# PH Down / PH up



## Northern Hawk (Sep 1, 2010)

If this were to be put into lets say the water being put into a tank while a water change was happening would it permanently bring the water PH down a little bit or is this a temporary thing?*c/p**H2


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Usually temporary. The natural buffers in the water hold the ph value.


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*pH up/down does not work. You cant change the pH unless you add something like ADA Amazonia Aqua Soil or inject CO2. *


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Trash it. They are more trouble than they are worth. Adding chemical adjusters to the tank can lead to serious problems down the road.


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## Northern Hawk (Sep 1, 2010)

How so?I'm gonna get rid of them but i'm more or less curious how bad they really are


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

You make your tank more suseptable to crashes. As these are just temporary agents. If your water lacks the necessary buffers to maintain proper pH, over time it will crash. And that is very bad news.

One day you come in and it is perfect at 7. The next, you're bumpin 6 and fishies are floating.

This is where many new comers go wrong as they are led to believe you must maintain "x" pH level. Instead of doing it naturally with such things as crushed coral to raise or peat to lower, most chain stores will tell you to use the pH UP / DOWN.


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## Northern Hawk (Sep 1, 2010)

Makes sense to me! My dad told me of this peat moss stone/rock thing he put into the tank that cause the ph to sit dead on 7.0 for years without any issue... u know what the name of this is?


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## NursePlaty (Feb 5, 2010)

*The chemicals added to tanks just makes the tank a swimming toxic pool. The less chemicals the better. 

Peat sphagnum moss, dried brown leaves (almond leaves, oak leaves), driftwood all contribute to lowering the pH but you must need mass amounts of it. And mass amounts of these will make your water yellow/brown due to tannins. If you dont mind the tannins go for it. But usually, the fish will adapt to your pH as long as it is not in the extremes. In short, I'd just leave it alone.*


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Northern Hawk said:


> My dad told me of this peat moss stone/rock thing he put into the tank that cause the ph to sit dead on 7.0 for years without any issue... u know what the name of this is?


Sry...can't help you with this one. Doesn't sound familiar.


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## flyin-lowe (Oct 3, 2009)

What are your pH levels naturally that makes you want to alter them? Mine are around 8.2-8.4 and as long as I acclimate the fish slowly I don't have any problems. The fish can adapt to a pH that is out of their recommended range as long as it's constant. The only exception is that some fish won't breed unless there pH is in a set range. So unless you aren't breeding and your pH is between 6 and 8 or so I wouldn't worry about it. You will pull your hair out trying to keep it set at an unnatural level.


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## Northern Hawk (Sep 1, 2010)

i'm a perfectionist which is my main problem.... my ph out of tap is 7.6 naturally... i just checked it this morning and with out much of anything it naturally dropeed to 7.4 so Ph up/down isn't a necessity...idk why i was so bent it being at 7.0 but i decided to destroy that idea...


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Northern Hawk said:


> i'm a perfectionist which is my main problem.... my ph out of tap is 7.6 naturally... i just checked it this morning and with out much of anything it naturally dropeed to 7.4 so Ph up/down isn't a necessity...idk why i was so bent it being at 7.0 but i decided to destroy that idea...


Yep...that's a decent number.


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## brimac40 (Jan 11, 2010)

Northern Hawk said:


> i'm a perfectionist which is my main problem.... my ph out of tap is 7.6 naturally... i just checked it this morning and with out much of anything it naturally dropeed to 7.4 so Ph up/down isn't a necessity...idk why i was so bent it being at 7.0 but i decided to destroy that idea...


I would love to have a pH of 7.6 , mine is also around 8.2 but my fish have thrived in it for years . when I first started keeping fish , I was the same way and stressed over everything and wanted the water parameters to be perfect . Now I am closing in on 20 years in the hobby and I am just happy that they are healthy and happy . When you start fiddling with water parameters , looking for those "by the book" numbers you only stress the fish .


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