What is a good way to raise my PH level? It is too low for my fish and i'm not sure what I should use...any recommendations on things i can buy or use to up it? Its about 6.5
How to raise PH level?
- Thread starter amindbesideitself
- Start date
amindbesideitself;525454; said:
is that the pH out of the tap as well??
if it is, dont mess with it.
that pH is actually perfect for an oscar
What is your alkalinity level? If it is low, like the system we have at work, I would be more concerned with pH fluctuations than anything. Raise the alkalinty (KH) because you pH is fine. Fish can handle pHs that are less than the optimum as long as it doesn't vary.
RadleyMiller;525675; said:
Ouch
I think Radley is refering to hardness rather than alkalinity. He is right in saying that low hardness in tanks can indicate a problem with pH fluctuation as those ions that raise total hardeness tend to buffer the water against sudden changes in pH. Using bi-carbonates to raise hardness can raise total hardness but has a direct impact on carbonate hardness. Now this might seem like a blinding glimpse of the obvious but keep in mind that in heavily planted tanks, that use a lot of disolved carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, some of the carbonates are used up as the CO-2 is consummed.
Once the lights go out the plants a well s the fish produce carbon dioxide that is dissolved as carbonic acid, driving down the pH. Once the pH drops to certain level, the corbonic acid reacts in an equillibrium reaction to produce carbonates again. This results in daily pH fluctuations.
Thats why a lot of guys that have freshwater refugiums that are well planted and lighted 24 hours a day experience more stable water chemistry as the carbon dioxide levels do not fluctuate. the rest of us can avoid this by raising total hardness (KH) rather than just carbonate hardness. I find crushed coral in my cannister filters to be the easiest way to do this.