Sphagnum moss and PH

jace_da_face

Hi all. I would like to lower the PH in my 200L freshwater aquarium. It sits at 7.4. I have mostly South American species that would prefer a PH below 7. I hear sphagnum moss is good to lower PH and I happen to have a bag of it in my garden shed. It was purchased in a garden centre. Will it be suitable for aquatic life or might there be pesticides and chemicals added?

Dubs59

Peat moss will lower your PH . However , you need to moniter the changes to ensure that the PH doesn't crash and remains stable . A lot of fish will adjust quite happily to tap water parameters and a low PH isn't necessary unless you wish to breed them . I would experiment with a relatively small amount at first . If there are any additives in the peat moss then that should be stated on the packaging .

jace_da_face

I should point out that I am also in the process of raising the tank’s buffering capacity. I measured my KH a couple of weeks back, and it was an anemic 3°. I am adding JBL Aquadur to raise it. If I can get it higher, I would be less worried about PH crashes. But yes I would like to experiment with smaller quantities over time.

Duke of Url

Are you using Aquasoil in your Aquarium?

jace_da_face

Sorry Duke, only seeing this. No is the answer. I had a soil substrate some time back, with sand. I changed it all out over a year ago for a JBL substrate. I can’t remember the exact name. It looks like those freeze dried coffee granules. It’s a bit of a nuisance to get right as you have to keep pre-rinsing before adding to the aquarium and it is so light it can move fairly freely.

Alkers

What value are you getting for your tapwater? You'll need to bear these in mind for water changes

Duke of Url

ADA Aquasoil is known for lowering PH to between 5 and 6

jace_da_face

Duke of Url wrote: »

ADA Aquasoil is known for lowering PH to between 5 and 6

🤔. Hmmm , too late for me to incorporate it now really.

jace_da_face

Duke of Url wrote: »

ADA Aquasoil is known for lowering PH to between 5 and 6

My tap water is 6.8 PH. I also have been paying attention to the aquarium water TDS which is high, at about 600 ppm. I don’t think the shrimp will like that. This is much higher than the conditioned tap water which is added weekly. Adding the Aquadur to bring up KH will raise this even higher so I have put that on pause.

So for those two reasons, PH and TDS both being high (and certainly higher than my tap water), I’m going to do bigger water changes for a while and see how that goes.

Duke of Url

jace_da_face wrote: »

My tap water is 6.8 PH. I also have been paying attention to the aquarium water TDS which is high, at about 600 ppm. I don’t think the shrimp will like that. This is much higher than the conditioned tap water which is added weekly. Adding the Aquadur to bring up KH will raise this even higher so I have put that on pause.

So for those two reasons, PH and TDS both being high (and certainly higher than my tap water), I’m going to do bigger water changes for a while and see how that goes.

I used to Keep Neocaridina and Caridina Shrimp and breed them

Duke of Url

jace_da_face wrote: »

My tap water is 6.8 PH. I also have been paying attention to the aquarium water TDS which is high, at about 600 ppm. I don’t think the shrimp will like that. This is much higher than the conditioned tap water which is added weekly. Adding the Aquadur to bring up KH will raise this even higher so I have put that on pause.

So for those two reasons, PH and TDS both being high (and certainly higher than my tap water), I’m going to do bigger water changes for a while and see how that goes.

Whats the TDS coming out of your Tap?

jace_da_face

My tap water TDS is 180 ppm.