akamel

not sure where this belongs but I read a little about buffers on another site--had a recipe and everything--what is it and why would you need it

alicem

Buffers refer to the KH# in your water. The higher the KH (more buffered) the higher the pH will be.

When water buffered with KH of around 5 dh (degree of hardness), the pH is more stable and won't raise or lower quickly or easily, known as pH swing.
The higher the KH is over 5 or 6 dh, the higher the pH will become but will usually level out around pH 8.3 after KH gets over 8 or 10 dh.

However, quite often folks do very well with fish breeding etc. in the water available to them.
IMO, if your fish are tank raised and doing fine in your water, I wouldn't fuss too much with that type of adjustment to obtain "perfect" water.

To me, perfect water is obtained with a regular routine of the partial water changes keeping the water stable and
having 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes and low (<20) nitrAtes.

hth,
alicem

aquarist48

Hello Akamel. I recommend not using any chemical buffers or pH adjusters to any tank. It can be done naturally. They are to unreliable and can even cause a pH crash resulting in loss of fish. Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank

Ken

akamel

thanks for the info !! I wont use any buffers then. Just thought I would research and see if I needed to. All of my fishies are doing great with the water the way it is !!

aquarist48

Glad to hear all of your fish are doing well!
Ken