Safe Method To Raise Ph

[mnemonik23]

Finally my tank has cycled and yesterday I started with a few fishes

What if pH drops?
What is the safe method to raise it back without harming fish and bacteria?

During cycling I used baking soda to raise it up. Will be be safe for fish and bacteria?

Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

yep you can use sodium bicarbonate to raise the PH up with fish in the tank. However, you only want to raise it a small amount each day, ie: from 6.5 to 6.6 one day, then to 6.7 the next.
You can use a mineral salt (rift lake water conditioner) to increase the general hardness and carbonate hardness and that will help prevent the PH fluctuating.
You can add some limestone, shells, or coral rubble to the tank and it will help stabilise/ raise the PH.

 

[erk628]

Finally my tank has cycled and yesterday I started with a few fishes

What if pH drops?
What is the safe method to raise it back without harming fish and bacteria?

During cycling I used baking soda to raise it up. Will be be safe for fish and bacteria?

Thanks!

What type of fish do you have and what is your ph

 

[backtotropical]

pH tends to fall during cycling because of all the ammonia which is being processed, resulting in an end product of nitrous / nitric acid (can't remember which) which drives the pH down.

This doesn't usually continue to the same extent once the fish are added, so you may not need to take any action at all to stabilise your pH.

What is the pH of your tap water? So long as the pH of your tap water is of a reasonable level (between 6.5 - 8.5), all that should really be required to prevent the pH falling is regular water changes.

Avoid pH adjusting chemicals. They usually do more harm than good.

Cheers

BTT

 

[jumblepod]

If your ph is between 6-8 i wouldnt mess with it. Can be more trouble than its worth!!!

 

[drobbyb]

I have experience with hardening the water. Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate) is a good way to raise it quickly. You can go by this link here: http/dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/calKH.asp

An alternative to this is adding a bag of crushed coral to your filter. This will gradually raise the ph and hardness avoiding pH shock from too much baking soda.

I use the second method.

 

[waterdrop]

What BTT has said is very important. You should try to see whether weekly water changes will take care of your pH situation once cycling is over. Often this will be enough and is very much preferable. Cycling pushes significantly harder in the downward direction than normal running of the tank.

But if water changes turn out to not be enough, then drobbyb has got it right in his post: crushed coral in a small amount bagged in the filter is probably a good first choice. As Colin says, any number of things will accomplish the buffering and subsequent movement of pH. Many TFF members have reported that crushed coral does this in a nice slow manner and using a mesh bag will help you keep this a reversable process.

Still, bottom line, resist doing this unless you absolutely have to.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[mnemonik23]

Oh, absolutely!

I'm just being paranoid and asked in case if my pH will drop when I have fishes in the tank.
So far it is 7.2 and holding.

Thanks for your replies!

 

[waterdrop]

So mnemonik, just for clarity of this thread, how about telling us roughly what you usually expect your tap water pH to be and then the high to low range your tank pH has been (just after adding fresh tap water and then what its dropping to during fishless). Then maybe you'll be able to come back here later and show us whether you get a smaller range after you've got fish.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

Something to be aware of when you have fish is that it is better to bring the pH back by doing a water change than with bicarbonate. The baking soda is a good quick fix for a cycle, but if you have tap at 7.2 I see no reason to take that shortcut with fish in the tank.