Muriatic acid

[jaeger222002]

To all,

I have a question about lowering the pH and the kH. I have a few tanks full of apistos right now. They have been up and running for a few months. The problem that I am having is that the pH seems to not want to come down. I have two 20L with play sand as the substrate, 1 10G with no bottom substrate, 2 10g with small gravel, and a 20H with play sand. The water params seem to be the same for all the tanks so I doubt that any of the sand, gravel etc is the problem. All of the tanks are currently tea-colored due to wood, oak leaves, and the blackwater extract. I have refrained from peat and would like to continue to do so. The tap water here has a very high kH (like 13 degrees). I use just RO for the tanks and I get it from the local store). The tanks have a gH of 2 degrees and a kH of 4 degrees (i don't understand that either) but the pH remains at roughly 7-7.5. I would like to get some Dicrossus but need help with the pH. I know it may be frowned upon but would it be safe to use an acid in the water storage containers to lower the pH and then add it in a day or two?

Can I premix the water with Muriatic Acid? Wil lthis be safe for the fish if done properly. Are there specific directions I should follow to do so? Does the water require something as a buffer to prevent pH swings? I apologize for the ignorance and welcome all the information. Thank you.

Brad

 

[Mike Wise]

I have used muriatic acid (industrial grade hydrochloric acid) in the past. I found that with 2º dKH water only 5 cc of the acid lowered the pH from 7.4 to about 4.5. Obviously you don't want to do this in an aquarium containing fish. I found that it increased the electrical conductivity beyond what I considered acceptable. If you were thinking of using it to lower the pH of your 13º dKH tap water, I wouldn't recommend it. I now use peat filtered water to lower my 2º dKH tap water and don't understand why you don't want to use it. It is a more natural method of softening and acidifying water.

 

[jaeger222002]

Mike,

Thanks for the input. I was planning on using it to lower the pH of the RO water that I purchased from the store. Iwas planning on using the acid instead of peat because of the potential mess surrounding the peat water. Against my advice the basement was just carpeted with cream-colored (great choice huh?) carpet. My wife would be furious if I ruined the new carpet.

Another suggestion that was presented to me yesterday was to use the seachem acid buffer with the RO water and then slowly lower the pH with the pre-mixed water for water changes. This sounds reasonable but will it also increase the conductivity?

Also, for those who collect rain water (which I won't be able to do for a couple of months) is there anything special that needs to be done to sterilize the water to make sure no nasties are growng in the barrels or water?

Thanks again for the help.

Brad

 

[fishme.]

hi brad.why dont you try CO2? it is very easy to lower the PH but you will need a PH controller.

 

[Refael Hdr.]

I usually use Phosphoric acid for lowering the pH when it's really necessary. I found it more moderated this way cause it needs more drops of acid in order to get the same pH level you would have got by using Hydrochloric acid. This way it's more unlikely to get sharp jumps at the pH level caused by over dosage and it's more simple to get it balanced on the wanted value (considering the KH level of course).
Using it carefully i've managed not once to lower the pH gradually even while the tank was populated. Though it takes some time and some trying in order to get it right and stable...

 

[Mike Wise]

The main problem with phosphoric acid is that it encourages the growth of algae, if there are not enough higher plants in the tank.

 

[Refael Hdr.]

I agree Mike, but it was a minor problem for me considering the results I got and the fact that I mainly used it in breeding tanks where algae growth didn't bother me so much.
In addition, in any way I did'nt get an algae catastrophe, it was usually just a little bit of brown algae and green spots over the tank glass and some objects, not more than this...