Alkalinity question

[rbarb1111]

I have been using kents liquid CA in my 30 gallon tank. My water tests at 8.2 ph, ca =440 and alkalinity is 4dkh. Is the alkalinity too low if so what should i do?

thanks
Richard

 

[ericosuave]

i dont know if this will help you out any... but i heard that adding 1 teaspoon of baking soda to your tank will help with alk levels in your tank.. but dont take my word for it.. i would get a second opinion on it before i would add any.

 

[electrikat]

Yes 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Add it to a cup of water and dissolve it, then pour it into your filter or sump. Wait a day and test. 1 teaspoon should raise it appx .5 . I found this on a google search when I had the same problem in the past. It works great. Don't do more than one a day so as not to cause ph problems.

 

[Wooster]

it would be nice to have the alk. up at 4.5

 

[Phyl]

dKh you want between 9 & 11 which would give you a meq/L of between 3.2 & 4. If you have a dKh of 4 then that's pretty low. Don't do anything drastic though. Move your numbers in a well paced manor. Your calcium is good, just watch it as you bring up your alk. If you add alk too fast you'll cause your calcium to precip out. If you use baking soda make sure that you watch the pH carefully. You may want to use a supplement like Seachem's 8.3 so that your pH caps at a safe level.