of mine. i have one pair in a community 55 gallon and another in a bare 20 gallon.

I use muriatic acid to lower the ph in my breeding tanks...which is also used to lower the ph in swimming pools...

[ReeferKimberly]

i'm not sure, if i ever was to use this aquachem, how i would even measure it. it goes by the thousand gallons, not exactly an aqauriums product range.

does anyone one else use these sort of products? also, has anyone used this specific one? (aquachem ph decreaser)

and i'm not quite sure what peat even is. i need to know where to find it, how much to use, ect ect...

thankz david and everyone else!
~kim~

[April]

welcome by the way....and there are people who breed at 7.6. its the hardness and microsiemens that matter for the eggs. id try peat in your holding tank first. way easier .
buy good ole canadian spaghum peat moss from your gardening store. in a huge bale. it will last you forever.
just remeber if your lowering your ph....you can cause major problems if you lower too fast. stable is always best. up and down is not good. you will get very unhappy sick fish.
so...if you choose to lower...be very careful.

[ReeferKimberly]

i checked my hardness with our local water dept. and the drinking/tap water is a 33 milligrams per liter. i think that is suppost to be moderately soft. does that sound ok?

what are microsiemens? can i test for them?

i'll go look for some peat at home depot or another gardening place. i'm not sure if they will have the exact brand but i'll look for it. is it in granules like gravel or carbon? i'll just add some to one of my empty tanks media boxs and see what it does.....

thanks so much and another thanks for the welcome!

~kim~

[April]

peat is dry..and kinda powdery. youd need to put it in a nylon or something and soak it in the storage water.
youd get coloured water.
make sure nothing is added to it. try for the canadian peat as it is a good one for nothing added.

Personally....I would try breeding them is your water as it is now. April is right...hardness has more of an effect on the eggs than the pH does and 35 ppm total hardness is VERY soft. Providing you have a good fertile male...I bet you'd get a pretty good hatch rate.

Tony

[Ivan]

Hi Kim, good to see you are asking a lot of people questions! you reaslly need to get some kind of storage don't you.
Ivan

[Carol_Roberts]

I breed mine in pH 7.6 - don't mess with the water yet. See what kinds of hatches you get. I'm happy with the 70 - 80 babies I get.
Carol :heart1:

[daninthesand]

I know that at the Jack Wattely Hatchery in Miami they use Muriatic acid for pools to lower the pH in their entire water system down to about 5.5.

You can get it here in canada at home depot. Costs about 10 bucks a gallon I think. It is also available in smaller sizes. Look in the painting section. It is used to etch concrete and clean similar surfaces for accepting paint. The paint guy/girl at the paint desk should be able to direct you...

HTH

[Ardan]

Hi,
I believe that the sodium bisulfate will increase sodium levels.

microsiemens measure the amount of minerals in the water, ie hardness.
If you get a conductivity meter you can measure in microsiemens.

hth
Ardan

[ReeferKimberly]

well b4 i read all these posts i went and got some sphagum peat moss from home depot and also a discus guide from the lfs. i'm soaking 4 cups (1 quart) of peat in a ladies stocking right now in the sink.(it was 1 quart dry btw). the water is....well.....black. so i'm not gonna use it until i can get it at least partially clear. the book i bought said to use 2 quarts of dry peat per 50 gallons.seems to be too much to me. i figure if my water is an amber color maybe the fish may be more inclined to come out and not be so shy like they are now. i'm not sure if the hardness reading i got was the same as everyone thinks. is a reading of 33 mpl the same as 33 ppm? i'm not sure if miligrams per liter is similar to parts per million. i already knew the water was soft but i'm still not sure what the accurate measure is. i'm only gonna use the peat on one of my empty running 20 gallons (if i decide to use it at all). i will probly use a test discus or 2 and see how they respond b4 adding it to my main tank.

and yes, i don't have any storage water...i know bad me :(. i have to keep all this stuff in my room b/c my parents are not exactly into fish.....yet ;).
so until i move out i just have to make do with what i have. in about 3 years in can leave. i'm only 16 at the moment. (well in 24 days i will be)

~kim~

[Steve_Warner]

Hi all,
Kim, mg/L(Milligrams per Liter) is equal to ppm(Parts per million), as they are both based on "milli" millionths. If you have water storage issues, you could use some 5 gal buckets/sparklettes bottles to store the water in and keep the peat stockings in these with an airstone or something. They would fit nicely in a closet out of parents sight ;) HTH


Steve

[ReeferKimberly]

lol, u should see my closet. it containes at the moment:

3 empty ten gallons
1 empty 20 gallon
about 10 filters not in use
1 5 gallon water jug (used for w/c already)
1 box of driftwood (from a pet shop that went out of business)
and my bbs hatcheries

as u see it is full ;) i'm packed to the brim. i don't even have the closet doors anymore. oh how i wish for a fish room of my own. with all these filters and air pumps i already have to sleep with earplugs meant to block out the sound of a rifle. :-[

this set up is hard for me, as it is i'm also a obsessive compulsive neat freak with absolutely no pacience (a couple of these attributes do not got well with this hobby ;) )

so i'll do what i can do (however little that may be)
~kim~
oh yes, and thankz people