Are Sabal Palm branches Safe? (Needing to lower PH) Freshwater

[JustSalty]

Never had issues with PH before… yet I never was on well water either. Bear with me, this is a long post. Sorry in advance!

Went to the pet store to get some fish to add to my 75 gallon and also to have them test my water. The store employee used API strips and kinda freaked me out a bit. Instead of walking out with fish, I walked out with Seachem’s Neutral regulator instead. I was told that my water needed to match theirs better. The only real difference been the pet store & mine was the PH and maybe hardness. Their ph was 7.5 mine was 8.2 ish at the time for my 75 gallon. Pond water ph was and is a high of 8.4.

I’m hesitant to use the Neutral regulator in my 75 gallon since I have shrimp in it. I would rather try a natural approach, like using wood, leaves etc. to lower ph levels naturally. Since, I live in Florida I have plenty of Sabal palms, oat leaves and such available. Would sabal palms be safe to add to my tanks? I already have some oak leaves in the tanks but I’m not noticing anything. Any special prep that I have to do to use them?

Another question is if I mix soft water from my of my soft water pipes to these tanks say 50/50 would that balance things out better?

I never had issues with purchasing fish before for a tank but I was always on city water and not well. I also never asked what their water parameters were before purchasing fish and tested my water at the same time.

Please see pictures of my current water parameters. Here are my current inhabitants for each tank:

In my outside pond:
(galvanized stock tank)

Comet/Shubunkin Goldfish (only)
Recommended Parameters:

• KH 70-140ppm.
• GH 150ppm.
• Temperature 20-24°C (tolerance range: 8-30°C)
• pH 6.5-7.5 (tolerance range: 5.0-9.0)
• Freshwater

Quarantine Tank:
snails/plants
Ram horn snails:
pH Range: 6.2 – 8.0, (lifespan longer in alkaline pH.)
Temperature Range: 71.6° - 87.8° F
GH Range: 8-12 GH
KH Range: 4-6 KH2 - 12
TDS Range: 175-250

75 gallon tank:
Ram horn snails- see above
Neocaridina shrimp:
Parameter Range:
GH of 9-11
KH 4-6
PH of 6.5-8.0
Temperature 57-86° F
(Neocaridina shrimp can adapt to a wide range of parameters in general.)
Freshwater

Guppies wild/fancy mix:
Temperature 72-82°F (22-28°C)
pH 6.8 – 7.8
GH 6 to 8 dGH or 100-140 ppm
KH 4 to 8 dKH or 70 to 140 pp


Below fish are on my wishlist:
German Blue Rams
Parameters:

• Ph: 6.5 to 7.5
• Gh: 6 to 15
• Kh: 2 to 5
• TDS: 100 to 200
• Temp: 78 to 86
• Freshwater

I would like some kind of true freshwater puffer hoping for a SAP since they can be with other community fish. But, I don’t mind if it is the only species in the tank. Especially, if a brackish puffer would be best suited for my water situation. I have had full marine aquariums in the past and never had any issues. I was on city water though.

South Amazon/American (SAP)

• PH: 6.0 - 8.0
• Temp: 72-82°F
• N03: below 15ppm (as close to zero as possible)
• NH3/NH4+: 0ppm
• N02: 0ppm
• GH: 4-15 dGH
• Freshwater

Green Spotted puffer:

• Gh: 8 to 16
• Kh: 10-20
• TDS:
• Temp:70 to 74
• Ph 7.5 to 8.2
• Brackish

F8 Puffer:

• Ph 7.2-8.2
• Brackish
• Hard & alkaline
• dH: 12-25 degrees.

Pea puffer:

• Ph:7.2 to 7.5
• Gh: 8 to 16
• Kh: 4 to 7
• TDS:180 to 250
• Temp:70 to 74
• Freshwater

Peacock Goby (Gudgeon):

• Ph: 6.5 to 7.5
• Gh: 6 to 15
• Kh: 2 to 5
• TDS: 100 to 200
• Temp: 78 to 86
• Freshwater

Bubble bee goby:

• pH: 7.0- 8.5
• Temperature: 72° - 84° F
• KH: 6 -20 KH
• Minimum tank size: 10 gallons
• Freshwater

As far as the above types of fish that I would love to have in my 75 gallon, I understand I won’t be able to keep all of these together since each require different water parameters. I also understand my water parameters need to be adjusted and maintained depending on whatever fish I decide to go with. But based on my current water parameters (see pictures) I trying to figure out the best route and fish to go with. I really don’t want to have a bunch of guppies in there.

Thank you for any kind advice, suggestions or tips.

 

[griss]

Honestly, when I kept freshwater, I never tested for anything other than ammonia. Have a small (500 gallon) pond in the backyard and never tested that water either. I’ve always just slowly acclimated the fish to my tank/pond water and that was it.

 

[kharmaguru]

If you're topping off evaporation with tap water your PH will continue to stay high because the salts are accumulating. Top off with RO water if you aren't already. I know this is difficult with ponds ( mine has high PH too). You'll have to do water changes with low PH water if you want some immediate results although there are also PH down products you could add ( I've never done that and I think the PH usually just rebounds anyway). I used to run a canister filter full of peat moss to keep the PH down on my discus tank. Worked very well but note it adds a golden tinge to the water. I liked it - looked natural - but you may not.

 

[JustSalty]

Honestly, when I kept freshwater, I never tested for anything other than ammonia. Have a small (500 gallon) pond in the backyard and never tested that water either. I’ve always just slowly acclimated the fish to my tank/pond water and that was it.

Same here! Had tanks salt/fresh, turtles and everything else that could put in water minus a whale or shark! Everything lived no issues… These days everything seems so complicated! I’m old and my brain is not like it was!

 

[griss]

Eh, there’s a lot of us old timers here

 

[JustSalty]

Eh, there’s a lot of us old timers here

I’m glad I’m not alone! Lol

 

[JustSalty]

If you're topping off evaporation with tap water your PH will continue to stay high because the salts are accumulating. Top off with RO water if you aren't already. I know this is difficult with ponds ( mine has high PH too). You'll have to do water changes with low PH water if you want some immediate results although there are also PH down products you could add ( I've never done that and I think the PH usually just rebounds anyway). I used to run a canister filter full of peat moss to keep the PH down on my discus tank. Worked very well but note it adds a golden tinge to the water. I liked it - looked natural - but you may not.

Good tips… I’m all for that natural feel/look and I wish I had the room for a canister at this moment in time.

These are newly cycled tanks so I haven’t done a big water change yet. But, I have been trying to top off with my RO water but my RO is only a one gallon bladder so it takes a while to refill... I usually just us my well water. I guess I’m stuck with an endless cycle of high PH. I hope that the palm branches can help with lowering the ph we shall see. I also guess I will have to pass on the species that wouldn't do well in a higher ph tank. Or I could go back to saltwater/marine.

I guess there are benefits to having regulated city water!

Thank again for all of one’s input

 

[JustSalty]

Doing the math and I haven’t done a water change since it’s was a newer cycled tank (it was about 8 weeks ago since I started it up). The quarantine tank however, I just recently setup many be a 2 weeks ago… I’ve been used Seachem’s prime, stability to jump start everything… but I’ve been just topping the water off when I needed too. So, I’m not sure if that would be keeping th ph higher… my well water is what I’m using and it is lower (7.4 ph) than all my tanks… I’m not very savvy when it comes to water chemistry.