Raising PH

[TwoTankAmin]

What are seashells mostly made of?

Strong, healthy seashells are made mostly of calcium carbonate. (So are eggshells!)

Calcium raises GH but calcium is hard to dissolve in water.

Carbonates are a major contributor to KH along with bicarbonates. They may also be use by plants and the nitrifying bacteria which use inorganic carbon.

Buffering Capacity (KH, Alkalinity)​

Buffering capacity refers to water's ability to keep the pH stable as acids or bases are added. pH and buffering capacity are intertwined with one another; although one might think that adding equal volumes of an acid and neutral water would result in a pH halfway in between, this rarely happens in practice. If the water has sufficient buffering capacity, the buffering capacity can absorb and neutralize the added acid without significantly changing the pH. Conceptually, a buffer acts somewhat like a large sponge. As more acid is added, the ``sponge'' absorbs the acid without changing the pH much. The ``sponge's'' capacity is limited however; once the buffering capacity is used up, the pH changes more rapidly as acids are added.

Buffering has both positive and negative consequences. On the plus side, the nitrogen cycle produces nitric acid (nitrate). Without buffering, your tank's pH would drop over time (a bad thing). With sufficient buffering, the pH stays stable (a good thing). On the negative side, hard tap water often almost always has a large buffering capacity. If the pH of the water is too high for your fish,the buffering capacity makes it difficult to lower the pH to a more appropriate value. Naive attempts to change the pH of water usually fail because buffering effects are ignored.

In freshwater aquariums, most of water's buffering capacity is due to carbonates and bicarbonates. Thus, the terms ``carbonate hardness''(KH), ``alkalinity'' and ``buffering capacity'' are used interchangeably. Although technically not the same things, they are equivalent in practice in the context of fishkeeping. Note: the term ``alkalinity''should not be confused with the term ``alkaline''. Alkalinity refers to buffering, while alkaline refers to a solution that is a base (i.e., pH> 7).

Your KH test told you have between 0 a 1 dg KH. You need to raise your KH to get the pH up. Do you have a home water softener? It is not all that common to have a KH that low from the tap especially since you have GH. What is your water change Schedule? Also, what are you tap water parameters?

General Hardness

0 - 4 dH, 0 - 70 ppm : very soft
4 - 8 dH, 70 - 140 ppm : soft
8 - 12 dH, 140 - 210 ppm : medium hard
12 - 18 dH, 210 - 320 ppm : fairly hard
18 - 30 dH, 320 - 530 ppm : hard
higher : liquid rock (Lake Malawi and Los Angeles, CA)

You clearly have soft water.

Changing one's water chemostry in a stable way is not so easy. Raising is usually easier than lowering. I have well water at about 7.0 pH and it is soft and moderate KH. But over 23+ years the pH has swung between thet 7.0 and 7.4. I tend to measure TDS rather than GH and KH. ANd I have seen my tap as low as 53 ppm and as high as 120 ppm. But these swings have been over years not days, weeks or even months. I have one tank where I keep the fish at pH 6.0 and TDS in the 60 ppm range. These number change some between water changes which are done with pre-prepared water useual a mig of 11/9 with RO.DI/Tap. I use botanicals and muriatic acid to help keep the numbers in the desired range and water tea stained.

I have brought the fish in this tank having been caught in the wild weeks earlier. They went into a tank at pH 4.0 and TDS in thr 20-30 ppm range. It was easier to keep the tank at those numbers than what I do now. And If I wanted to do Rift lake cichlids I could get mu numbers much higher easier than what I do now. Small parameter alterations are harder than larger ones.

Finally, what is the volume of the tank. I would suggest you start by adding a bag of crushed coral to your filter if that is possible. How much depends on your tank size and filter type. Many years ago I did a high tech planted tank where I added CO2. I needed to help the KH some as the CO2 causes water to become more acid. I had to bite the bullet and buy a 25 lb. bag of it sold as substrate. I still have plenty of crushed coral left.

 

[jaylach]

Calcium raises GH but calcium is hard to dissolve in water.

Carbonates are a major contributor to KH along with bicarbonates. They may also be use by plants and the nitrifying bacteria which use inorganic carbon.



Your KH test told you have between 0 a 1 dg KH. You need to raise your KH to get the pH up. Do you have a home water softener? It is not all that common to have a KH that low from the tap especially since you have GH. What is your water change Schedule? Also, what are you tap water parameters?



You clearly have soft water.

Changing one's water chemostry in a stable way is not so easy. Raising is usually easier than lowering. I have well water at about 7.0 pH and it is soft and moderate KH. But over 23+ years the pH has swung between thet 7.0 and 7.4. I tend to measure TDS rather than GH and KH. ANd I have seen my tap as low as 53 ppm and as high as 120 ppm. But these swings have been over years not days, weeks or even months. I have one tank where I keep the fish at pH 6.0 and TDS in the 60 ppm range. These number change some between water changes which are done with pre-prepared water useual a mig of 11/9 with RO.DI/Tap. I use botanicals and muriatic acid to help keep the numbers in the desired range and water tea stained.

I have brought the fish in this tank having been caught in the wild weeks earlier. They went into a tank at pH 4.0 and TDS in thr 20-30 ppm range. It was easier to keep the tank at those numbers than what I do now. And If I wanted to do Rift lake cichlids I could get mu numbers much higher easier than what I do now. Small parameter alterations are harder than larger ones.

Finally, what is the volume of the tank. I would suggest you start by adding a bag of crushed coral to your filter if that is possible. How much depends on your tank size and filter type. Many years ago I did a high tech planted tank where I added CO2. I needed to help the KH some as the CO2 causes water to become more acid. I had to bite the bullet and buy a 25 lb. bag of it sold as substrate. I still have plenty of crushed coral left.

Interesting info but I still must say that I have found it is best to not try to control basic water chemistry to fit fish. I find it normally much better to populate with fish that fit the water.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I agree and my other 19 tanks do that. But I also keep Altum angels and my tap is not the best for them. I also breed a few [lecos species and have needed to do dry rainy seasons occasionally. I used to do it by hardening my tap to simulate the dry and then use my tap for the rainy. But when I was finally ready to try altums, I got and RO/DI unit, TDS pens and a continuous 3-way digital monitor for Temp., Conductivity/TDS and pH. I stain their water which pretty much rules out the use of tests that rely on colors for the results.

But it is definitely easier to make soft water hard than the reverse. It is easier to raise the pH than to lower it. All my other tanks have fish that work fine in my tap params.

But not all of us are lucky enough to have water from out tap good for any fish. Whole house water softeners may be the issue. Naturaally very hard or soft water also can make fish keeping hard. But for most of us in the hobby changing parameters is not a great idea. It is not so easy as it sounds on paper. It is also not cheap to do. My monitor over about $250, my 2nd RO/DI unit was about $170 delivered. And I have alder cones, almond leaves and rooibos tea in use as well. But the fish are so darn pretty. You can probably count on your fingers and toes the number of people who can breed Altum angels in captivity, I am not one of them.