Does marble rasie the water's pH?

[Henri]

Hi everyone!
I am about to finish cycling my 20 gallon dirted tank and I am now thinking into stocking. i'm dead set about Mystery and Nerite snails, but mostly Mystery snails, and since I've never kept these guys I'm pretty excited. The thing ia that they require a high pH and since this is a dirted tank AND will have driftwood in it the water will be relatively soft and with a low pH.
I picked up about ten little marble stones today hoping that they willraise the pH, making it safe for the fish? Is this ppssible? If yes, is there a way I can permanently raise the pH, or getting it to the normal tap water, since the tank is heavily planted and the stones are taking much space? Like, will regular water changes work? If yes, how regular and for how long?
Thanks guys!!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Marble will raise your ph. Water changes will depend on the ph out of the tap. If you have really soft water then you'll likely have a lower ph after a water change than before it. Most of the US and western Europe has hard water so if that's the case then water changes will help to maintain a solid alkaline environment in your tank. You may not need the marble (limestone) but if you have it to help keep your ph and hardness high then it should certainly help with that. If you want to be sure then test your water before and the day after your water changes for both ph and DKH. Checking your tap water after letting it run a few minutes is also a good idea and only needs to be done once. It'll give you a good idea about what you're actually putting into your tank.

 

[Henri]

Hi there thanks for your quick reply!
I actually live in the Southeastern Europe and there are no test kits sold around here, except for the API Freshwater strips that I got as a gift from a friend in Australia. I have read mixed reviews based on their accuracy, but however they give me a pH of 7,5 of my tap water, so basically around neutral. I'll ask the water provider services about the exact pH value.
However, I'll still add the marble.
Will frequent water changes "remove" the ability of the substrate and driftwood to lower the pH?

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Will frequent water changes "remove" the ability of the substrate and driftwood to lower the pH?

It will help to a degree, just like your marble will help add hardness back. One simple way to figure out if yourbwater has some hardness in it from the tap is by simply looking at your kitchen sink or even your electric kettle. If you get lots of white water stains on the metal parts of your sink or inside your kettle then you know that there is lime (calcium) in your tap water. This is a crude way to look for it but if a test kit is hard to come by then you still have a way to check for it. I lived in Belgium for a few years (I know that's very far from you) and the kettles there were coated in white lime! Very hard. Yours seems softer by the ph you're reading on the strips. Adding wood is great for most invertebrates because there is almost always wood in the waters where shrimp and snails live in nature. Adding small amounts of limestone will help give them the minerals they need to grow new shells. All in all, it sounds like you're going about it right.
Nice to have southeastern Europeans on here! On TV we see that people get to eat a lot of great food around there.

 

[Henri]

Yeah we do get plenty of calcium deposits on the sink, ESPECIALLY when I was keeping a ten gallon on a glass table and the current crrated by the filter was so strong that the water would spill out. When I removed the tank I noticed the big stain of calcium and its still there two years later. IDK if its the same as the sink thing though.
I really like the grapevine I found thats why I was hoping it would be okay, I hope the snails and the shrimps I might get will like it.
I live in Albania, it's next to Italy and its really bad, like the worst country ever, with political fights and crysis still dominating the economy...
Other than that yeah there are some beautiful beaches that are still not destroyed, but I really dislike the food lol, baby lamb, mediterranean (typo?) octopus, snails and so much to mention...
Its nice to have you around too! Thanks for the help!

 

[CorallineAlgae]

It's my pleasure! All I can say is... the world is always changing. Sometimes for the better, and sometimes not. Albania may have it's rebirth. When it does I'll have a drink and make a toast!
Now, as for the lamb, octopus and snails... Those are very expensive delicacies where I live. I love to eat all of those! My grandparents raised lamb and barbecued them all the time.

Yep, sounds like you probably have just enough calcium in your water for plants, snails and shrimp. if you want to know a trick to remove hard water stains you can try using normal vinegar. Wipe the table down with it a few times and it should slowly start to remove the white stain. Keep us posted on your aquariums progress!