Is it true that baking soda will only raise ph to a max of 8.2? I did try a test where i added like two tablespoons of baking soda to a cup of water and it seemed to not go about 8.2. Was my test correct?
Crushed coral.
My kh is 5 in tank but tap is 1kh. So I'm looking to adjust tap to meet tank. I would like to adjust kh and gh in my tank higher. My ph in tank floats around 8 but I'm concerned when I start stocking my tank it may start to crash due to low buffer. My gh is also 1gh in tap and 5 in tank I'm going to use Epson to adjust that higher.
If I recall your pH isn't bad (no need for anything over 7.8) and your GH is OK...your KH just needs a tweak so you will have a buffer for your pH.
The less additives the better. The closer your tank to your tap (as long as requirements are met) the better. Stability is more important than perfect test results.
Lake Malawi varies from pH 7.5 to around 8.8) yet has relatively soft to medium hard water at best. (4-6 dGH and 6-8 dKH).
Is it true that baking soda will only raise ph to a max of 8.2? I did try a test where i added like two tablespoons of baking soda to a cup of water and it seemed to not go about 8.2. Was my test correct?
Sounds like a plan. I'm going to buffer tap to 8 n let tank adjust through water changes. Tank should stable at 8 one I do a couple water changes. Right?
The easiest way is to fill the tank with tap water once an measure the ph once in the tank. It might be different to the ph in the bucket. Than add more and more baking soda till you reach the desired ph and/or kh. Measure it the next few following days because it might change to sevral chemical processes in the tank and add more baking soda if necessary.
Once the ph in your tank is stable just calculate roughly the amount of baking soda you need to replace when you do water changes. So you will get an idea how many spoons full odfbaking soda you have to replace.
So you dont need to measure again. Just throw a few spoon full of baking soda in there with every water change.
Welcome to MFK. My tap water gets, diluted with reverse osmosis treatment, so it's kind of funky. 8.2 pH in the sink, and 7.0 a day later in the tank.
I change out 55 gallons every week, with two TBS added. The on whole 100 gallon setup. 2 TBS will raise the pH by .25.
I try to hold it around 7.5 ph. I use about 4 TBS each week total. I have maybe a quart of very fine quartz sand for substrate. So very little buffer.
I use a real time PH meter.