Comment by Zachary P on June 6, 2013 at 2:52am

What kind of fish do you have and what is your PH at? My tap water is well and river mix. Its high PH 8.0 or so. I have a community tank with tetras, red tail shark, roseline sharks and need a lower PH. To lower the PH try driftwood and peat pellets. I put driftwood in my tank which lowered PH to about 7.4 the peat moss pellets in my extra plastic media filter (emporer 200 filter) lowered the PH to 7.0. The longer the wood etc is in the tank, the more the PH will lower. I found that the chemical dont work and cause more harm than good in your tank. 

Let me know how it works out.

Comment by Zachary P on June 6, 2013 at 2:53am

Also is the tank cycled?

Comment by Cole Russell on June 6, 2013 at 3:00am

Tank has been set up for only a week I have tetras (5 of them) and an African Brown Knife

Comment by Zachary P on June 6, 2013 at 3:06am

The tank needs to cycle before you start adding fish unless you are adding hardy fish. The chemicals are going to slow down the cycling process. Are you familiar with the ? Ammonia will built up then bacteria will form the eat the ammonia and turn it Nitrates (both toxic to fish) then bacteria will eat the Nitrates and turn it into Nitrites.....then its fish safe. Takes several weeks. I cycled my tank with Buenos Aries tetras which are hardy and can usually survive the process. There are some other fish that will also. Your LFS can help u with that. The PH will balance out more when the tank is cycled. Since your tank is new you wont have Amm or Nit yet which is why its testing at 0.

Comment by Cole Russell on June 6, 2013 at 3:17am

ah okay well like I said I have a couple of neon tetras in there and from the looks of it the Knife is doing alright as well. Not to mention plants... I'd done some looking into the nitrogen cycle and wasn't sure how long it would take.

Comment by Cole Russell on June 6, 2013 at 3:35am

So how much driftwood did you buy because I don't have a whole ton of room in my tank I'd have to replace fake for real and does it have any upkeep

Comment by Zachary P on June 6, 2013 at 3:39am

Depends on how much space you have. the smaller the tank, the less driftwood needed. I have 3 small peices, 1 large, and 1 medium in my 38 gallon tank. I have 2 large in my 37 puffer tank. They are great for attaching anubis , java fern, and java moss too. They will grow on the wood. I know Dustin sells it or Drfostersmith has it available for a good price. If you dont soak the driftwood or boil it then your water will turn tea color due to the tannis. They are not bad and get removed with your water changes. 

If your fish start to get sick or die due to the tank not cycling you just have to make frequent (daily or bi daily) 50 percent water changes to remove the toxins that is if the fish get sick. They might be fins since they were introduced in the tank during the cycling process. We shall see.

Comment by Zachary P on June 6, 2013 at 3:42am

Upkeep for wood...none really. Salt tears up my wood just a little in my Brackish tank due to the salt. Initially some white stringy looking fuzz will grow on the wood. But most fish eat it ...i.e red tailed sharks, rosy barbs etc. its not toxic or anything, just unsightly.

Comment by Cole Russell on June 6, 2013 at 3:58am

Okay well I'll have to look at prices see whats up there I may have to get it later because my budget is running short for this tank.

Comment by Cole Russell on June 6, 2013 at 4:06am

I think I can squeeze in about $20 for a piece it would have to be small though and I think the fertilizers would come first so all things in good time. Thanks so much for the helpful info/advise I'll leave these open to accumulate any other info/tips I can suck in but for now I'm going to go to sleep.

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