Question on lowering PH

[jnorth]

It is said in many threads on this board and others that the optimal PH for koi is in the neighborhood of 7.3-7.8. What are some of the various methods being used to safely and effectively LOWER your PH to these levels? Thanks!

[Aussie Koi]

Good Morning Jim

What is your PH now?

I would first recommend that your PH needs to be constant more then then numbers that you suggest. If your PH is Constant (and I mean rock solid) at 7.9 say leave it there is my suggestion. If you want to lowever or raise PH do it slowly (The guru's recommend not more then a .5 change in 24 hours, and I thent to agree).

All that being said to lower PH you add acid.

Regards

Aussie Koi

[koiloco]

Mixing with RO water which is PH 7 will eventually lower your Ph to where you want it.
Always take extra precaution when messing with Ph.

Mine is 7.4

[GazKoi]

Bi running and RO unit until you get to you required level will lower the PH.


This can be done and you will have to monitor you hardness (GH & KH) as you carry this out as the RO units strips the water back to next to nothing.

[Russell Peters]

When using acid to lower your pH you put your fish at risk because it is temporary. Once the acid is neutralized by the hardness in your pond your pH will rise again. This see-saw effect will only stress out your fish.

[Ruth Rice]

We used to use baking soda to lower our ph.
Now we have better filtration and that lowered it but it is still high by a lot of people's standard. We leave it alone and it stays around 8.

[PapaBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by Aussie Koi Good Morning Jim What is your PH now? I would first recommend that your PH needs to be constant more then then numbers that you suggest. If your PH is Constant (and I mean rock solid) at 7.9 say leave it there is my suggestion. If you want to lowever or raise PH do it slowly (The guru's recommend not more then a .5 change in 24 hours, and I thent to agree). All that being said to lower PH you add acid. Regards Aussie Koi

I think I would echo these sentiments. Stability is better than tinkering so long as you are already operating in a safe range. Slow release calcium carbonate buffers like oyster shell are a pretty safe bet to keep your water on an evel keel. If you were in an emergency situation water exchange with the addition of small doses of vinegar (acidic) would be a safe bet.
Several vets (koivet.com comes to mind) recommend 7.5-8.5 as a good range that is less likely to crash.

[jnorth]

One pond is stable at 8.5 and the other is stable at 9. I'd like to get both of them to at least 8. Believe me I'm not looking for a short term solution but something more long term. Maybe an RO unit is the way to go. How do you make sure the gh and kh stay up with an RO unit in place? Thanks and keep the comments coming.

[Dwight]

Jim,

If your pond is concrete or plaster it should buffer itself but it will probably be hard to maintain a pH lower than 8.
Dwight

[dick benbow]

Reverse Osmosis water is a very expensive way to correctly bring down PH. With high replacement rates of water, the pond does not have time to work very long on the limited buffer available.

I suggest you read Mike Snaden's info on reverse for understanding. On the world wide web it's Yume koi.

The procedure is learning to mix RO water with regular water in a % so that you have some GH and KH. Understocking with this system is not a bad thing...The amount of wasted water is not to my liking and the replacement cartridges are not cheap.

Baking soda should only be used in emergency situations as the Buffer is too quickly used up making the ph rise and fall adversely affecting your koi's health.

A PH of 8 and 9 will adversely affect your reds.

I suggest you look at your source water PH and if not running a 10% replacement trickle start one immediately to help bring the PH down closer to source water.