Chopstick

my pH was at 7,6 so i went to the LFS and the proposed me peat rather than ph down since it's more natural and there isn't that poison sign on the bottle.

Is that good ?

Trying to make a tropical tank

djbrist

My opinion, 7.6 doesn't seem so hi to worry too much, especially if your water source is close to same. But if you want you can add a piece of driftwood and it will do a little lowering, of course a large tank could use a big one. My two cents.

Check this out if you haven't already...

changing your pH

Chopstick

about drift wood i have around 90$ worth driftwood =X. So i think imma leave the drift wood but thanks for the help xP.

djbrist

Sorry, I didn't see you had a ton already I recently resolved my awful pH issue by combining my r/o and softened tap waters 50/50, now ph is stable at 7.2 and hardness is no issue. I'm sure someone with some first hand experience with peat will chime in for you.... good luck too.

p.s. post some pictures if you have some, love to see the 150

Regal

I think 7.6 would be fine. I have used peat moss before and it's worked out fine. It does lower the ph. The API freshwater test kit that I use only goes down to 6 so I'm now sure if it was any lower than that with the peat. I quit using it just because it seemed unnecessary because my ph was fine. The fish were happy and breeding. I used it for probably close to a year.

If you decide to use peat you should soak in and strain it for quite a while. Put it in a filter bag and add it to your filter. I would not waste money on the peat filter pellets. Peat moss is cheap at a garden store.

aquarist48

Good morning. If you do decide to use peat moss...make sure it is "organic" with no additives. However, I think your fish will do quiet well at 7.6. A good suggestion from your LFS person. pH adjusters are too unstable and can cause your pH to crash. Too, it would have to added for the life of the tank to keep it stable. IMO...it's not worth the $, or the risk to the fish.
Best of luck!
Ken

pepetj

I use peat fiber in two of my tanks. I use the Fluval brand and I'm quite happy with it. I once tried the granulated pellets but the loose fiber worked best so I switched back to it.

The good thing about peat is that it will slowly lower the pH and once due, your pH will slowly rise. So it's safe as far as not experiencing sudden changes. That said, in my two tanks with peat fiber I began using small quantities and increased it gradually until I got the readings I wanted.

In experimental conditions I managed to drop pH with peat fiber in a pH 7.8 with 5.5dKH to pH 5.0 and zero DKH so use carefully.

I don't suggest anyone using peat fiber unless they can test for pH and KH. Once your KH drops to 2 or 2.5 dKH be careful. Also keep in mind that if you are using tap water you should keep your scheduled partial water changes at the low end (10-15%).

I have DIY CO2 in those tanks. Once I upgrade to pressurized I probably won't need peat anymore since adequate dissolved CO2 drops pH by a full unit (say 7.8 to 6.8).

sirdarksol

Pepetj's got it right. You can use peat to drop your pH, but you need to be really careful, because it also removes the water's pH buffer, meaning you can end up with a rapid pH change (which is much worse for your fish than a slightly high pH).
My suggestion for using peat is not to add it to the filters in any way, but to pre-treat your water with the peat. Get a big (new) plastic garbage can and put a pillowcase filled with the organic peat in there. Run an airstone under the pillowcase so it percolates through the peat, and leave for a few days. Then you can pre-mix the amount of regular water to treated water to get the precise pH and hardness that you want.

Yes, this is labor intensive, but it's also much better for your fish in the long run.

Now, I've got a pH of 8.2+ in my tap water, and I have some tetras and glassfish, both of which prefer soft, acidic water, and they're doing wonderfully. They're bright, active, and always hungry. Primarily, the only thing that a high pH will impede in fish like that is breeding.