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Using Baking Soda to raise KH

Discussion in 'Fish and Aquarium - all types' started by Cleo1668, Jul 21, 2006.

  1. Cleo1668

    Cleo1668 New Member

    I’ve heard that you can use Baking Soda to raise the KH in an aquarium. Is this true?
     
  2. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    What are your current readings for GH, KH, and pH?

    Why do you want to raise it?

    I believe baking soda will raise KH (I know it will raise the pH), but I'm nost sure how safe it is and most times, it's best to leave things alone any way since fish can generally tollerate a wide range of water types.

    -Chelle
     
  3. Cleo1668

    Cleo1668 New Member

    My PH is approximately 6.0. My KH is 40. I don't have a test for GH. The PH has been declining over the past few months. It went from 7.0 to 6.0. The ideal buffering capacity is much higher than what mine is.
     
  4. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    Rather than using baking soda, I'd try getting some crushed coral. That would probably be less likely to cause swings in pH. You can either mix it in with your gravel, or if you have fish that like root around in the gravel (like loaches & cories), you can put some in a bag and put it in your filter.

    -Chelle
     
  5. Cleo1668

    Cleo1668 New Member

    Thanks :D
     
  6. kc5gvn

    kc5gvn New Member

    Hi Cleo1668, I would recommend getting Dolomite gravel rather than crushed coral. Both are used in Marine tanks to keep the PH up. Crushed coral has sharp edges that freshwater fish are not familiar with. Dolomite is a round type gravel without any sharp edges and will serve the same purpose.
     
  7. t_chelle16

    t_chelle16 New Member

    I was thinking there was another type of substrate that would raise pH but didn't have sharp edges; I just couldn't think of what it was.

    -Chelle
     
  8. kc5gvn

    kc5gvn New Member

    Dolomite is getting harder to find. I'm not sure why. The only reason that I can think of is that crushed coral has become more popular with Marine tanks. With Dolomite, once the Marine tank cycles out the PH usually stables out about 8.0. I believe with crushed coral it typically stables out just a MFEMFE higher at about 8.2. A PH of 8.0 is fine for any of the freshwater fish requireing higher PH. You can also use limestone rock to increase the hardness but it is not as stable with regard to maintaining water hardness or PH.
     

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