How to push ph down. Way down.

[beetlebug515]

Hello all. First thread post, and it's about my wild uaru Fernandezyepezi. Current tank specs are:
Temp 85
PH 6.2
Tds 25
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <5


I'm using almost straight ro water at this point with heavy supplementation of peat. Ph is fairly stable where it is though. I'm curious how you discus guys get your ph down to the low 5's and 4's. My guys are healthy and happy where they are, but I'm trying to induce a spawn. Any help would be appreciated.

[brewmaster15]

Oak bark in a nylon stocking added to filter ...with Ro water will get you down real fast.... so will Muriatic acid ( use in water storage tank...do not use in fish tank with livestock)
Hth,
Al

[Altum Nut]

Just make sure not to add water directly to Muriatic Acid.
Pour what water you want to dilute into a bucket and then add acid to achieve the required mix you need.
Added caution is to do it outside in a well ventilated area.
Please read the bottle label first.

...Ralph

[John_Nicholson]

I raise lots of discus and have for years. No need to drop the ph to get your discus to spawn. All you are doing is setting yourself up for a ph crash. I would drop your water temp to 82.

-john

[rickztahone]

I raise lots of discus and have for years. No need to drop the ph to get your discus to spawn. All you are doing is setting yourself up for a ph crash. I would drop your water temp to 82.

-john

OP seems to be asking about his uaru Fernandezyepezi.

[John_Nicholson]

Oh crap...that is what I get for just skimming the thread....My bad.

-john

[brewmaster15]

Oh crap...that is what I get for just skimming the thread....My bad.

-john
Lol...Yep.:)

[nikond70s]

dont worry about ur ph. its fine where u have it. Fernandezyepezi needs clean water. thats more crucial then ph. they are very prone to having hole in the head so clean water and tank is a must. but if u still want to lower ur ph. as altum nut said. u can use muriatic acid. u can buy it at home depot at the pool section and its pretty cheap. make sure u have a good ph meter to monitor the ph every 12 hours. keep adding lil by lil till desire ph. the stuff is dangerous so try not to touch it.

[beetlebug515]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm going to keep them where they are for a while, but I'm glad to have this in my back pocket.

[beetlebug515]

Out of curiosity, I've been using large amounts of peat in one of the canisters as well as a gallon of peat tea with every water change and ro water. I seem to be stuck at 6.2-6.5. I read everywhere that driftwood, peat, and oak leaves will "drop your ph through the floor in a week". Maybe I'm doing something wrong? Since my uaru are wild, I'm sort of equating breeding them to breeding wild discus.

[DJW]

The tap water in the mix is holding the pH up. You could try lowering the amount of tap. With pure RO (and the RO filter is working right) the peat alone should drop the pH down toward 5 or even lower if you use enough of it.

What is the TDS and KH of your tap water?

[beetlebug515]

Using straight ro water now, no di. I haven't cut with tap in a long time. I buy my ro water right now. I might purchase an auto filling setup if I don't move. The ro water measures 13 ppm tds, ph 6.8. I'm using about 3-4 cups of peat in one canister. My tap is very hard. Tds 563 this morning and kh is usually 16-18. If only I loved African cichlids.

[brewmaster15]

Kevin,
How often are you changing your water and how much? If you are changing a lot of water you will be negating the effect of the peat on the tank...basically your pH will settle at one point based on how much water you are changing, the bio load in the tank and the acidity generated by the Peat. When you hear of these things dropping pH drastically or crashing your pH its because they did not change enough water that had some buffering capacity.


al

[beetlebug515]

That makes sense. I change 60% every two or three days to keep the tank as clean as possible.