dbrown918

Ok, so I decided to experiment with baking soda on my new 20 gallon. As you all probably know by now, my tap water pH is 6.0 or lower, KH is 0ppm, DH is 120 PPM. Part one; I added 1/2 a teaspoon of baking soda (arm & hammer) to the aquarium and went back an hour later to take a measurement. Here are the readings...pH 7.4-7.6, KH 80ppm, DH still 120 ppm. Now as to how stable this will stay we shall see. And I am also going to monitor daily for the next week to show how much the parameters change on a daily basis, with one 25% water change in the mix, to give the experiment a more applicable tone to weekly maintenance. Hopefully this will put to rest some of the theories or, on the other hand, prove them. You will get an accurate measurement on a daily basis of how exactly baking soda will change the water in your tank (comparitively speaking, since your source water is most likely different than mine). Hopefully this will help and be interesting, as I know it will be for me. If not, disregard this post.

Butterfly

Sounds interesting
Carol

pepetj

You have 7dGH with 0dKH.

Baking soda should do the work for you as for providing instant carbonates (as bicarbonate).

I would consider introducing crushed corals in the substrate or within the filter media as this should keep carbonates available and prevent sudden changes.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

dbrown918

Day 2: Results still exactly the same with all measurements. This obviously means that you don't have to add baking soda every day to keep the pH stable, because it hasn't changed one bit in 24 hours. KH and GH also the same. pH still 7.6. I'm thinking you only need to add the baking soda at weekly water changes, and in a very minimal amount. If so, it is definitely a viable option for stabilizing pH.

dbrown918

Day 3: All measurements the same...

dbrown918

Day 4: pH - 7.6 KH - 40ppm GH - 120 ppm. Only thing that has changed is the KH is lowering, which is a sign that a pH change is imminent, but we will see how long it will take.

serissime

I think this is a good experiment, but I would also suggest adding crushed coral, whether in the substrate or a mesh bag in the filter, for a more hassle free and stable pH buffer.

I am curious how the baking soda thing is going to continue though.

dbrown918

Day 6: I lowered the pH myself on day 5 in preparation for adding fish to the tank finally. The pH is now 7.1 and steady for 2 days straight. I think it's safe to say that baking soda is actually a viable buffer, if used properly. Fish are very happy, water parameters are perfect. Since I added fish, I will keep posting if there are any pH fluctuations, but so far so good with baking soda.

dbrown918

Oh, I also have a digital pH meter now, so the pH readings are no longer based on my relating it to a color chart...its exact to a .1+- degree now.

Shawnie

im glad things worked out for you!!


just a warning to not rely totally on those meters...we had a member rely on the ammonia one and it was disaster ...goodluck on everything!

serissime

cool. hope to hear updates if anything changes

dbrown918

Hmmm, maybe he/she didn't calibrate it correctly? Or it was contaminated in some way? Or just plain broken lol, that sucks though. I hope it doesn't happen to me but i'm following the instructions to a T, including storing it with a few drops of pH 7.01 buffer solution.

dbrown918

After adding the initial fish there was a slight pH change after the first 2 days. Dropped from 7.1 to 6.9 in those two days. I added a very small amount of arm and hammer again and the pH was raised to 7.1 again. Fish are happy and healthy, one of my females is actually about to explode. So far so good. Looks like you may just need to add it once a week or so, so not that bad. I'll let you know if it keeps dropping with fish in there though.

dbrown918

Yup, it is definitely a viable method of changing the pH because I only have to add a tiny bit when I do water changes now! This is great because my source tap water is terrible for fishkeeping.

AlyeskaGirl

I am one too that has acidic water. I use baking soda time to time but I also added some clam shells from the beach which has helped also.