Alkalinity???

[Fyredawn]

Hey all. Have had problems with ph in my 30g tank and petsmart person says it's due to gh kh problems. I do not have a LFS to go to that is not over an hour away. (unless someone lives near southern pines nc and knows of one????) anyway testing kit (API) says... Ammo 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 5 Gh kh testing strip by mardel.....hardness 300. Alkalinity 0 Ph right now is 8.2 and can fluctuate all the way down to 6.2... To try to combat this I have been told to put coral stones in my tank (have not really helped) then was told to put tetra easy balance, Which brought up ph to high 8's. I can't seem to balance it out and keep it steady Help!!!! I have fish dying periodically and feel really bad.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

First off, I'd suggest you not use GH/KH test strips any more than using strips to test water quality (ammo/no2/no3/pH). I'd also suggest you not listen to much anybody at Petsmart has to say since selling you one product after another is the only motivation they have.

If your pH is stable, leave it alone IMO/E. If you're having issues with unstable pH, there's many ways to deal with it and not empty your wallet.

If your pH is fluctuating 2 full points, it sounds like soft water and the best way I've found to deal with it is crushed coral. Using chems to fix it can be tricky and can creat other problems, so I'd recommend not adding any and certainly not adding different fixes all at once.

 

[jetajockey]

One other thing that helps with really soft water is to do frequent water changes, whats your water change schedule like now?

 

[Fyredawn]

Hey I usually know not to believe petsmart people but untill I got on here I really didn't have many resources and the person there seemed to be pretty good when talking to her. She has had aquariums most her life. (truly i am not an idiot to believe someone just cause she works there without long conversations about different things) She is stumped on this. I will have to buy test kit online for gh kh then.... That is the only one they sell in the area. I put coral pieces in and that didn't help. It seems to be more unstable the more I do water changes so I do a once a week pwc @ 20% Change filter once a month. If I wasn't periodically loosing fish to this I would just let it go... I guess I did forget to add that if I don' t put the balancer in my ph will crash to low 6's when I put none in for long periods then fluctuates in the 6's to if I'm lucky low 7's I'm talking day to day ph changes here and they trend more to the low 6's . Yes all hallmarks of soft water from what I can research. What I am not finding is a way to alleviate it without buying water which I have a philosophical problem with. And I'm not happy buying balancer either, there has got to be a way to naturally fix this. Someone once told me baking soda will work but I'm afraid of using it don't know how much and have NO clue what it will do to my fish. I had aquariums most of my life growing up so not a complete novice and am just getting back into it well for the last year. This has been a persistent problem since I started this tank.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I understand about the Petsmart salesperson, I have 2 at my Pecto that are well versed and have their own tanks (FW/SW/Ponds), yet one spent 15 minutes trying talk me out of an API test kit for a plethora of reasons, but in the end it came down to me spending $32 on it and by now with 4 tanks I'd have spent over $100 on the strips he said were the better choice. My point is, in the end they're there to make a sale/profit, period. No one here (sans fish/plant sellers) are out to get your money.

People here have used baking soda and as a temporary fix it is useful, but can be unstable from what I've heard. I'm still uncertain what you mean by "coral pieces" but crushed coral will desolve at a steady rate and are made for what you're trying to do. Aragonite is another good option, but can be less readily available than the CC from what I've seen at my LFS. Seachem has a couple products called Alkaline Buffer and Neutral Regulator that will work in your case (I was different ones for pH testing), but are pricey and not readily available so I don't recommend them right off.

 

[Fyredawn]

Well, i always figure when I'm talking to someone at a store they are going to try to sell me everything. Lol. The neutralizer you are talking about I think they are trying to sell me that was what got me buying the tetra balancer... They where out of the other stuff. The coral pieces I am talking about is just hunks of coral you can get in a bag vs crushed stuff you are talking about. Wonder if the stuff I have doesn't work due to not enough surface area???? Theres a thought. I would like to start changing it over to a planted tank but am afraid to invest in it till I get this taken care of.... Or would that do it? I wonder if putting planting medium in with gravel would stabilize it more??? Just throwing around thoughts.......

 

[beagle]

I have soft water and had a tank ph of under 6. I added about 1/2 cup of crushed coral and within a day the ph was up to about 6.4-6.6 and has stayed there. I will keep monitoring it and when it starts to drop add a some more crushed coral.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Yep, I'd suggest getting CC since it will hae more area to desolve and it's made to do what you want. I don't know what the stuff is you're using, so I can't really comment on it.

 

[Fyredawn]

Ok will try. Won't be in town till next week will let everyone know how it goes thanks all and sorry for the slow reply it's been
Hectic on the farm

 

[BillD]

Baking soda is used in swimming pools as a buffer and works in a tank the same way. It will maintain a stable pH as long as it is in the tank.