Soft water problem: high pH & low kH

My very soft water supply has a kH of 0-1 yet a pH of 7.4.

I want kH to be at 5-6 in my tank (minimum 4) to be in line with recommended parameters, to match my gH, and to maintain pH stability, but doing so will presumably increase my pH wildly -- which is already too high.

Will pH-down products just undo my kH in lowering pH?

Thanks.

 

Hello The...

The vast majority of fish will adapt to the vast majority of public water supplies. So, you don't need to worry about the chemical makeup of your tap water. No chemicals are needed to make the water livable for the fish other than the standard treatment to detoxify the chemicals the public water people put into the tap water to make it safe to drink. That's it.

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I feel that high pH with soft water is a unusual combo..... still usable..

 

I feel that high pH with soft water is a unusual combo..... still usable..

I agree. But apparently it is possible, as some treatment plants use methods to increase pH without kH.

In that case, if using a pH-lowering product undoes the work of many factors, as well as my current kH level, then maybe re-adding undone kH would be fine and stabilise pH at a lower, more manageable number?

But, as the name says, I'm a n00b, so idk.

 

For a pH lowering product, you must be very careful because one time you forget to add it, the fish go into shock. I believe a change by .2~ ish in pH can send a fish easily into shock. You could go crushed coral route and try for some livebearers and african cichlids like shellies.

 

It is common for water utilities to use a product like sodium hydroxide to raise ph in soft water systems. Tulsa was like that for me. My water came from a river. They dumped in lye to offset

don’t worry too much about ph. A kh of 1 will be stable enough unless you are running co2 or housing rift lake cichlids

 

For a pH lowering product, you must be very careful because one time you forget to add it, the fish go into shock. I believe a change by .2~ ish in pH can send a fish easily into shock. You could go crushed coral route and try for some livebearers and african cichlids like shellies.

I don't have any fish. I'm doing a fishless cycle Edit: But yes, point taken.

I also have crushed coral, which I may use if I'm able to get the pH & kH right. But when doing water changes, I'd have to use some quick bicarbonate to stabilise because the coral is slow to act?

 

You can always add a little bit of sodium bicarbonate or pottasium bicarbonate to push kh up some. If you do I believe a calculator like rotala butterfly can help Keep it stable

 

You can always add a little bit of sodium bicarbonate or pottasium bicarbonate to push kh up some. If you do I believe a calculator like rotala butterfly can help Keep it stable

But won't that increase pH?

 

It will. What fish are you keeping?

 

It will. What fish are you keeping?

I'm not sure right now, but the upper-limit per AqaAdvisor for the few fish I do want to keep is 7.4pH.

 

You will always want to do what you think is correct for your fish. In my experience as long as you don’t have sensitive species like Apistogramma, Nanochromis, or species with specific requirements like Rift lake cichlids, stable is more important. Most fish you can buy at Petsmart will love your water just like it is

ph can be a fools errand. Do you own a tds meter?

 

You will always want to do what you think is correct for your fish. In my experience as long as you don’t have sensitive species like Apistogramma, Nanochromis, or species with specific requirements like Rift lake cichlids, stable is more important. Most fish you can buy at Petsmart will love your water just like it is

ph can be a fools errand. Do you own a tds meter?

No, I don't know what that is.

So will typical community fish be fine with my current water parameters?

 

Yes. Most fish will be ok. What fish do you want?

 

They will. Temperature swings are bad. Water parameter swings are bad. Stable is good

Tds meter is a great piece of equipment. It sounds like you have a kh test kit. Keep it higher than 1-2 and it will be stable. I would guess that your gh is 4-6 with low kh. That is fine too for most of what is in the store.

 

Yes. Most fish will be ok. What fish do you want?

I'm not sure yet, but I know I want neon tetras, which require an alkalinity of 3-8.

 

you can stretch neons but they are sensitive and not hardy now so err on the side of caution.

 

They will. Temperature swings are bad. Water parameter swings are bad. Stable is good

Tds meter is a great piece of equipment. It sounds like you have a kh test kit. Keep it higher than 1-2 and it will be stable. I would guess that your gh is 4-6 with low kh. That is fine too for most of what is in the store.

Thanks! I'll check that out. Yeah, I'm using the API test-tube kit

gH is currently 7.

Should I put crushed coral in the tank when I get fish, so that their acidic output balances the carbonate output, or should I put it in now -- or would that just increase pH while the empty tank cycles?

 

Now.

 

You can if you want too. I would probably not

 

No, I don't know what that is.

So will typical community fish be fine with my current water parameters?

When a recommendation to keep pH around 7.4 is made for community fish, those fish will do fine with a pH anywhere between 7.0 to 8.0. If you want to stabilize your pH, the only way to do that is to raise your KH. The easiest, cheapest, safest way to do that is to add crushed coral or aragonite to your overflow chamber in your HOB or in the basket in a canister filter (1 cup in a mesh media bag per 30 gallons of actual tank volume)
Crushed coral may raise your pH some, but not beyond what standard community fish will thrive in. It raises pH slowly, over a few days to a week. Raising pH suddenly with something like baking soda is a great way to kill fish, but not a great permanent fix to a low KH aand unstable pH.
What is the pH of your tap water?

 

When a recommendation to keep pH around 7.4 is made for community fish, those fish will do fine with a pH anywhere between 7.0 to 8.0. If you want to stabilize your pH, the only way to do that is to raise your KH. The easiest, cheapest, safest way to do that is to add crushed coral or aragonite to your overflow chamber in your HOB or in the basket in a canister filter (1 cup in a mesh media bag per 30 gallons of actual tank volume)
Crushed coral may raise your pH some, but not beyond what standard community fish will thrive in. It raises pH slowly, over a few days to a week. Raising pH suddenly with something like baking soda is a great way to kill fish, but not a great permanent fix to a low KH aand unstable pH.
What is the pH of your tap water?

7.4. That's where my problem is.

I think my water has been treated to increase pH relative to kH, so if I add more kH, pH could rise too much.

That's why I'm asking if it's okay to use pH-lowering products to undo all that extra work so I can add sufficient kH, raising pH to an acceptable level. That's my reasoning but idk if it's correct.

 

7.4. That's where my problem is.

I think my water has been treated to increase pH relative to kH, so if I add more kH, pH could rise too much.

That's why I'm asking if it's okay to use pH-lowering products to undo all that extra work so I can add sufficient kH, raising pH to an acceptable level. That's my reasoning but idk if it's correct.

Test your theory! If your water supplier "has added something" to raise your pH, then you can test that by setting some tap water, in a glass, on the counter for 24 hours then test the pH in the glass. If the water company is adding a buffer, the pH will drop appreciably after leaving the pipes. If it doesn't drop more than .4 points, you don't even have an issue.

 

I would not add anything to drop ph. You will create unstable conditions

additionally, use of sodium or potassium bicarbonate should only be in a separate container or water vessel not in the tank. Any chemistry experiment should be away from the aquarium. I use both to reconstruct reverse osmosis water