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Thread: Low PH

  1. #1
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    Low PH

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    (1) the ph value of my 2 week old tank (2ft with driftwood) is 5 using Tetratest PH kit. how to increase the ph ? i have been performing small amount of water change every day or two. manage to raise ph a little but it went back to 5 the next day. tap water measure 7.5.

    (2) how best to prepare driftwood before putting in fish tank? i having been soaking 3 medium size drifwood for a week in a pile with hot water change daily. tested the ph before water change last night & was 5. i am afraid that it will further lower the ph if introduce them into the above tank. pls advise.

    thank you.

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    Increase the kH to about 4 or 5 ... or acording to the desired pH.

    You can do so by adding sodium bicorbonate (baking soda). It is available from the supermarket. Alternatively, you can buy the kH-plus additives from LFS. But they are much much more expensive.

    Take note: Do not raise the KH more than 2 within a day. Might shock your fishes.

    BC

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    BTW, according to someone that have posted previously.

    1 tsp of NaHCO3 added to 50L will increase the KH by 4.

    BC

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    Just in case, cos many ppl make this mistake...

    tsp = teaspoon, not tablespoon.
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    How abt adding crushed corals??
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    Crush corals works.

    But it cannot be controlled. You may end up with harder water or higher pH than you desired.

    Personally, I dislike using that for my planted tank. I like to know exactly what I put into the tank and control the pH, kH and GH at specific values.

    BC

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    ----------------
    On 9/5/2002 9:35:11 AM

    Crush corals works.

    But it cannot be controlled. You may end up with harder water or higher pH than you desired.

    Personally, I dislike using that for my planted tank. I like to know exactly what I put into the tank and control the pH, kH and GH at specific values.

    BC
    ----------------
    I think the first post ask how to increase pH, not kH.
    Crush corals is a nice option. You can put them in a netted bag and put together inside the filter. The pH will increase. So will the kH too.
    Is the driftwood lowering the pH too much? Maybe soak it further to remove more of the acids.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    thanks all for your advice.

    my 2ft tank has only driftwood. did an experiment last night by adding KH-plus into the pile with 3 pcs of driftwood. indeed, the ph raise from 5 to 7.5.

    juggler, how long to soak driftwood before introducing to tank?

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    ----------------
    On 9/5/2002 10:07:55 AM

    thanks all for your advice.

    my 2ft tank has only driftwood. did an experiment last night by adding KH-plus into the pile with 3 pcs of driftwood. indeed, the ph raise from 5 to 7.5.

    juggler, how long to soak driftwood before introducing to tank?
    ----------------
    I soaked one of my pieces for more than a month before using it. This is to remove as much of the leaking tannic acid causing the tea-coloured stain. Some people would boil the wood in a pot (or pour boiling water onto it) to speed up the process. Reference: Driftwood

    BTW - 7.5pH is a lilttle alkaline for freshwater, right? Try to control around 7 or slightly less.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    Hi All,

    From the solutions suggested above, the 2 ways to raise pH is either to increase pH directly (thru introduction of coral chips) or increasing the kH (thru introduction of NaHCO3).

    Does pH and kH always move in tandem? Besides the ease of control, are there any side effects with regards to the 2 methods? Please enlighten me. Thanks!


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    To increase pH, you can add 2 things: OH- or HCO3-/CO3--. In fish tank, you would not want to add OH- but HCO3- or CO3-- instead. Therefore, in the fish tank context, you will almost always increase the pH with KH.

    The humic acids release by the driftwood do reduce the pH. The acid release can be reduce but cannot be eliminated. Small amount of acids will be release over time. But when the KH is low, a little acid will crash the pH. Therefore, it is good to keep a reasonable KH of at least 3 to maintain a reasonable pH.

    BC

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    Hmm, BC, I see what you mean.

    So it is a question of elasticity of pH at low kH levels.
    I've seen a chart posted in this forum not too long ago that maps the kH to maintain for a certain pH value to subsist.

    Plants react directly to pH changes. Do plants also react directly to kH changes or do they react to the pH changes brought about by kH changes? Is the effect on plants caused by high pH and high kH the same? Pardon my many questions.

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    Sorry, removed what I said.
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    Increase of KH will always leads to increase of pH, while keeping CO2 concentration constant.

    Consider following, (assuming CO2 is constant)

    CO3-- + H20 <---> HCO3- + OH-
    H+ + OH- <---> H2O
    HCO3- + H+ <---> H2O + CO2(aq)

    Coral chips: CaCO3
    Baking soda: NaHCO3

    GH: concentration of Ca+ and Mg+
    KH: concentration of HCO3- and CO3--
    pH: Concentration of H+ (H+ increase pH reduce.)

    Add coral chips:
    Ca+ increase. GH increase.
    CO3-- and HCO3- increase. KH increase.
    OH- increase ---> H+ reduce. pH increase.

    Add baking soda:
    HCO3- increase. KH increase.
    HCO3- form CO2 and H2O with H+(acid). Excess CO2 escape into atmosphere (no CO2 injection) and H+ reduce. pH increase.

    You can verify this by making a baking soda solution and test the pH.

    BC

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    As to the KH stabilising the pH:

    KH is actually alkaline buffer.

    HCO3- + H+ <---> H2O + CO2(aq)

    The additional H+ is buffered by the above mechanism. That's why pH fluctuation reduce with higher kH.

    Think of it this way: the acid have to overcome the HCO3- before you can see significant changes in pH.

    BC

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    Thanks Boon Chuan.
    Is that any chemical that can raise kH but not the pH?
    koah fong
    Juggler's tanks

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    I am afraid not.

    The only way is to reduce the pH by CO2 after raising the KH. Otherwise, the CO2-pH-KH relationship will not make sense.

    At certain CO2 concentration, the pH will always corespond to a certain KH.

    BC

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