Baking Soda To Raise Ph

[StandbySetting]

Just to clarify, by large change I mean large drop in pH.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I believe that is what Gville had happen. pH from 8.4 dropped to about 6.0 in a few hours due to a large water change.

 

[Gvilleguy]

Correct - it probably took a day to settle from 8 down to 6. I went about 8 months dealing with fluctuations due to the low pH (like minor tank cleanings would cause a mini-cycle as the bacteria took so long to recover in 6.0 pH). So I finally went with a small bag of crushed coral in the outflow of my filter and the pH settled into a steady 7.2 - much easier to deal with in the long run.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Yeah, I'm lucky, my pH has been a solid 6.8 since I introduced fish.

 

[blappy]

Baking soda? Do you think salinizing the water may have ill effects on some plants? and fish, if you ever add them.

Isn't pH affected by dissolved oxygen? I forgot whether higher or lower ph means more or less oxygen. Or was it carbon dioxide... :3

 

[Gvilleguy]

Well baking soda is only for a fishless cycle - most of us find greater success when we boost the pH up around 8.2 to 8.4 during the fishless cycle. The bacteria that we want to grow in the filter prefer that range. I did not have live plants during my cycle, so I cannot comment on whether or not it is good for them. And then the final stage of the fishless cycle is to run a qualifying week and do a 100% water change to reset everything. So any effects from the baking soda are eliminated before you add fish.