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How do i drop the ph in the water as it is 7.6 i have nothing in it yet as u all well know i am just gettin it cycled but i would like to have the ph at maybe 7.0 - 7.2 how do i drop it naturally, or is there no other way bar using chemicals

I would try to stay away from chemicals if possible, IMO. But if you plan to put zebras in that tank they shold be fine with that ph......
Try some RO water with your water changes. After it gets to the desire ph you want mix in about 20% tap water to get in under control....Its all trial and error, just work with your water and your water will work for you.... You can also add some peat moss under the gravel or in the filter box depending on your filteration....Put it in one of those net bags that are used to put carbon,bioballs, etc, because that stuff starts to go everywhere with time.
Some other people here might give you a better solution, but this works for me.

-Jerms

I often hear this RO water i not understand it? it is really weird my community tank is at 7.0 my tap water is 7.0 so why is my zebra tank 7.6 i have a fluval 304 in it and sand substrate at 15mm thick and that is it for now until i cycle it. o yeah sorry 3 neons for this week! lol

What kinda sand is it you are using? This may be the cause of the pH rise. What other kinda decor do you have in the tank?

RO water is basically Reverse Osmosis water....But you say your tap is 7 which is pretty good. I am with Dr.P, maybe its your substrate or some type of decoration, rocks coral, etc[/list][/quote]

All i have in the tank is the sand substrate and 3 neons i am going to buy the rest next month. it is just normal aquarium sand? i am sorry i cant really give u a better desciption than that, normal sandy colour thats as far as i can go really i paid £14.99 for a 12.5 kg bag of it.

I know at some of the LFS around here they put regular sand from the beach and sell it. Maybe its one of those types of sand? Beach or Ocean sand has alot of crushed coral in them and it raises the ph.......But if I were you I wouldn't change it, yoor zebras would do fine wiyh your ph.....maybe it will drop down after a few weeks. How long has your tank been running for?

i only started to cycle it on monday night so 2 days would they manage to breed at 7.6 ?

Shell,

7.6 will be fine for Zebras. RO water will also not alter the pH directly. RO softens the water (GH and KH) and this in turn can lower the pH. KH (Carbonate hardness) basically acts as a buffer, when this falls to a low level the pH can literally crash in a matter of hours, killing your fish.
Therefore, if you do start to use RO water make sure you mix is with some salts (Kent RO right salts) or a small percentage of tap water.

That said, I would leave the water parameters as they are. It is better to settle in fish and keep the parameters steady and then start to alter things (if needed) after a few months. I am guessing any zebras you get will be youngsters anyway, so there will be no need to worry about breeding conditions for a couple of years.

There have also been reports of zebras spawning in virtually all water conditions. It would appear the correct cave size could be a critical factor, maybe more so than anything else?

Regards

Shell,

I would leave the PH alone as some of the others here have suggested. The zebras will be just fine with a PH of 7.6, I have even heard of them being successfully kept at a PH of 8.5. As Tom says your zebras are going to be juveniles not yet ready to breed, it's only when you want to induce spawning that you should be looking to soften your water using a tap water RO mix.

As for the difference of PH in your community tank this can happen in well matured tanks or tanks that have infrequent water changes.

ok what is ideal spawning ph?

Hey shell

I would stick with general consensus of stick with what you have just now. The pH for spawning does seem to vary a fair amount, (like most parameters with the zebra). Bogwood can assist in creating a slightly acidic water, so this may help reduce the pH at a later date.

The tank will probably settle down after a cycle is complete.

Rob

ok thanks i did think it would i have 2 nice piece of wood i will soak them for a while to get some of the dye out and then ill place it in? any idea how long you soak bogwood/mopani wood for?

Can vary immensely. I've had some that have continued to give off tanins for months. I woudl suggest soaking them for at least 6 weeks, chaning the ater regularly. You can get a special compound that assists in "Pulling" the tanins from the wood. I'll try and find out what the name of it is.

Rob

i have been soaking my 2 piece's for 1 weeks 2 days now and they still give off a very strong die solution but i will keep on soaking until i get no more colouring or very little, i change the water every evening which i find really help draw more of the die out! dont know if anyone has found this as well.