Baking Soda?

[laxzilla123]

Is it safe to use baking soda to modify the ph of my water? The change for my fish will be gradual but what I want to do is distill the water and add a little(very little) amount of baking soda to get the ph just around 7. I just wanted make sure this won't harm the fish

 

[StandbySetting]

Yes it is safe.

 

[fluttermoth]

Yes, baking soda won't harm fish, but using distilled water with nothing but baking soda added wouldn't be suitable for fish. You'd want a proper re-mineralising powder like discus people use for their RO water.

Why do you feel you need to do this anyway? Just normal, plain, dechlorinated tap water is more than good enough for 99% of tropical species, unless they are wild caught or particularly delicate.

 

[laxzilla123]

Id like to add cory catfish to my tank and i herd they were particularly sensitive to stuff like ph. I may be just misinformed?

 

[Aljy]

Why do you feel you need to do this anyway? Just normal, plain, dechlorinated tap water is more than good enough for 99% of tropical species, unless they are wild caught or particularly delicate.

In most cases yes, but not all. The tap water in my area is pH 6.0 or thereabouts. Without something to raise the pH, even plants struggle to survive. Assume nothing and test your tap water first.

I use bicarbonate of soda which is also safe, but it's probably worth emphasizing that baking powder is not.

 

[fluttermoth]

Why do you feel you need to do this anyway? Just normal, plain, dechlorinated tap water is more than good enough for 99% of tropical species, unless they are wild caught or particularly delicate.

In most cases yes, but not all. The tap water in my area is pH 6.0 or thereabouts. Without something to raise the pH, even plants struggle to survive. Assume nothing and test your tap water first.

I use bicarbonate of soda which is also safe, but it's probably worth emphasizing that baking powder is not.

Hmmmm...I do agree that very low pH can be a problem, in some circumstances, but I believe that's it's more to do with hardness than the actual ph level. It's probably that your plants struggle to find enough minerals in the water, if it's very soft, rather than anything to do with the pH itself. I live in a very soft water area and have had tanks that have dropped to around pH5 and neither the fish nor the plants have suffered any ill effects.
I would still argue that a proper pH buffer would be better than bicarb; that's just not formulated for fish. Great for raising pH in a fishless cycle, yes, but not as a regular additive for a fish-in situation. There are plenty of remineralising mixes made for RO water and rift valley cichlids and the like that are far better.

In any case, trying to meddle with pH is not an easy task for beginners, and certainly in the OP's case it's not necessary. Most cories are fine in a pH up to 8 or so.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Great for raising pH in a fishless cycle, yes, but not as a regular additive for a fish-in situation.

Actually this is not true. Sodium bicarbonate can be used long term:

To raise the KH without raising the GH, add sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO[sub]3[/sub]), commonly known as baking soda. 1/2 teaspoon per 100 Liters raises the KH by about 1 dH. Sodium bicarbonate drives the pH towards an equilibrium value of 8.2.

I am dealing with an issue of water being too low in TDS (hardness) from my tap. The water is pH 7.0/7.1 (down from 7.4) and the TDS had dropped from about 106-120 down to the low 80s and on occasion 60 ppm. I am using a mix of calcium carbonate (via crushed coral) Epsom salt (Magnesium sulfate) and a small amount of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to raise my TDS to simulate the dry season for pleco breeding.

Now I am dosing this mixture into 7 tanks which collectively hold fish worth about $12,500. I guarantee you I would not be risking so much if it were not safe

Moreover, many African cichlid keepers often use it. But don't take my word for it, Google "baking soda + cichlids".

 

[fluttermoth]

Oh well, I stand corrected!

Still, there's no need for the OP to be faffing about like that just for cories, lol!

 

[laxzilla123]

Hahaha I was just trying to make the optimal conditions for my fish. I'm hoping to get a bigger tank but i want to make sure i understand everything so Im not killing fish. I have a system for filtering the water then adding a little baking soda to raise the ph to about 7.1. I know this is necessarily needed but it may be in the future so i was trying it out.
When it the process is finished it has 20 ppm nitrate, 0ppm nitrite, 150 ppm hardness, 0 ppm chlorine, around 180 ppm alkalinity, and 0ppm ammonia. I thought this was pretty good?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If you check into some of the most popular corys people tend to keep- paleatus, aeneus, panda, sterbai, pygmaaeus you will find they are listed as living in the wild between 6.0 and 7.4/5 pH.

It is far more important to give most fish a stable environment as long as it withing a specified range. If your tap is with that range, trying to change it to be a specific set of numbers often results in more problems than benefits.

 

[laxzilla123]

It is far more important to give most fish a stable environment as long as it withing a specified range. If your tap is with that range, trying to change it to be a specific set of numbers often results in more problems than benefits.

hmmm alright... well the whole reason im actually going through this process is because i use well water which is very hard and the ph is around 8-8.4 depending.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Probably the best route to go and the cheapest over the years is to get yourself an ro unit. then mix the ro water with your tap water to lower the pH and hardness to the desired level. As long as the mix doesn't exceed 50/50 by much, the resulting water should be fine. It will prove much easier, much more stable and much cheaper than any other method of acieving the same result.

However, if you can find local cory breeders who have similar water to yours, you may be able to find fish that will do OK in your pH.

 

[laxzilla123]

Alright thanks for the advice