Many people have been posting asking about the best ways to Alter their pH. So i Wrote this post to link to at a later date to save me some typing.
First of all you should address why you want to Alter your your pH.
Some fish will only breed in softer more acidic water but will often be able to happily adapt to harder more alkaline water. othrs may well live in softer water but will truly thrive with a harder more alkaline enviroment.
Most fish have been commercially bread in fish farms for hundreds of generations, and they have generally been bread in water not perfectly matched to there natural habitat, and so are quite adaptable to various water conditions. So Unless your going for some wild discuss or some breeding project, you probably don`t need to alter your pH at all.
Be warned that changing the pH needs to be done slowly as the pH scale is logarithmic, Meaning that a ph of 8 is 10 times more alkaline than a pH of seven and 100 times more alkaline than a ph of 6. Even an apparently small change in pH can affect fish, causing stress or death.
If you do decide you need to alter your pH you will need to know a little water chemistry.
Carbonate hardness (kH). Refers to the hardness derived mainly from carbonate and bicarbonate ions and directly reflects the buffering capacity of the water. So the kH measures the buffering capacity or the ability to absorb and neutralize added acid without major changes to pH. Think of buffering capacity as a big sponge, the higher the buffering, the bigger the sponge.
General hardness (GH) refers to the dissolved concentration primarily of magnesium and calcium ions. Other ions can contribute to water hardness but are usually insignificant and difficult to measure. When fish are said to prefer ``soft'' or ``hard'' water, it is gH, not kH that is being referred to. gH will not directly affect pH although "hard" water is generally alkaline due to some interaction of gH and kH.
First i`ll deal with lowering the pH
There are several methods of lowering pH
Chemicals
There are various chemical buffering agents that are generally based on phosphate sodium phosphate can be used to alter you tank ph up or down, however this isn't the best method. as the phosphate can be absorbed by plants thusly resulting in a slow rise in ph between water changes. wich will then come down again after you add more water with more buffer... ph swings are not good for the health of your fish...
also any minor mis measure with the amount you add could result in huge ph crashes...
The benefits of this method however is that its cheap and easy. so if your simply wanting to lower the pH to trigger spawning it can be ideal.
Peat
You will find several peat based filter media on the market. This is ideal if your wanting to start a Black water tank as it will darken the water as well as lowering the pH, However it may also release nitrate and phosphate into your tank causing algae. also it will need replacing regularly asthe effects will wain over time.
Add Co2.
This can be expensive to set up however if you like the look of the planted tanks it could be worth looking into. The Co2 will react with the water creating carbonic acid. And so lowering the pH, The drawback is however that too much co2 is bad for your fish. and also it may well cause algae.
resin
there are several resins on the market such as API`s water softening pillow. however these will loose effect over time as they bind up Carbonate and Bicarbonate ions. some can be recharged others need to be replaced...
My method of choice is the R.O mixed with tap water.
first let me explain what R.O is. Reverse osmosis units are used to purify water, they will remove all the mineral content from the water and so all the waters buffering capacity. meaning it is very acidic and soft. As this is the closest thing you will get to pure H20 in your own home.
Any LFS that stocks marines will sell R.O) by the gallon. or in the long term your better off to buy your own r.o unit they aren't that expensive (i think i paid 50 quid for mine) Now you yourself need to do some trail and error, using a clean bucket simply mix 50% R.O and 50% tap water, and measure the pH. You simply need to work your way up or down from there to find the desired pH.
The benefits of this method are that essentially there can be no variation in the water you add to your tank, and the oh should stay stable between water changes.
Raising your pH however is much much simpler.
Essentially to raise the ph you will need to raise the hardness or add some form of alkaline substance to the tank.
Baking soda
One teaspoon of baking soda added to 50 liters of water can raise the kH of the water by approx 4 OdH without a major affect on pH.
Decor
Adding things such as tuffa rock or lime stone to the tank will also raise the pH and hardness of the water.
A good way to test if the stone you add is alkaline is the vinegar test.. drop a few drops od vinegar onto the stone and if it fizzes and melts you can be sure the stone is alkaline,
People who keep rift lake chiclids use this method to raise the oh and hardness of the water.
Crushed clam shell
Adding crushed clam shells in a net bag in your filter will increase the kh and also the pH.
Coral sand
Coral sand can be used as a substrate and is very high in calcium carbonate and so will raise the gh of your tank. and push the pH up
Chemicals
You can again use a phosphate buffer to raise your pH but this has the same drawbacks as before. I.e can be unstable.
