How do i lower my ph without chemicals

[HorrorShowRot]

Its 7.6 atm and i want to get it down to 6 or so thanks everyone

[Wild Turkey]

wood, lava rock, peat are the ones that come to mind first

[Crispy]

wood, lava rock, peat are the ones that come to mind first

Agreed... lotsa driftwood works great for me.

[gm72]

My first question is why you want to change it in the first place? The stability of the pH, not the actual number, is key.

[KingFisher]

Wood and peat will help, but not as much as you are trying to change it. I have wood, peat, and CO2 in my 90g and it only lowers the ph from 7.4(tap) to 6.6. Without the co2, the ph drops from 7.4 to 7.2 with wood and peat alone. Unless you have a very low Kh, you will not see that great of a change. My Kh is 6. The only sure way I can see for you to achieve that great of a drop is by using RO water.

[smaug]

If you add large amounts of wood [25% of water volume]you can bring the ph down to 6 .As tanks age they naturally come down in ph as well.And as already metioned,kh comes into play with how much you can lower it.Kh higher then 5 or 6 makes it difficult,lower then 3 makes it hard to keep stable.May we ask why you wish to lower so much?

[bushwhacker]

the why question is the first thing comes to my mind.. unless the OP is trying to raise or breed some specific fish theres no need to mess with ph

[smaug]

I lowered mine for years just going for the optimum water conditions.More to add another level to the hobby then for neccessity.It can be done very safely and stability isnt an issue if you want the extra work.

[Lab_Rat]

Why are you trying to lower pH? Unless you are dealing with a super sensitive, picky fish, most tank bred fish will be ok in that pH. Remember a stable pH is much better for fish than a "perfect" pH. Also, if you look for locally bred fish they will be used to the water. That being said, I try to keep fish that prefer the type of tap water I have so I don't have to mess with it.

[HorrorShowRot]

Trying to breed bettas again. But where i used to live the tap water was about 6.7 and here its 7.6. So was trying to get it back to where I always had it. But would 7.6 still be good? Thats the PH in my cichlid tank:hmm3grin2orange: Like to keep it up because they love it

[Lab_Rat]

In your situation I would use RO water then, you won't need much so it shouldn't be too expensive.