ph down powder = pink??

[dazzman]

Hi Guys,

Has anyone ever experienced pink water when adding ph down powder? The fish don't seem to bother but just curious to what's causing it? Can't be the brand as I've tried 2 types with the same result. ANyone else getting this?

Cheers
daz

[Phlipper]

Never seen or heard of that before, I'd be a little concerned !!!

[Joe]

I'd try to stay away from any chemical alterations of your pH since stability always becomes an issue when using such products...and I have never heard of water becoming pink from such additives.

[dazzman]

I have been using peat but it takes a while for the ph to drop so I sometimes resort to the powder. Besides peat, anyone have a faster solution to drop the ph?

CHeers
daz

[marg]

A couple of Big pieces of Driftwood usually drops the PH and keeps it stable. Try that.

Marg.

[dazzman]

Cheers marg,

I have had drift wood in there at one time but I think it wasn't enough for the volume of the tank so I went with peat. Guess it wouldn't hurt putting it back in with the peat. Btw, how long does peat take to go out of solution?

cheers
daz

[marg]

Depends on how often you do your water changes.

[Phlipper]

I have tried peat and found apart from staining the water it does not drop the PH a great deal, but will soften it. I find the peat lasts about 2 to 3 weeks before losing it's effect. Driftwood will help, so add some more, but even they my findings are that I still need to add PH down powder or liquid from time to time, especially in unplanted tanks. The addition of Co2 will be the biggest contributer to lowering PH, my three main house tanks are rigged up to Co2 and the Ph in these tanks stays at about 6.8 or lower most of the time.

[Bill T.]

How low will you go?
I used to aim for about 6.5 but now keep my tank at just above 7.0. easier to manage & the fish seem fine.

[Phlipper]

I try to keep it at about 6.8 to 7.0, but it varies a bit from week to week, mostly my PH rises, and always has, which is not the norm from what I can gather. The co2 has been the biggest factor in keeping it around the lower mark.

[mistakes r crucial]

I've been using Hydrochloric Acid for a few years and have had very few issues with Ph, it's stable, cheap $13 per 5 litres) and does the job. I use about 90ml for 3000 litres which brings it down from 7.6 to 6.8. As its straight acid there are no phosphates or other crap in it.

However, there are a few rules that I always stick to and they are:
1. Never, ever put acid straight in the tank.
2.Practise,practise and more practise on how much to use to get the desired result.

You do have to be careful but it works for me.
MAC

[Phlipper]

:P wow !!!..this is all very intertesting, I used to use Hydrochloric acid years ago to lower PH in pools for marine mammals, never thought I could use it for aquaria.

So it seems there are numerous types of PH lowering agents that can be used such as sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium biphosphate, sodium bisulphide....and I've often wondered if simple citric acid would be suitable as well, after all fish and lemon juice always go together well :lol: :shock:

I wonder then why the shops only sell the powder sodium biphosphate, and lately the liquid PH down that is simply diluted sulphuric acid....maybe only because it is safer to handle than some of the others ???? Time to do a little experimenting I think :idea:

[dcarmau]

Also perhaps people get concerned about the words "Acid" in connection to their beloved fish. I know, I know, if they understood the pH system etc. but TV has done lots of bad things to people's minds... my thought is that "Acid" is simply bad PR, so they use something with a more ambiguous name.

[Phlipper]

Yes I think that maybe PR has a lot to do with it, success in marketing a product often comes down to name.

[Bill T.]

I thought acid made people trip out and see strange things - I wonder about the fish?

[dcarmau]

:lol:

it can't be too interesting for the fish, I mean they deal with Acid every day! :D

[Phlipper]

Farout man, physcadelic....I see colours dude, lots of colours, wow man :shock:

Sit down ya dang fool...............you're a Discus, of course ya see colours :lol: :P

[TomNS]

I bought some "Aquarium Science PH Down" this week as I had run out of discus buffer. Did a water change and added this - the water went pinky red within hours of the change. I Since I had added a different light and a few other things I removed them from the tank.

I then did a 50% water changed on my 600L tank and added the ph down again - same thing happened water went pink.

I then bought some more discus buffer and did another 50% change today used discus buffer to change ph - so far so good.

Where did you buy your PH down from ?

Tom

[Phlipper]

I'm still at a loss to explain why your water went pink ??

I just bought mine from one of the local shops, Science products are pretty well available in many places.