how do u guys lower ph and soften water?

[chikku]

previously i've used chemicals such as acid buffer and discus buffer to do this. they worked fine but dont think they are very stable though

wat do u guys do?

[norto]

I use an RO filter to get the softer water and then lower the Ph if necassary with Acid.
regards,
Norto.

[ILLUSN]

i use HCl (hydrochloric acid) to lower ph and soften water.

[fud]

Hey illusn,could you let me know what strength sol of HCl you use & what rate you use it,ie Xml of HCl will lower 100l of water by .?pH & kH.Is it the stuff you get from the pool shop?
Cheers,fud.

[ILLUSN]

i use concrete cleaner from bunning, 30ml in 500L of sydney tap water drops the ph down to 5.3-5.5 my water after treatment has a kH below detection of my test kit, a gH of about 60ppm.

[Hollowman]

Can I ask what your ph is currently after a day or so aging?

H

[peppermintman]

What every you dont put HC straight into the tank. PLEASE mix up in a storage drum.

[fud]

i use concrete cleaner from bunning, 30ml in 500L of sydney tap water drops the ph down to 5.3-5.5 my water after treatment has a kH below detection of my test kit, a gH of about 60ppm.
Thanks for that illusn.With a kH that low aren't you worried about a ph crash?

[AHC]

Hey Fud, i use the same process as Jothy. I use crushed coral in the filter which jothy taught me and i also change 40- 60% of my water every second day so no PH crash yet. I found that when my filter is dirty though that my PH start to drop (thats when i know to clean my filter hehehehe)

[fud]

Hi AHC,I use shell grit in my filter(I assume it has the same properties as coral).I do this to counter the ph drop caused by the press.CO2.This allows 30ppm of CO2 with ph of 6.7.This also places my kH at 5.
Should I be trying to lower my kH? I thought a kH of 5 was fine for dicus?
cheers,fud.

[AHC]

Yeah 5 is ok. Basically the less the KH the less buffering the water has. You want some buffering to stabilise the water PH. Ive never worked with Co2 but soon will be. I know the basics from what ive read - if you use a controller then your PH stabilises at the desired level based on the co2 in the water (plus the need for balancing co2, light and nutrients. All seems good for you.

My KH is undetectable so also use Bicarb when i need too.