buffering soft water, what to use?

[myles]

Hi there soon im moving and will be living at a place with city water and the city water here is quite soft. very low in kH. I will be setting up a amall resevore, that i will treat all the water in to be ready to fill up tanks on water changes, and be able to change the chemestrey depending on the tank its goin in. Just curious what would you reccomend on harding the water with? iv been looking at tufa rock, dolomite, crushed shell, ontagonite, ect, that i would filter through the water to buffer it. Just wondering what my best bet would be? I can get alof of these pretty cheap, instead of ussing alot of the commercial buffers available especialy because of the sizes of some of the tanks i would like to set up. Any input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Myles

 

[bigspizz]

Bi sodium carbonate.....(baking soda)

 

[myles]

Great thank you. About what dosage would you use? and how much would this raise the kH?

 

[Wolf3101]

crushed coral works very well in all of our tanks.

 

[Miguel]

crushed coral works very well in all of our tanks.

Nothing compares, in fact, imo

 

[bigspizz]

Nothing compares, in fact, imo

Baking soda buffers just fine....Use a lil at a time and test. You will be able to hold a desired p.h. with a higher buffering capacity.

 

[Miguel]

where and how do you put the soda? In a bag? and in what quantities?

 

[deangelo]

crushed corrals, marble chips...

 

[myles]

any of you use dolomite?

 

[bigspizz]

In An Owner's Guide to Happy Healthy Fish: The Cichlid written by Mary E. Sweeney she states, "If you want to harden your water, as for rift lake cichlids, you must pay close attention to alkalinity. If your KH is low, add commercially prepared buffers, sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) or calcium carbonate, or use dolomite or crushed oyster shell. One teaspoon of baking soda per 10 gallons of water is usually enough but test the water after aeration to determine your own recipe.
In high pH systems, give special attention to aeration and ammonia. Aerations drive off the carbon dioxide that lowers the pH level, and ammonia is considerably more toxic (and more available) in high pH water."



There you go Mig....