Baking Soda

[Fishman_2000]

Hey everyone. I've been reading about adding baking soda to increase the KH in my water. Though I haven't noticed anyone saying they added it with fish in the tank. Has anyone done that? I wouldn't think it would be bad since I at times put in stuff to help with the ph. I figure if I can't do the baking soda I'll throw in a limestone as others have suggested in the past. As long as I do my water changes weekly (which I do know because of the python) the ph stays relatively stable, but if I go past that it starts to drop.

 

[iamcowboy]

I have never tried baking soda. IMO if the ph is good w/ regular water changes I would just stick with that.

 

[Fishman_2000]

My city water changes a few times a year so I'm always checking its conditions. My tap water is 7.5 ph, kh is 1, and the gh is 1. After it's in the tank it starts to drop. I'm just really looking for other ways to increase the kh and the gh without putting in all those chemicals.

 

[seastaar88]

baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) will help to buffer your tank. used it at the aquarium i used to work at.

 

[rohnds]

I used it my SW tank and it works. The problem is that if it need sodium bicarbonate to raise you KH, then you will need to use it on regular basis to maintain the desired KH. The minutes you stop using it the KH will crash and this will unstable pH.

Rohn

 

[Guysy1110]

Yeah you can use it as a buffer, but the problem is you will have to add it on a regular basis like the others said. If theres nothing seriously wrong with your water i would just leave it.

Guysy

 

[fish_chic]

Fishman 2000- well for the baking soda, i have never heard of it being used to higher or lower the gh, kh, or ph (but i am still pretty new at this) but i do always add about a teaspoon of it to my tanks after water changes, always seems to get the water crystal clear. i just take a cup with a bit of the tank water and add a tsp of baking soda to a cup and dissolve it good and pour it right in with the fish and all, it has never harmed them. IDK just a thought

 

[homebunnyj]

You could also put a bag of crushed coral in your filter media box. Since stable ph is so important, I would go with something that doesn't require my active intervention, as adding baking soda does, since there's always the possibility of something interfering, like a family emergency, or being gone longer on a trip than planned, things like that. Ph would be one less thing to stress over if you're using a piece of limestone in the tank or some coral.

 

[TheFool]

Well baking soda is the main constituent of fancy additive, so add it and don't really worry as long is it's pure. I also have tapwater with a kH of 0 - 1, and if you want a stable pH it will certainly help to raise it. I use it for marines, and used when I kept african cichlids
Coral in a bag will only work if your pH goes under 7.2, you can't use it to get a consistently high pH.

 

[echoofformless]

If you're not keeping high pH/hardness fish, I wouldn't add it.