Fluval aquatic peat and clear max help

[TheWhiteOpalReiichi]

hello! I need some help on how much fluval aquatic peat I should put into my 20 gallon long tank, the pH is about 8.5 right now and I want it to be 7. The aquatic peat doesn’t come in bags, I thought I heard someone saying on Amazon to use very little because it is very strong but I’m not sure. And with the clear max, there are three packs of the water clarifier, but I don’t wanna overdo it so (one pack treats 75 gals) should I just put one whole pack in or maybe split it in half and put half of it in a mesh bag?

 

[MacZ]

A pH of 8.5 means you have a high KH. Lower the KH by dilution with RO or distilled water and the pH will be easy to lower. Peat only makes sense if you have a KH of less than 5°, at a pH of 8.5 it should be MUCH higher than that. Do you know the GH and KH of your water? If not, please don't even try anything like this, it can only go wrong either in that you crash the tank immediately or nothing happens at all until you push it over the edge.

For more information about how to SAFELY and correctly lower pH and hardness take a look at my article about Blackwater: Blackwater: Basics and FAQ - Aquarium Article

The other product is redundant. It's sole purpose is the removal of Nitrates, Phosphates and Nitrite. If you do enough waterchanges nitrates and phosphates shouldn't even reach a level where you need additional chemical filtration. And nitrite should not be present in a cycled tank.