How To Safely Raise & Balance Ph?

[Chickin]

Okay, here's my problem/questions

First off I have 6 years of experience with keeping cichlids, Lake Malwai MBUNAs are by far the easiest fish to keep, for me anyway. Over the last two years I have gotten into keeping Discus which are more docile, but nonetheless gorgeous cichlids. I have lost so much money owning these fish it's not funny. As you can see by the pictures I have posted, that I enjoy having my tank decorated with several pieces driftwood. Which in turn lowers my Ph to about 5 or 6. However, my tap waters Ph is at about 7 or 8. I'm sure that this is, what has been killing off my Discus.
My tank is a 75 gallon with, a canister rated for a 90, Aqua clear 70, and two 80 gallon sponges, with about 75 to 80% water change weekly. I only have 5 Discus left out of the 11 I had purchased this past November.

I don't have the means to age my water, meaning I don't have enough buckets, and I want do all my tanks the same day.

Is there away I can raise, and balance my Ph without add chemicals or removing my wood? I don't want to add any large items in my tank, as you can see I don't have the room. I do plan on building a plexi tank in the near future, but not until I get this issue resolved, which I'm hoping to do before I add in anymore Discus.

 

[Dunk2]

Okay, here's my problem/questions

First off I have 6 years of experience with keeping cichlids, Lake Malwai MBUNAs are by far the easiest fish to keep, for me anyway. Over the last two years I have gotten into keeping Discus which are more docile, but nonetheless gorgeous cichlids. I have lost so much money owning these fish it's not funny. As you can see by the pictures I have posted, that I enjoy having my tank decorated with several pieces driftwood. Which in turn lowers my Ph to about 5 or 6. However, my tap waters Ph is at about 7 or 8. I'm sure that this is, what has been killing off my Discus.
My tank is a 75 gallon with, a canister rated for a 90, Aqua clear 70, and two 80 gallon sponges, with about 75 to 80% water change weekly. I only have 5 Discus left out of the 11 I had purchased this past November.

I don't have the means to age my water, meaning I don't have enough buckets, and I want do all my tanks the same day.

Is there away I can raise, and balance my Ph without add chemicals or removing my wood? I don't want to add any large items in my tank, as you can see I don't have the room. I do plan on building a plexi tank in the near future, but not until I get this issue resolved, which I'm hoping to do before I add in anymore Discus.

Have you tried crushed coral?

There are quite a few threads on Fishlore about how to properly use crushed coral.


By the way, awesome tanks and fish!

 

[coralbandit]

Welcome .
Are you wanting to raise the pH in the discus tank or the Africans ?
Have you tested your water 24 hours after you pour it out of faucet ..
The pH out of tap is not always accurate as many suppliers add things that when exposed to air go away and change the pH reading. It is called outgassing.
Take a sample of your source water and set it out for 24 hours then test it ..
How often do you do water changes and how much ??

 

[Chickin]

Never tried crush coral, its the first time it has been suggested. I did think about it, but thought it was for saltwater. I want to raise and balance Ph in my Discus tank. I use pool filter sand and lots of driftwood, which gave me lower Ph. I don't want to fool around with water chemistry or age my water everytime I have to change water. Generally I do 75% to 80% water changes weekly with a vacuum. However, today I did about 50% but thats including evaporation which was about 10% to 15%.

Thanks

 

[Dennis57]

I started using coral that I bought from my LFS, my PH was always at 6 maybe 6.5. After putting in a piece of coral about 6" round I can get it to hold at 7. Better I guess.