Arm & Hammer Baking soda???
- Thread starter nurselady
- Start date
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
TankGirl
Aquarium Advice Addict
A better approach would be to add crushed coral to the substrate or get a large piece of decorative coral, which might do the trick for a tank that size. I did this completely by accident in my early days, before I understood that shell material is not inert. It is easy to screw up when using chemical means added to the water to alter your pH in a small tank (or a big one, for that matter!). Every water change has to maintain the altered pH when you do it that way, if your tap water is different from your goal. The change in pH is much more stressful than keeping them in pH that is slightly lower than their native waters. Are you planning on keeping Africans?
RogerMcAllen
Aquarium Advice Addict
Baking soda is very strong stuff, you would easily raise your ph too high too quickly.
i dont have cichlids now ---zebras, a black moor, a snail, pleco, and sucker fish. and a fancy long tail tetra or barb...cant remember which.
what is the best way to get the pH to normal range besides coral or baking soda? i shop at petsmart.
what is the best way to get the pH to normal range besides coral or baking soda? i shop at petsmart.
TankGirl
Aquarium Advice Addict
What is your pH currently? There is not really "normal" when it comes to pH, because many of the fish you buy have been acclimated or bred in the pH of your municipality. Unless you plan to do some breeding or are purchasing wild-caught fish that have very specific requirements, then it is generally not a good idea to mess with pH, as it gets tricky and any fluctuations are harmful to the fish. I believe PetsMart carries crushed coral substrate in their saltwater section.
get some unpainted un-messed with shells from a craft or gift store
put some in your tank where they will get some water passing over them
the calcium will dissolve into your water, increasing it's hardness - the waters PH will naturally climb to match the new hardness and should level off around 7.6 or 7.8 ... if it goes much past that, reduce the number of shells or move them to where they get less water flow.
adding baking soda increases your carbonate hardness, without effecting your general hardness ... this can cause a lot of problems for your waters chemistry.
also, baking soda increases the sodium (salt) content of your water.
put some in your tank where they will get some water passing over them
the calcium will dissolve into your water, increasing it's hardness - the waters PH will naturally climb to match the new hardness and should level off around 7.6 or 7.8 ... if it goes much past that, reduce the number of shells or move them to where they get less water flow.
adding baking soda increases your carbonate hardness, without effecting your general hardness ... this can cause a lot of problems for your waters chemistry.
also, baking soda increases the sodium (salt) content of your water.
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