Re: Soft, acid water

[IDMiamiBob <IDMiamiBob@aol.com>]

Andrew writes:

<< I live in an area that has alkaline water and have been struggling to get
my pH, at >least, to a point where apistos might consider breeding.  I put
peat in the filter cartridge >(whisper mini) and added blackwater tonic but
can't get my pH down past 6.8 - 7.0.  
<snip>>  
> Should I be concerned about using chemical additives to drop pH?  Is there a
particular >additive that works better than others?  How about more "natural"
tricks that don't cost >an arm and a leg?  

You can find some information on the Krib
(http://www.cco.caltech.edu/~aquaria/Krib/).  First, before you can
effectively lower pH, you need to reduce alkalinity.  This is caused primarily
by hardness.  Reduce the hardness and then you can get a lower pH. And a lower
hardness is also good for the Apistos.  If you have large numbers of tanks,
reverse osmosis or deionization is practical.  I have only a few, and use
"Tank Soft" by Mardel.  I find this is much more effective than black water
tonic or "Waters of the World".  I can bring my hardness down to 60 ppm.  Then
I reduce pH with Aquarium Phamaceuticals' "pH Down" (white dropper bottle,
yellow label).  This is the only product that I am sure has no phosphates.  I
also have begun using peat filtering.  I put peat in the toe of a nylon, tie
it off, and stick it in a box filter.  This has encouraged some pairs to spawn
that I could not get any response out of before.

>Is the change in behavior related to the change in water conditions?
>>
Yep.  They liked the hardness, pH and tannins on the larger planted tank.

Bob Dixon