0 Kh

[Bath Tussue]

i notice my tank water is quite acidic (6.0 or below) so i went and bought a KH/GH testing kit.
KH is 0 from the tap.
GH is about 3 (degrees) from the tap.

is there anyway i can rise the KH?

 

[the biffster]

a small amount of coral gravel in a filter bag and placed in the tank or a piece of tufa rock placed in the tank
should bring it up here were i live we have the same problem and this is what i do i have seen my pH
drop to below 5 in a week


good look biff

 

[rocknurworld2006]

a small amount of coral gravel in a filter bag and placed in the tank or a piece of tufa rock placed in the tank
should bring it up here were i live we have the same problem and this is what i do i have seen my pH
drop to below 5 in a week


good look biff

i agree you can any of these or coral as well, dont use any liquid buffers though!

 

[rdd1952]

What is the pH of your tap water?

 

[CFC]

Bicarbonate of soda is the best thing to bring the KH up without effecting the pH, just add half a level teaspoon of bicarb for each 5 gallons of new water when doing water changes to gradually bring the KH up without stressing the fish.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Yeah Bi-carb is a good way to bring it up, Crush coral also works pretty well but is harder to regulate.

Alternativley you can also swap houses with me. I would love to trade the liquid rock that comes out of my taps for some nice softe acidic water

 

[Bath Tussue]

What is the pH of your tap water?

ph 6.6




i think i might try the coral sand idea first because that way i don't have to add it at every water change

 

[CFC]

The trouble with using sand or rocks in the aquarium is that over time they become less effective as bio film grows over them and seals in the calcium, bio film is a part of every tank and cannot be prevented as it is a natural process of time. Unless you consistently monitor the KH levels on a weekly basis you wont know that the levels have dropped until a pH crash happens again and then you are back to square one. Far better to know that the water you put in is good and not have the worry IMO.

 

[Tobigara]

Bicarbonate of soda is the best thing to bring the KH up without effecting the pH, just add half a level teaspoon of bicarb for each 5 gallons of new water when doing water changes to gradually bring the KH up without stressing the fish.

this is baking soda right? also, are you talking about uk gallons? i was told 1tsp per 50 liters/13 us gallons which is close to what you say but not quite the same.

I hope you don't mind me jumping in on this Bath Tussue. I have the same problem.

 

[black angel]

My own tap water is that soft too and ive never had any problems with keeping fish. As long as you do regular water changes and keep fish suited for it then its fine.
Most fish will adapt to what the water is though breeding certain types may prove hard.

I keep my pond fish in this water too and they should have high alkaline and ph but are thriving all the same.

What type of fish do you have?

 

[CFC]

Yep baking soda and no its US gallons so it would be a whole level teaspoon in 10 US gallons. Once you get the feel of how much you need to add you can increase or decrease the ammount to whatever level you need to still maintain a stable pH but retain the softwater.

 

[Tobigara]

My own tap water is that soft too and ive never had any problems with keeping fish. As long as you do regular water changes and keep fish suited for it then its fine.
Most fish will adapt to what the water is though breeding certain types may prove hard.

I keep my pond fish in this water too and they should have high alkaline and ph but are thriving all the same.

What type of fish do you have?

i have nw cichlids for the most part but a few plecos, corys and synos. my kh is 0 so regardless of what i do it seems my ph swings. sometimes as much as 1.5 in either direction week to week.

Yep baking soda and no its US gallons so it would be a whole level teaspoon in 10 US gallons. Once you get the feel of how much you need to add you can increase or decrease the ammount to whatever level you need to still maintain a stable pH but retain the softwater.

More than one website has told me the same but i needed to hear it from here. Thank You.

My tap water ph is 7. will adding baking soda raise my ph as well as my kh or will it just keep it stable at 7?

if i can pich your brain a bit more... i only have a 3.5 gallon bucket for clean water. how would you add the proper amount of baking soda to a 60 gallon tank? should i mix a level tsp to each of 6 buckets during water changes? would that amount of baking soda hurt the fish? and should i remove the crushed coral i have in there?

 

[rdd1952]

When you do water changes, 1 tsp for 3 buckets of water would be fine (1 to 10.5 gallons) that would be about a 20% WC after you figure displacement of water by substrate, decorations, etc. For the first treatment, I would add 5 tsp (total) with a water change. If you use the baking soda, take the coral out.

 

[CFC]

I wouldnt add that much altered water to start with, to begin i would only add the bicarb to roughly the equivilent of a 10% water change (in your case around 6 gallons) so i would just put half a teaspoon of bicarb between two buckets and then do the rest of the water change as you normally do.
Once the KH in the tank starts to come up after a few weeks you can increase the ammount to 4 buckets and eventually all 6 buckets, what you dont want to do is have the KH in the tank jump up and put the fish into shock.

 

[Bath Tussue]

since i couldn't find the coral sand in the pet store i usually go to, i bought some baking soda.
before adding any to my tank, i tested it with tap water. i added a pinch of baking soda in some water.
it really does rise KH, which is good
since i wonder what it will do to PH, i took some tank water, fill it into the test tube, added the PH test liquid into the tube (tank water is at or beloe 6.0, as i expected), and added a tiny pinch of baking soda into the tube.
the tube instantly change colour from yellow to blue. ph7.6.
so i test it again with the high range ph test liquid.
with just tank water, it is a the bottom of the colour range. after adding baking soda, it rised to 8.0~8.2.
is that right?