Help with 5 Gallon?

[Anivator]

Hey there!

I've had a 5 gallon tank since August with some live plants, and a betta fish inside of it. I'm trying to get my tank ready for a new snail as my last one passed, I have a wondershell and a nano block in there in anticipation, however I've noticed my PH and KH are low, very low. Last I checked PH was under 6.8, KH was around 40.

I read up on adding baking soda to the tank, about 1/2 tsp since I have a 5 gallon, however I'm wondering if it would be safe to add baking soda in a tank with a betta, and if it would be safe to include during water changed after I get a snail. I currently have a bag of crushed coral in my filter as well, and some sources cite that baking soda will help, I just wanted to get a second opinion on adding baking soda to a 5 gallon tank.

I assume it would be better than having a tank with PH so low as my betta isn't unhappy yet, but I wanted to double check!

-Millie

 

[Aiken Drum]

Is the crushed coral having any effect?

 

[Anivator]

Not yet, honestly, I'm going to check it now that I'm on my way home, but I put it in Wednesday and noticed nothing

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Bettas naturally occur in soft acid water so having a pH below 7.0 is normal for them.

If you want snails, then you need the pH at 7.0 or above so their shells don't dissolve.

Limestone, dead coral rubble or shells are the best option for raising the pH. Add a bit and monitor the pH over 2 weeks. If it's still too low, add some more and monitor for a couple more weeks. Continue adding a little bit and monitoring until you get the desired pH.

You should check the pH, GH and KH of your water supply. If the pH is very low, then having coral and shells in a tank could cause problems when you do water changes. This is an issue when there is a major difference in pH, GH or KH between the tap water and tank water.

The GH, KH & pH can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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Sodium bicarbonate can be used to raise the pH of water but you need to be careful about using it. You also need to add it to a container of water and mix it up for at least 30 minutes before adding that water to the tank.