Buffering an established aquarium

[Caperguy99]

Due to a change in my ground water, I would like to begin buffering the water for my lake Tanganyika setup.

I’ve already slowly dosed Cichlid Lake Salt and got my GH to around 12 dGH. I will keep it at this level by replacing the same amount of salt that is removed in my water changes.

Next, I’d like to increase my KH and PH using Malawi Buffer. I’ve chosen Malawi buffer as it is closer to my tap water, and I feel like going all the way up to Tanganyika buffer would be riskier in terms of stability.

My question is: what is the best way to slowly buffer KH and PH upwards with Seachem Malawi buffer with fish currently living in the tank?

On the bottle it says to dose the full recommended amount everyday until appropriate parameters are achieved. However, this feels like a lot of dosing at once - and I don’t want to stress my fish.

The amount for one full buffer dose for my tank is approximately 7 tablespoons.

Would it be appropriate to add one tablespoon per day to slowly buffer upwards over the week? Then, during water changes, simply replace the amount that is displaced - similar to Cichlid Lake Salt? Is there any reason this more cautious approach wouldn’t work?

 

[tlindsey]

Due to a change in my ground water, I would like to begin buffering the water for my lake Tanganyika setup.

I’ve already slowly dosed Cichlid Lake Salt and got my GH to around 12 dGH. I will keep it at this level by replacing the same amount of salt that is removed in my water changes.

Next, I’d like to increase my KH and PH using Malawi Buffer. I’ve chosen Malawi buffer as it is closer to my tap water, and I feel like going all the way up to Tanganyika buffer would be riskier in terms of stability.

My question is: what is the best way to slowly buffer KH and PH upwards with Seachem Malawi buffer with fish currently living in the tank?

On the bottle it says to dose the full recommended amount everyday until appropriate parameters are achieved. However, this feels like a lot of dosing at once - and I don’t want to stress my fish.

The amount for one full buffer dose for my tank is approximately 7 tablespoons.

Would it be appropriate to add one tablespoon per day to slowly buffer upwards over the week? Then, during water changes, simply replace the amount that is displaced - similar to Cichlid Lake Salt? Is there any reason this more cautious approach wouldn’t work?

Aragonite will naturally raise both GH and KH levels .

 

[duanes]

I agree with adding aragonite.
It will gradually increase KH until the wate reaches its own equilibrium..
It can be addeddirectly to the substrate, hang bags in filters, or in my case, I made a DIY fluidized bed reactor using aragonite as a natural buffering media, istead of the normal inert filter media.
It was about 4 ft tall and 8" in diameter, was open top (Instead of pressurre/sealed) in order to quickly and easily add addaitional aagonite media,by just spooning it in, and an easy way to unplug PVC efflent pipe, in case of a power outage, and/or rresulting back suction blockage.
It was quite heavy holding about 40 gallons of water
I eventually added a check valve for more assurence and less potential back suction..

It supplied buffering capacity and held the carbonate alkalinity up for 500 gallons in tanks at thje same time.

 

[A201]

Maybe just build a limestone hardscape and not worry to much about what mineral or chemical to add.

Most commercial Rock yards and landscaping companies sell limestone.

 

[Caperguy99]

Thanks guys -

At the moment, I have African cichlid sand as substrate and limestone rocks as decor. This buffers my water over time to around 8.0 PH - However, after realizing that my tap water has gotten far softer from the spring runoff (think 7.5 PH, 4 GH, and 4 KH), water changes are giving me big swings downward, before slowly buffering back upwards over a few days. In fact, this seems to have killed two of my fish before I realized what was going on.

I know they say not to “chase PH,” which I’m not trying to do, but I’m trying to figure a way of using the Malawi Buffer and Cichlid Lake Salt during water changes to prevent those sort of wild swings.

My main question at the moment is how to dose the Malawi Buffer up to an appropriate level before the next water change. The tank dose says 7 tablespoons. Can I simply add one tablespoon a day over 7 days? Then, if I do a 25% waterchange, add back another 1.75 tablespoons during the change?

 

[puffers4puffers]

Sorry for my tardy
But rather than use all those “powders” I would add 1/3 of your substrate a crushed coral sand (probably a #1 grade) and do regular water changes. Agree, don’t chase numbers.
From your descriptions your system will remain close to 8.0 all by itself
Good luck to the fishes and your success

 

[Briceort]

Hey! Yes, your cautious approach of adding one tablespoon per day is a great idea. Slowly adjusting the KH and pH over time is definitely safer for your fish and will help prevent any sudden changes that might cause stress.

 

[janesmarry]

Your methodical strategy of adding one tablespoon daily is excellent. It is unquestionably safer for your fish to gradually increase the KH and pH over time. This will assist avoid any abrupt changes that could stress them out.

 

[ken31cay]

I agree with adding one tablespoon of the buffer per day until your desired KH and pH is reached, and then after you've established a stable ph & KH replacing the amount taken out with each water change.

To give you an idea of my water and the buffering needed, my tap water is ~6.7 pH out of the tap:

1. In my tank which doesn't have any type of buffer added the pH drops to 4.4 pH after about 24 hours and will stay there until my next water change.
2. For my tank that has aragonite substrate the water stays between 7.2 ph (day after water change) and 7.6 ph (day before water change).
3. For my Tanganyika tank (750gal) I buffer the water to 8.8 ph - 9.0 ph. For each 40% water change I mix the buffer using 2 cups of epsom salt, 6 cups of sodium bicarbonate, and 3 cups of sodium carbonate. For my wild caught Moba I've found that I need to add the buffer to the tank very gradually throughout the entire water refill period (~1 quart every 3 minutes). In the past whenever I've added the buffer more quickly I had Moba start dying.

Hope this helps.

 

[Caperguy99]

Since this has revived, I’ll give my results:

As suggested, I very slowly dosed the tank with Cichlid Lake Salt for GH and Malawi Buffer for KH/PH.

During water changes, I take out 25% of the volume of water and replace an equal amount of those buffers during the change. This has been giving me stable parametres of 8.2 PH, 11 KH, and 12 GH. I’ve been holding steady with this regimen.