Baking soda buffer?

[Jae1525]

I heard that if you put baking soda in your tank it acts as a buffer.

Is that true?
How much per gal?

 

[FrankSlapperinni]

Baking soda acts as a buffer, but also raises your pH to about 8.2. It doesn't matter how much you add, the pH will never go above 8.2, but the more you add the higher your GH will go (I'm not sure what the adequate amount would be to add to a tank though).

 

[Jae1525]

Hmmmm.

Where I live (south manchester) our water is softer than mike tysons face after lenox sorted him!

I get

PH 7.0
Gh <3
Kh <3
Nitrate, nitrite and amonia 0.

I just wanted it above 3 to keep it more stable but i cant have a ph that high!!

 

[Bangin]

Frank's post is a bit misleading. It will not increase your ph to 8.2 if used properly. The measurement is 1 teaspoon to 10-15 gallons will increase your kH by 4°. You can increase/decrease the measurement to suit your needs.

Baking soda does not increase nor decrease the GH. Only the kH and pH are affected by the addition of baking soda.

 

[Jae1525]

Dam this is confusing.

Before i joined this forum my fishkeeping life was so much easier!
I just knew the basics and tested my water for amonia, ph, nitrate, nitrite!
I'm glad I'm learning lots tho (thanks 4 all you help guys)
How do I raise gh? My catfish would much prefer a higher gh and I plan to get a rainbow/red tailed shark for my 40uk gal and they like it higher than 10.

 

[tstenback]

This may provide some insight for you. Its quite a good article and covers alot of the things that show up here quite often. Enjoy

 

[Jae1525]

Cheers tstenback!!!