Safely raising ph in planted tank HELP!!

[swishahouse85nc]

My PH is around 6.2 and I want to raise it to the 7 range. My fish do fine with this ph, but I want to keep snails in the aquarium as well. The slightly acidic ph always ends up eating through the snail shell, as well as what I believe is a lack of calcium in the water. I have read that crushed coral will solve both of these problems, but no one seems to know the right dosage. Any help will be appreciated. I also have hard water. It seems to harden in the aquarium between water changes as well. I use flourish liquid fert twice a week and didn't know if that might have something to do with it.

 

[ricardo48]

Best way always is to try source water you are adding to the Aquarium to be of the PH you want.

Trying to change PH with chemicals or other means is just nor worth the hassle and can lead to complications when measuring certain other water parameters.

What PH is your water you are adding to your tank before you put it in?

 

[joy13]

Using CO2 can lower your ph, is that what is happening?

I don't know where in NC you are located but I just got a lot of ph adjusting stuff from a friend that got a second hand tank he is setting up as a saltwater. You are welcome to it if you want it.

 

[darkmule27]

Hard water very often has calcium in it. Before altering that to any extent, maybe you should see how much it actually has? As far as actually altering it, oyster shells or another calcium source would probably be best? Raise the pH and give the snails some help with their shell. I don't think there's an actual "dosage" of them as they would slowly dissolve over time. I hear oyster shells mentioned far more than crushed coral or anything else.

 

[Purrbox]

For snails, what you need to be concerned about is the KH and not the pH. In most cases these numbers move up and down together, but if CO2 is being injected then the pH will move down while the KH remains the same. You can add some liquid calcium, some shells, crushed coral, etc. The last two will not give you precise levels. You're best bet is to add a little bit, measure after 24hrs and adjust as needed.

 

[swishahouse85nc]

I don't inject CO2, i am right around the 2 WPG range and plants seem to do fine there, I have recently quit running my bubbler in the day and in doing so, the ph seems to have dropped. The PH of the source water is 7.2.

 

[Purrbox]

A high bioload of snails and/or plants can cause a drop in the KH, which would also lower the pH.

 

[HN1]

I'm a big fan of K.I.S.S.

Throw a cuttlebone in there and test in a week. If it's still low for what you want, add another.

Your source water of 7.2... is that tested immediately or after sitting out?

 

[swishahouse85nc]

testing right out of the faucet, i let it sit for at least a week before a change, i just tested the water i let sit and the ph of it is 7.2

 

[HN1]

Let it sit for ~ 24 hours to get a decent baseline.

 

[swishahouse85nc]

7.2 after 24 hours 7.2 out of the faucet, 7.2 after 7 days. Have not tested ph after adding my declorinator which i use aqua safe w/ bio extract. Yellow bottle of stuff.