Hope some one finds this use full.
Ian
First of all you should address why you want to Alter your your pH.
Some fish will only breed in softer more acidic water but will often be able to happily adapt to harder more alkaline water. othrs may well live in softer water but will truly thrive with a harder more alkaline enviroment.
Most fish have been commercially bread in fish farms for hundreds of generations, and they have generally been bread in water not perfectly matched to there natural habitat, and so are quite adaptable to various water conditions. So Unless your going for some wild discuss or some breeding project, you probably don`t need to alter your pH at all.
Be warned that changing the pH needs to be done slowly as the pH scale is logarithmic, Meaning that a ph of 8 is 10 times more alkaline than a pH of seven and 100 times more alkaline than a ph of 6. Even an apparently small change in pH can affect fish, causing stress or death.
If you do decide you need to alter your pH you will need to know a little water chemistry.
Carbonate hardness (kH). Refers to the hardness derived mainly from carbonate and bicarbonate ions and directly reflects the buffering capacity of the water. So the kH measures the buffering capacity or the ability to absorb and neutralize added acid without major changes to pH. Think of buffering capacity as a big sponge, the higher the buffering, the bigger the sponge.
General hardness (GH) refers to the dissolved concentration primarily of magnesium and calcium ions. Other ions can contribute to water hardness but are usually insignificant and difficult to measure. When fish are said to prefer ``soft'' or ``hard'' water, it is gH, not kH that is being referred to. gH will not directly affect pH although "hard" water is generally alkaline due to some interaction of gH and kH.
First i`ll deal with lowering the pH
There are several methods of lowering pH
Chemicals
There are various chemical buffering agents that are generally based on phosphate sodium phosphate can be used to alter you tank ph up or down, however this isn't the best method. as the phosphate can be absorbed by plants thusly resulting in a slow rise in ph between water changes. wich will then come down again after you add more water with more buffer... ph swings are not good for the health of your fish...
also any minor mis measure with the amount you add could result in huge ph crashes...
The benefits of this method however is that its cheap and easy. so if your simply wanting to lower the pH to trigger spawning it can be ideal.
Peat
You will find several peat based filter media on the market. This is ideal if your wanting to start a Black water tank as it will darken the water as well as lowering the pH, However it may also release nitrate and phosphate into your tank causing algae. also it will need replacing regularly asthe effects will wain over time.
Add Co2.
This can be expensive to set up however if you like the look of the planted tanks it could be worth looking into. The Co2 will react with the water creating carbonic acid. And so lowering the pH, The drawback is however that too much co2 is bad for your fish. and also it may well cause algae.
resin
there are several resins on the market such as API`s water softening pillow. however these will loose effect over time as they bind up Carbonate and Bicarbonate ions. some can be recharged others need to be replaced...
My method of choice is the R.O mixed with tap water.
first let me explain what R.O is. Reverse osmosis units are used to purify water, they will remove all the mineral content from the water and so all the waters buffering capacity. meaning it is very acidic and soft. As this is the closest thing you will get to pure H20 in your own home.
Any LFS that stocks marines will sell R.O) by the gallon. or in the long term your better off to buy your own r.o unit they aren't that expensive (i think i paid 50 quid for mine) Now you yourself need to do some trail and error, using a clean bucket simply mix 50% R.O and 50% tap water, and measure the pH. You simply need to work your way up or down from there to find the desired pH.
The benefits of this method are that essentially there can be no variation in the water you add to your tank, and the oh should stay stable between water changes.
Raising your pH however is much much simpler.
Essentially to raise the ph you will need to raise the hardness or add some form of alkaline substance to the tank.
Baking soda
One teaspoon of baking soda added to 50 liters of water can raise the kH of the water by approx 4 OdH without a major affect on pH.
Decor
Adding things such as tuffa rock or lime stone to the tank will also raise the pH and hardness of the water.
A good way to test if the stone you add is alkaline is the vinegar test.. drop a few drops od vinegar onto the stone and if it fizzes and melts you can be sure the stone is alkaline,
People who keep rift lake chiclids use this method to raise the oh and hardness of the water.
Crushed clam shell
Adding crushed clam shells in a net bag in your filter will increase the kh and also the pH.
Coral sand
Coral sand can be used as a substrate and is very high in calcium carbonate and so will raise the gh of your tank. and push the pH up
Chemicals
You can again use a phosphate buffer to raise your pH but this has the same drawbacks as before. I.e can be unstable.
Hope some one finds this use full.
Ian
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