Ph and baking soda

[Plumbum1984]

I read that adding one teaspoon of baking soda per 20gal one time a week is the most easy and safest buffering method and will keep ph perfect anyone here use that method?

 

[Gregcoyote]

I have used it to nudge a tanks ph higher. It worked fine for me, just go slowly. Kh went up too.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

I did that early on with my tank. Really screwed up my calcium/alkalinity balance. The two go hand in hand and if you mess one up (alkalinity, with the baking soda) the other will be effected too.

Unless you're having a pH issue, I'd just avoid the baking soda. If you are having an issue, then I'd try to find the root cause. If you do decide to go with the baking soda, make sure you have an alkalinity test kit, and keep tabs on it.

 

[Plumbum1984]

I did that early on with my tank. Really screwed up my calcium/alkalinity balance. The two go hand in hand and if you mess one up (alkalinity, with the baking soda) the other will be effected too.

Unless you're having a pH issue, I'd just avoid the baking soda. If you are having an issue, then I'd try to find the root cause. If you do decide to go with the baking soda, make sure you have an alkalinity test kit, and keep tabs on it.

Cool thanks bud

 

[Gregcoyote]

I used it a couple of times to tweak my ph up a bit. Never used more than 3-4 tablespoons in 300 gallons of water though. My alkalinity was also low, so the baking soda did help with that some as well. I had a very old tank I was maintaining for a commercial property and the water had gone pretty acidic. Followed up the quick fix by water changes and thorough cleanup.

I also use a two part calcium product that works great if you like calcareous algae.