How do you raise pH?

[Atl300zx]

to get 30 ppm i have to keep my pH at around 6.1-6.2.

i would like to up the co2 level slightly to about 40 ppm but i dont want my pH in the 5s.

What can i use to safely raise my pH?

my KH is 30mg/L

Thanks,

Jimmy

 

[Purrbox]

A little bit of crushed coral in your filter or some Baking Soda added to your water during your water changes would do the trick. You do need to be very careful to change it slowly to avoid harming your fish.

To be perfectly honest, I see absolutely no problems with leaving your KH alone and bumping your CO2. If the issue is being able to read your pH level to be able to calculate your CO2 level, then there are a couple of solutions that you could use instead of messing with your water parameters. The first would be to install a CO2 drop checker using 5dKH reference solution since you want to target 40ppm of CO2 and 5dKH would indicate about 38ppm of CO2. The second would be to get a pH pen meter which can read a much larger range of pH than most test kits.

 

[PrettyFishies]

Are you using a pressurized Co2 system?

If so, I would have to agree with Purrbox that a PH meter would be a good investment. The Milwaukee model ($80) is a meter and a controller, so if you have pressurized with a solenoid...well, there you go.

WHY is your PH so low? I'm guessing its your water source. What you don't want to do is use a "PH neutral" solution as that affects KH. Crushed coral is a good idea, just go slow...Personally, I keep my tank at 6.7 (KH=5), but I shoot for 30ppm, so 6.5/6.6 should be easy to obtain.

I'd say to raise your PH by .5 per day till you reach your goal.

 

[Atl300zx]

Reading the pH isnt an issues, i have the Milwaukee controller, i was just worried what bringing the pH down in the 5s would do to my fish and plants. That sounds pretty acidic.

WHY is your PH so low?

Must be my water source + CO2 levels.

Currently my pH is 6.1-6.3 with a KH of 30mg/L. also how do i convert my KH to degrees like you guys all seem to use?

 

[PrettyFishies]

http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.200206/msg00301.html

So your KH = 1.6

I use KENT KH+ - You'll probably have to get it locally.

But I'd also go with the crushed coral... I think that is a too acidic for the fish. For plants, they have different tolerances.

 

[Atl300zx]

Thanks for the link for the conversion.

 

[sherry]

I so agree . There is no reason to worry if your ph is low due to co2. The fish don't care. What hurts fish is changing the percent of dissolved solids in a tank, like when you try to "adjust" your ph or kh.

leave it alone!!! and as someone with a milwaukee meter I would say save your money!!! get a drop checker to keep tabs on your co2 levels, read threads about them.. and a solenoid so you are not gassing your fish at night.

then keep a ripple going at the top of the tank to make sure they are getting enough o2. There is no reason at all to worry about raising your ph or kh and incredible fish and plants do great with low measures on both.

unless you want to keep hard water cichlids, I'd skip the crushed coral too. Read the threads on this.. they are very educational