How to dose Alkaline Buffer to gradually raise ph

My tap water is pretty acidic and comes out of my tap at about 6.5. I bought Seachem alkaline buffer in hopes to raise it to a more suitable level for neocaridina shrimp and a betta fish. Everything I've seen says to raise the pH slowly but the only instructions on the bottle say to add 1 tsp per 20 gallons everyday until desired pH is reached. What is the best way for me to dose my tanks? I have two 10 gallons.

 

You may want to look further into pH before you actually start messing around with things. You're gonna want to know it really thoroughly to avoid accidents as much as possible.
A 1/2 tsp should be okay but if you're particularly nervous you may want to try 1/4 tsp every other day. You may want to mix it into water before adding it to the tank.

 

You may want to look further into pH before you actually start messing around with things. You're gonna want to know it really thoroughly to avoid accidents as much as possible.
A 1/2 tsp should be okay but if you're particularly nervous you may want to try 1/4 tsp every other day. You may want to mix it into water before adding it to the tank.

okay thank you. i’m definitely gonna read up on it before i try anything

 

richiep do you have any tips for this? The shrimp were in 8.2 pH water before I got them and went to 6.4 pH. I found 3 new sheds in the tank yesterday and 2 more this morning. I've had them for one week. They seem to be doing fine so far. I'm I better off leaving the pH alone?

 

How did it go from 8.e to 6.4 what are the circumstances around this
As it dropped to 6.4 or is that your stable ph

 

How did it go from 8.e to 6.4 what are the circumstances around this
As it dropped to 6.4 or is that your stable ph

It’s my stable pH. My tap water is 6.4. The seller i bought it from was housing them at 8.2

 

OK 6.4 is low for cherries and will have long term affects,
It would be beneficial to the shrimp to raise your ph to 7 using somethinglike Seechem Equilibrium
I'd like to know what your gh is if possible
Only now as the rest of the posts appeared here so only just read them
Raising your ph must be done very slowly anything higher then .5 can kill
Your shrimp will be ok as long as you dripped them
Salem is correct just take your time id still like to know the gh

 

OK 6.4 is low for cherries and will have long term affects,
It would be beneficial to the shrimp to raise your ph to 7 using somethinglike Seechem Equilibrium
I'd like to know what your gh is if possible
Only now as the rest of the posts appeared here so only just read them
Raising your ph must be done very slowly anything higher then .5 can kill
Your shrimp will be ok as long as you dripped them
Salem is correct just take your time id still like to know the gh

I have Seachem alkaline buffer. Is the Equilibrium better to use?
My GH is about 50 ppm

 

My GH is about 50 ppm

Do you also know your KH? Because that is connected to the pH.

 

Do you also know your KH? Because that is connected to the pH.

KH is nearly 0

 

Your gh needs to go up to 143ppm
Your kh to 3to4
Your ph 7
You have perfect tap water for caradina shrimp
I would use Salty bee gh,kh+
MacZ may advise better id like to see what he says

 

mattgirl has very soft water like this. I bet she can advise too. I believe she uses Equilibrium.

 

KH is nearly 0

Uuuh, this is going to be "fun".

So these are your tank levels, is that really the same out of the tap? What substrate do you use? Just two questions to make sure there is no other factor involved. Every chance to avoid adding things should be taken.

Otherwise I agree with richiep about the levels to aim at.

 

Uuuh, this is going to be "fun".

So these are your tank levels, is that really the same out of the tap? What substrate do you use? Just two questions to make sure there is no other factor involved. Every chance to avoid adding things should be taken.

Otherwise I agree with richiep about the levels to aim at.

out of the tap the GH is about 25 ppm, KH is about 20 ppm, and pH is 6.4

I bought my tank used so i’m not sure of the substrate. it’s black sand

I appreciate all your help so far. I thought I had a good grasp on what I needed to know but there's so much I didn't know that I didn't know

 

Ok, so there is at least some hardness out of the tap and the substrate is not having any influence. But that bit of hardness is surely quickly used up.

So I would go by richiep's recommendation.

But honestly? I would personally do illegal things to have those parameters from the tap. You should take a look into blackwater, your parameters are optimal for this. There are absolutely gorgeous shrimp and fish possible in that kind of environment.

 

I would go with Richies Caradina shrimp suggestion. Most people cant have those usually. They are so much cooler looking than Neos IMO.

 

Ok, so there is at least some hardness out of the tap and the substrate is not having any influence. But that bit of hardness is surely quickly used up.

So I would go by richiep's recommendation.

But honestly? I would personally do illegal things to have those parameters from the tap. You should take a look into blackwater, your parameters are optimal for this. There are absolutely gorgeous shrimp and fish possible in that kind of environment.

Those perameters are perfect for other shrimp if they stay stable, but the beta must be taken into consideration, I'm sure that water is not good for him
id love to have that out of my tap.
mattgirl please come in

 

but the beta must be taken into consideration, I'm sure that water is not good for him

Technically not. Except for heavily overbred variants this would be great. It's a misconception that that low levels are bad for fish. I wouldn't put livebearers in it but bettas should be fine with that.

 

I'll definitely look into blackwater. It'd have to be a new tank set up though obviously since I already have this one running.

 

After reading up on caridinas, I’m super interested in them. I wish I had known about this stuff before getting neos but I still love them too lol
As of now, I’m planning on getting the parameters a bit higher for my neo/betta tank. I’m going to go super slow since none of the inhabitants seem to be having problems yet. I’m also going to set up another 10 gallon for some caridinas!! Looking at my tap water, it feels like a crime if I don’t get some. Does anyone have recommendations on where to buy them or cool color combos to start with to get some interesting babies? I’m not 100% ready to get them but I do want to start looking.

thank you guys for your help!