Increasing KH helps to increase PH ?

[fleekk]

Currently, I added in a arowana into my planted tank & I wish to increase my PH to around 6.5.

All plants & livestocks are doing fine. I have tried reducing to 1bps instead of usual 2-3bps. It is still at PH 6 in the night, where as daytime before lights on is at abt PH 5 -5.5. Recently, I discover my Kh drops to 2-3 which used to be at 4.

What should I do? Should I add baking soda, will it create a buffer which later stage have difficulty to remove if I need to reduce the PH? I had experience with coral chips that created avery strong buffer that resulted difficulty to bring down the PH in my other tank previously.

What is the step needed if baking soda is require?

Is there any better solution?

Thanks for the help.


Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 4ft
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 3 W/gallon
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : FL + PL
No. of Hours your light is on: 9hrs
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 1 bps, 24/7
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Reactor
Substrate Used : Sera
How Thick is your base fert : 1inch
How thick is your gravel : 3inch
Liquid Fertilizers Used : 10ml LGA , 20 drops of LGM, 5ml seachem Iron
Frequency of fertilization : LGA- every week, LGM - every 2 days, Iron - Every week
Tank Temperature : 25-26 degrees
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : juwel system
Filter media used : juwel sysytem
How long has your tank been set up : 10 mths


Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------

Carbonate Hardness (kh): 2-3
Total Hardness (gH): -
PH : 6 when lights on
NH4 (ppm): -
NO2 (ppm): -
NO3 (ppm): -
PO4 (ppm): -
Fe (ppm): -

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)

20+ tetras
3 otos
6 SAE
10+ yamatos
5platys + 7 BABEs

java moss on log
Luwidgia sp "cuba" (added in April'04)
Limnophila aromatica (added in April'04)
Tonina fluviatilis, Tai Yang Chow (added in April'04)
Tiger Lotus 'Green" (added in Mar'04)
Xue Hua
Tonina sp "narrow leaf"
Blyxa Japonica

[budak]

What do you mean, increase pH? Do you know what is the pH of your tap water? You also mentioned difficulty in bring down pH? Which do you want exactly?

I find there is really little use for tweaking pH (unless you are a fish breeder perhaps). The higher the KH value, the less the pH will fall (this is called the buffering property) for any given amount of CO2 you inject. In other words, a higher KH means pH will fluctuate less.

With planted tanks, targeting CO2 levels (20-30 mg/l) is more important.
For myself, I just use baking soda to maintain a KH of 5-6, and have adjusted my CO2 injection level such that I get a pH reading of 6.7-6.8 (i.e. 23-30 mg/l CO2). Use only KH and pH readings to determine Co2 levels. Bubbles per second is a fairly useless measure.

The hardness effect of baking soda can be removed simply by water changes. Coral chips are not the same; they raise the GH (calcium and magnesium salts) along with KH. Check the Aquatic FAQ for the baking soda dosage. Check the KH level after you have changed water and dose accordingly to get your target KH level (4-7 is fine).

[fleekk]

Hi Bro,

Thanks for answering.

My tap water Ph is 7 & Kh is 4.

I wish to maintain it. But the Kh drops eventually, thus resulting in the fluctuation of the PH.

I guess I will need to add baking soda to maintain my KH sa as to stablise the PH....