My Oscar LOVES baking soda?

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BassetsForBrown

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Dec 2, 2012
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Boston
I recently tested my aquarium water and found it to be a bit too acidic (about 6.5), so I started adding baking soda slowly to raise it. My Oscar immediately began eating any semi-clumped portions I added to the tank, and to my surprise, he didn't spit them out or cough them out his gills. I don't care about "wasted" baking soda at all, but I was wondering if it is bad for him to be eating it.

Before anyone says "Oscar's have voracious appetites and will eat any, and everything", I want to add that my O is totally uncharacteristic in this respect. He has been a picky eater since I got him at about 3", and hes now about 9". I only ask because I know that in humans, large amounts of ingested baking soda can very quickly cause a dangerous "sodium overload" of sorts.


Thanks
 
cassd said:
Is it ok to put baking soda in a tank?
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Yes absolutely it is perfectly safe to add to the water. *in moderation, for specific purposes* In fact, if you look at the ingredients list of most any "pH up" aquarium products, the only active ingredient is baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. Huge rip off to buy any pH up product when your nearest grocery store sells 10 times the quantity for a faction of the price.
 
At 6.5 you have the perfect Ph for an Oscar. Soft and acidic is what they do best in. Iffy water parameters are also less harmful with a lower level Ph. I would leave your water as is.
 
suprd71 said:
At 6.5 you have the perfect Ph for an Oscar. Soft and acidic is what they do best in. Iffy water parameters are also less harmful with a lower level Ph. I would leave your water as is.
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My Oscar isn't the only one in the tank though. I also have an EBJD, and an African "bumblebee cichlid" - Pseudotropheus crabro. I know that's a very strange mix, but they all are fully grown except the Oscar, and have lived peacefully together for more than a year in my 90g.


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Yes that is a strange mix. The Bumblebee is a naturally very aggressive fish and requires very different water than Oscar and Blue Jack. The South American Ph level is actually harming the African, and this is what is keeping it docile. I wouldnt try to adjust to find a happy medium for all 3. The BB should be with its own kind in a Ph of 8 or more.
 
suprd71 said:
Yes that is a strange mix. The Bumblebee is a naturally very aggressive fish and requires very different water than Oscar and Blue Jack. The South American Ph level is actually harming the African, and this is what is keeping it docile. I wouldnt try to adjust to find a happy medium for all 3. The BB should be with its own kind in a Ph of 8 or more.
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People keep Oscars and EBJD's, healthy, in tanks with a pH of 8 all the time with no problems.



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