how to maintain a pH level....

[penguinpimp1990]

sorry about all the question......but i am trying to maintain a pH level of 7.6 and i was told that using a half teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons would work as a buffer or stabilizer and not harmful to fish...has anyone used this method?

 

[Tempestuousfury]

What is your current pH? It's best not to fool with the pH, since large inadvertant changes can kill your fish.

 

[Def]

Baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is better for raising KH than pH.

 

[corykitty516]

We use it in our swimming pool for pH. I did an experiment on some plain tap water once and it did raise the pH but I chickened out on actually putting it in my tanks. My LFS reccomended a Seachem product but I chickened out on that too. I'd rather not screw around with it. My tap water is about 6.8-7.0 and I think the rocks and stuff in my tank raise it to 7.2. It stays stable there.

How much do you need to raise it by?

 

[penguinpimp1990]

i need to raise it from 6.5 to 7.6 i have chemicals that raise the pH but i was wondering if the baking soda would maintain the pH and keep it from in/de creasing

 

[sammydee]

Hmm you are asking about cycling in your other post so I am assuming that you are quite new to this right?

I would not mess with the pH. Get fish that go with your water, not water that goes with your fish. Otherwise you will get pH flunctuations and all sorts of unwanted side effects.

If you really need to change the pH for breeding or something, you could put a shell or something calcaerous in there and that would act as a buffer to keep it alkaline. And make sure you know what cycling is before you even think about putting any fish in your tank PLEASE! I made that mistake the first time as well.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

I second that and have posted similarly in your other thread.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

so my pH has been hovering around 6.7 the last few days........so i should look for fish that fit that pH

 

[penguinpimp1990]

if i got the pH level up to 7.6 while theres no fish in the tank could i add chemical buffers to maintain the pH with no unwanted side effects?

 

[sammydee]

I think it would be possible to do it with calcaerous stuff like shells like I previously said, but if you have acid water from the tap it would mean that the water would get very hard.

I would strongly recommend leaving the pH as it is when it comes out of the tap and getting fish that suit it. Any fish that needs about neutral water will be completely fine in pH 6.7 except for breeding purposes or if they are particularly sensitive.

Most amazonian fish like neon tetras will be perfectly suited to pH 6.7.
Test the tapwater instead of the tank water by the way because I have heard that the build up of chemicals that you get whilst cycling can have funny effects on the pH.

Again, I will say that it is much, much easier to get fish for your water than to continually fiddle around and interfere with the water chemistry every time you do a water change.