True or False

[tank]

Someone once told me the bicarb of sada can be used to lower ph
just like the ph down you buy from lfs is the true or false

[spencer]

Hi Vince
It will lower PH, I just dont know if it the best thing to use on your discus
Cheers Max

[Merrilyn]

Whoah...................hang on there. :shock:

Bicarbonate of Soda will certainly alter your pH.

But it will raise it, not lower it.

It can be used in an emergency when your pH begins to drop and you are unable to do an immediate water change.

Buffer your water with shell grit and you won't have that problem.

[Mattzilla]

ladyred, do you have shell grit in all your discus tanks? what effect on your water does it have appart from buffering qualities? how much shell grit per tank do you use

thanks matt

[Benny]

A handful is her general rule of tumb, methinks

[tank]

ok then LR what about baking soda

[Merrilyn]

Hi Matt. Yes I do use shellgrit in all my tanks apart from the breeding tanks. Because our Melbourne water is so very soft, with almost no buffering capacity of it's own, adding shellgrit simply adds mineral salts and calcium to the water to keep the pH stable.

I don't do anything terribly scientific. Around a cup of shellgrit in a 4 foot tank, or half a cup in a 3 footer. As a bonus, it also gives me good bone growth in the fry. I replace the shellgrit every month.

HTH

[Mattzilla]

thanks :)

[Merrilyn]

Hi tanks. Baking soda is the same thing. Simply another name for Sodium Bicarbonate. Your mum probably used it when baking cakes.

Try a little experiment yourself with a glass of tank water. Do your tests before and after adding baking soda, and see the results. Only use a small amount, like a pinch or so in the glass. You would normally use a level tablespoon full in a four foot tank, so the amount needed is quite small.

Just remember that carb soda is alkaline. To lower pH you would need an acid.

[spencer]

Sorry bout that
Knew it did one or the other
suppose it makes sense, it is the ingredient in antacidcs
cheers

[Merrilyn]

No need to be sorry Spencer. We're all learning here. This is just a place to ask questions, and share knowledge.

No one will ever get shot down for trying to answer a question :P

[duck]

If are making toffee,Before you take it off the heat add some bicarb and you will have some honeycomb :lol:

[spencer]

Thanks Merrilyn :oops:

[kalebjarrod]

Bi-carb

what a product

used in the best anzac biscuts

in extending the life of DIY co2 systems

Ph adjustments

Cleaning

absorbing smells

the list goes on and on :wink: for such a small product

[Davo]

tank,

Baking Soda will raise your KH. 1 x teaspoon per 50 litres will raise your KH by 4 degrees (68ppm).

Dave.

[tank]

Hi Davo
why would i want to raise my kh is this a good thing to do ?
the reason i asked about the bicarb is i thought it was a cheaper way of buffering . my ph is always around 7 .2 and i would like it to be a little under that i have a 4x2x2 with 3x2x2 sump with pete in sump and in storage drum display tank has about 40 kilo of driftwood so my wate is soft as I was just being a tight as

[kevkoi]

Sodium Bicarb is something fish keepers use to INCREASE the pH relatively quickly. It may not be something a discus keeper would use particularly, but it's a favourite amoung the African riftlake cichlid keepers.

A buffer is something that will try and counter the movement of your pH either way, ie keep your pH steady. In a tank with fish and a bioload in it, there is a tendency for pH to shift towards the acidic scale. Addition of something with CaCO3 (Calcium carbonate) eg shellgrit, like that which LR suggested, has a tendency to buffer the pH. Too much shellgrit however, would also increase the pH... and increase the kH.

Basically if you want to lower your pH, it will be the addition of an acid like phosphoric acid or something like a propriety pH Down. However, if you add an acid, and you have very soft water (low kH), your tank will have a tendency to slide relatively quickly towards the acidic scale, especially if you feed heavily or have a relatively overstocked tank. If you do not check the pH regularly, this can result in a devastating pH crash.

Getting a balance is a fine line between doing too much and doing too little... There are no hard and fast, sure fire ways of achieving it. All you can do is nudge your pH in whichever direction you would like it to go. As to if it stays at where you would like it to, cross your fingers. :lol:

[Dee]

Great post Kev, very imformative !

Cheers,

Dee :)

[tank]

yes very helpfull
I think i will leave well enough alone

[Davo]

Kev,

Regarding the use of baking soda to raise KH, is it ok to use long term?

I have used Sera KH/PH plus before and it worked well but it can be costly.

Also by using KH/PH Plus does it raise the PH as well as the KH as I don't want to raise my PH as it is controlled by a controller and is stable.

My plants were not growing and after testing my KH I discovered that I had 0 KH. I raised it to 4 and the plants went crazy.

Thanks,
Dave.