Need help breeding German Blue Rams

[AngelZee]

Alright so I currently have a pair trying to breed in my community 50g tank which has cories, mollies, danios, and the 2 rams.

Just recently they began showing breeding behavior and I know this as I have had rams breed before (but never actually succesfully)

I have been preparing my old 30g tank into a breeding tank for them and now all the water conditions are stable.
It used to have ammonia, nitrate because it was overstocked but it is now good.

The only problem now is my pH.

My tap water is 7.6 pH and even with driftwood that i had in the tank for like 3 years, it never dropped as the water is very hard. (not sure how much since my test for that is expired)

Anyways i have been doing research on how to lower pH and hardness but also keep it steady and alot of sources state to purchase like RO/DI filters or units that cost like $100+ and i dont have that type of money right now so is there any other alternative?

Something not too expensive that works. Because chemicals only alter them suddenly but dont keep them steady.
Would it be possible to actually breed the rams successfully in my water conditions?

7.6 pH with hard water that I'm not too sure how hard it is.

I have had rams lay eggs before in the 30g tank but they failed many times for several factors such as them being terrible parents, other fish eating them, or fungus attacks. However, once they did hatch but parents didnt take care of them properly.

So now they are going to be alone in the 30g tank, the tank is fully established with a Fluval 206 temp will be kept in the low to mid 80s F and it is planted with one large flat piece of driftwood that they will most likely use. (It is basically unavoidable so if they dont use it i will be mad lol)

Can someone help me figure out how to keep a lower steady pH and hardness please, thank you.

I'm new to these forums as well and plan on being active :)

[ScottFish]

Have you tried peat? It has a relatively short shelf life, but you can buy it (organic --no additives!) at any home improvement store. Another direction is to buy a smaller tank (they are cheap) and buy water; this is obviously cheaper than buying an RO unit.

Welcome to the Forum BTW!

[ballpc]

Hi AngelZee, welcome to the forum. You could always do like I do with my "rock hard" Ohio water and dilute it with rain water. Another option would be to purchase some R/O water from a local fish store. Around here it goes for about 50 cents a gallon.

Best of luck with your breeding project!

Dennis