RE: Buffering PH for ray tank

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maxon88

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 23, 2007
84
2
6
Singapore
Hi all, I have this question. Anyone is using bicarbonate (Baking powder) to buffer the ph of a tank consisting of rays? Any side effects? Any successful case of breeding in a tank tat's buffered by bicarbonate?

Sry for the list of questions as I'm trying to figure out any potential problem with my setup.
 
I wouldn't mess with using chemicals to buffer. Best to use whatever comes out of tap. A stable
PH is more important than trying to keep it lower.
 
The problem I am facing now is due to my bioload, my PH will decrease quite fast over the next few days from 7 to 6. I have about 10kg plus of coral chips in my filteration but it seems to not help. Any suggestion?
 
It sounds as though your water is soft or the bioload is not being diluted with water changes.

I would start with a GH and KH test kit to find out how hard or soft the water out the tap is. Then compare to the tank. (post up the results)

From your post saying the ph is dropping from 7 to 6 then maybe it is simply too high bioload and lack of water changes.

You can let water evaporate and top up with fresh as only pure water evaporates therefore any mineral content is left behind...thus buffering the water.

If you run a sump then you could explore calcium type reactors but you need to find out if these work in fresh water as most are salt water.

I wonder if a fluidised filter with some form of coral gravel in migh help buffer BUT only do this if you are doing regular 25% weekly water changes as this is the first step.

Please also let us know the dimensions of the tank and stock levels along with type of filtration.
 
i think ive heard of people using coral gravel or crushed coral as a ph buffer . could be wrong though.i have some in one of my tanks but i dont take much notice of the ph anymore .
 
Bicarb as a buffer doesn't seem to last very long. The crushed coral route is probably the better option, sounds like you might need to find a way to add more or ensure the water is flowing through the coral more thoroughly?

I know what you're going through, my water has a very low Kh so my rays can quickly send the pH through the floor despite having a very good water change regime. I use crushed coral in an FX5 filter.
 
More Coral would be my suggestion also. There is some advantages to have extremely hard water
with a very high PH right out of the Tap. I have never had an issue with PH stabilization.
 
PeteLockwood;4143899; said:
I know what you're going through, my water has a very low Kh so my rays can quickly send the pH through the floor despite having a very good water change regime. I use crushed coral in an FX5 filter.
Click to expand...

Do you have to change that a lot to replenish the Calcium?
 
Most buffers such as coral sand , crushed coral etc quickly build up a coating of bacterial slime which prevents further buffering. Oyster shell is a very good alternative as it dissolves quicker due to it's structure. I personally run a lifegard fluid bed with a mix of coral sand and oyster shell as my tapwaters kh is so low I find this maintains my tank at ph 5.5 / 6 . It comes out the tap at ph 8 but will drop to 4 after only an hour! Finally after a year of trying my tank is now stable. I know aquaman on here has coral gravel in his tanks but I would be curious to know what his tapwater is like?
 
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