Best way to raise ph

[GallonsOfFun]

The tank is 55 gallons, my tap water's ph is 6.8 and I need it around 8. How should I go about this? I'd prefer permanent fixes over chemicals I'll have to add every water change.

Would texas holy rock raise it enough? Or anything else?

 

[Mebbid]

Crushed coral in the filter would be best.. what fish are you planning on keeping?

 

[GallonsOfFun]

Just put it in one of the stages of a canister filter? Is there any way to know how much other than trial and error?

Figure 8 puffers

 

[Mebbid]

Just put it in one of the stages of a canister filter? Is there any way to know how much other than trial and error?

Figure 8 puffers

Just throw a handfull into a filter media bag. It should do the trick. The crushed coral slowly dissolves naturally increasing the dKH and pH

 

[jarrod0987]

Crushed coral in the filter would be best.. what fish are you planning on keeping?

+1 My favorite method for this specific issue.

 

[jarrod0987]

Just put it in one of the stages of a canister filter? Is there any way to know how much other than trial and error?

Figure 8 puffers

Yep. As far as amount...I always thought it did not matter much but current experiment suggests otherwise. Initial results show amount matters. Sorry, trial and error is what you need but I would say one handful seems to be a very good place to start.

 

[Terrance]

No need to mess around with your pH level. The best level pH for figure 8 is the amount coming out of your tap. Adding crushed coral to your filter does make the water pH and dKh fluctuate to higher levels after every water change, but these fish (and most other fishes) do better long-term with stable water parameters. Leaving your pH alone should keep your water more stable. Also crushed coral slowly lose effectiveness over time so you end up doing more work by measuring your levels with hobby test kits.

The only time I think raising pH/dKh with crushed coral is necessary is when those levels are too low out of the tap. When they are too low, then it affects the growth and sustainability of your beneficial bacteria and you end up loss all beneficial bacteria.

Edit: forgot to mention that certain fishes need high pH level to thrive, but figure 8 is not one of them.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[gemach7]

No need to mess around with your pH level. The best level pH for figure 8 is the amount coming out of your tap. Adding crushed coral to your filter does make the water pH and dKh fluctuate to higher levels after every water change, but these fish (and most other fishes) do better long-term with stable water parameters. Leaving your pH alone should keep your water more stable. Also crushed coral slowly lose effectiveness over time so you end up doing more work by measuring your levels with hobby test kits.

The only time I think raising pH/dKh with crushed coral is necessary is when those levels are too low out of the tap. When they are too low, then it affects the growth and sustainability of your beneficial bacteria and you end up loss all beneficial bacteria.

Edit: forgot to mention that certain fishes need high pH level to thrive, but figure 8 is not one of them.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

+1 if you happen to have a hardness test around might be worth while to check that though. If your kh and gh are to low you may need to do the coral to control fluctuations not to up the PH. If you don't have a test check your ph over the course of a week in your tank once a day if your noticing ph swings of over of +\-1.0 from day to day or a huge drop by the end of the week I'd buy a hardness test.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[GallonsOfFun]

No need to mess around with your pH level. The best level pH for figure 8 is the amount coming out of your tap. Adding crushed coral to your filter does make the water pH and dKh fluctuate to higher levels after every water change, but these fish (and most other fishes) do better long-term with stable water parameters. Leaving your pH alone should keep your water more stable. Also crushed coral slowly lose effectiveness over time so you end up doing more work by measuring your levels with hobby test kits.

The only time I think raising pH/dKh with crushed coral is necessary is when those levels are too low out of the tap. When they are too low, then it affects the growth and sustainability of your beneficial bacteria and you end up loss all beneficial bacteria.

Edit: forgot to mention that certain fishes need high pH level to thrive, but figure 8 is not one of them.

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

According to The Puffer Forum, figure 8's like a pH of around 8. Is this not true?

 

[gemach7]

According to The Puffer Forum, figure 8's like a pH of around 8. Is this not true?

Figure 8 puffers are best kept in brackish water. The salt mixes used to create the proper salinity will also raise the ph to required levels.
Natural ocean salt mix is available to most LFS but any of them will suffice if available.

Sorry I thought these were pea puffers.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[trennamw]

Messing with ph usually leads to instability which is worse for the fish than a slightly non-optimal ph.

I've used several things to address ph and here's my advice, based on what worked for me and the most well researched advice I found:

Don't do anything until you know your GH and KH.

Crushed coral is sometimes easy and fine, sometimes it's unpredictable. I found it to be messy and ineffective. My tapwater has almost zero KH and GH.

Don't do anything to your water unless you have very low GH and KH. If you do, I prefer the method recommended by Boruchowitz (a former editor of one of the tropical fish magazines, and author of The simple Guide to Freshwater Aquarihms) and by our LFS (The Wet Spot, one of the biggest freshwater fish stores in the world): use low doses of buffered cichlids salts. The can explains the dosing for a target GH and KH and you'll get your ph too.

Crushed coral sucked for me. The buffered cichlid salts is where I stopped killing bettas every month. Now I've had 2 tanks with extremely stable GH/KH/ph for about 18 months. You can get The Wet Spots cichlid mix from them and use a 1/3 dose, you can get API Buffer Max for KH and use either the Chickid salts or the Seachem Equilibrium for GH.

Cannot tell you how much I have crushed coral!! Messy and unpredictable.

If your GH and KH are above 4 you are probably best leaving your tap water alone.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[fishliker]

First, I have never used anything other than crushed choral for the pH, so I cannot speak to other methods. My tanks have chronically low KH, down to one. This can lead to a crash of the pH I am told. So I have used crushed coral I my filter for a long time. A handful or 2 to start. That keeps things stable in my tanks, and brings the KH Up to 2 or 3 or so. I like it because it works slowly, no rapid changes. Of course it also works better if I remember to change it every 6 months. I found that out the hard way, so now I write it on my calendar 6 months ahead. I was also told to rinse the bag when I do a PWC. Good luck.


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice

 

[beandoo]

Go to your local or chain fish/pet store and get some PH up and PH down for any mistakes made.

 

[jarrod0987]

Go to your local or chain fish/pet store and get some PH up and PH down for any mistakes made.

NO GOD NO!!!
That is the worst thing you could possibly do. Using buffers to get it up is one thing. Dumping in pH Up and Down chemicals always kills the fish in my experience and in the cases of people who told me they tried that. I wish those products were off the market for ever. They kill a lot of fish.

 

[trennamw]

Go to your local or chain fish/pet store and get some PH up and PH down for any mistakes made.

Let me second the NNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

Leave your ph where it is and never use ph up, ph down, or neutral ph or proper ph. Get buffers up to 3-4 and ph will stabiliZe.

I think I mentioned the Boruchowitz book before. If OP or Beandoo would like to learn more about never putting anything in healthy tank except buffers and GH supplements, that's the book.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[Mebbid]

Ill third the noooooo!