I have tried everything to get the ph , alkalinity & hardness down in my aquarium water. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

Well I'm having the same problem with hardness, however I fixed the Ph and alkalinity of my tropical aquarium by only using reverse osmosis water when I change the water. I had to do frequent small water changes along with the normal maintenance of the bio filter and soon the ph and alkalanitity fixed themselves. Recently I asked here on YA about why the waters hardness won't go down too and here are the responses I received: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ao.kVwNE5yRz9mqt_bHfrFHsy6IX?qid=20060716172910AAymvLW.

Good luck with your tank and remember the people at your local petsmart or petco, or other pet and fish store are usually knowledgeable especially about which checmicals will fix what. However I'm guessing that you already tried something like that from your question. =)

Answer 2

Try doing a water change, if you have not already. If you live near a Petsmart ,we carry a product called PH Down. You will have to let your tank cycle for a little while, but it sould get the ph, alkalinity, and your hardness down. Also Petsmart will test your water for free, and help you with any questions you might have.
Here is some additional information from Petsmart.

Aquarium cleaning
For new tanks, 10% water changes are recommended each week. For established aquariums, you should change 25% of the water each month. Always use a dechlorinator or other water conditioner when adding water to the aquarium. You will need an algae scrubber pad to remove excess algae from the sides of the tank and an aquarium vacuum to prevent the accumulation of debris in the gravel.

Water quality
Test the water conditions on a regular basis to be sure that pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hardness, alkalinity and chlorine levels are normal. Water test kits are available for measuring these conditions and PETsMART also provides free water testing for our customers.

Answer 3

Test your tap water - if your tap has high reading then realistically there isn't much to do to reduce it in aquarium water.

Don't use pH Down or other chemicals -those can cause swings and swings are worse on fish that high pH.

You can get a RO unit and use that for water changes and that will dilute the alkalinity. Also if you have really poor tap with nitrates and phosphorus then a RO unit will help immensely with the health of your aquarium.

Adding some natural driftwood can lower pH over time.

My water is like liquid concrete - high pH, (8.2) very alkaline and hard - and I just just tap in my fresh tanks and they have been running successfully for years. Most fish will do fine with higher pH - maybe you wont get the most sensitive ones to breed and you aren't going to keep discus and some of the tetras but you can have a nice community tank.

Answer 4

There must be a reason why the water is so alkaline. Try taking out the ornaments and gravel then add new water. Coral gravels, ornaments made of plaster and some pots will increase the pH.

Answer 5

Do your next few water changes with water from a different source.

Maybe buy some spring water from the store. You'll want to adjust this stuff slowly so the fish won't go into any sort of shock from the change in their environment.

Answer 6

You know, I had the same problem. I was FOREVER testing, adding this and that to my water & just couldn't seem to get it right.

One day I decided that my fish were living, my water was clear, and I was done making myself crazy. So I say to you, if your fish are swimming happily and your water is clear, leave it alone.

I ran an undergravel filter and a bio-wheel. I rinsed my filter off & put it back in every 2 or 3 days (or whenever it began to backflow). I used tank water to water my house plants every weekend and added fresh to my tank.

7 years I did this and never had a single fish die. The tank came down in December when I moved.

Answer 7

Peat moss is sometimes used to soften water in aquariums. A bag of peat can be palced in your filter & it will slowely soften water.
However stable water parameters are more nescessary for fish than "appropiate parameters".
If you are changing your water parameters ,please do it slowly over a period of time, and at each water change you will have to ensure that the water parameters are same

Answer 8

OK, this might seem like a stupid question but,
When you went to the pet shop, did you ask someone about what supplies to buy OR did you just buy what you think you needed?
Also, if you did get the right stuff, have you given it time to work?
Waterhardness, I think you'll just have to live with unless you have a watersofter in your home.

Answer 9

if your water is that bad, you might want to just buy water from the store to put in your tank. If you have a big tank, this might get expensive, but at least your fish will be safe.

Answer 10

If your tap/well water is hard then get a RO unit and use that water mixed with your existing water.

If not, then you *must* be having slate, marble or sea shells (sea sand?) in your tank.