Bringing up the Ph in the water.

[Crazy Frog]

Hi guys ....was wondering what products you guys use to bring up and maintain the PH of the water of my terrarium.
The water in my terra is running through coco peat cause my DIY background is made with coco peat and i belive it the reason why my water ph is a little acidic and on the lower side (6.15)
i would like to bring and maintain my ph at 6.8-7...any idea how can i solve my problem?

thanks

[michaelmah]

You can buy and dose liqiud but just temporary ,as you may need to dose again when PH drop.

Add coral chip to filter a bit by a bit will help, but aware not too much. This need so time for coral to absord and adjust PH by 2-3day. be patient.

[Crazy Frog]

Thanks i have added coral chip since yesterday..but now my PH is too high 7.25... now i would like to bring it down...how to bring it down again?

[ghim]

Take out some of the coral chips then.

[wllm33]

coral chips and shells are the best.
if too high, just take out some.
they serve me well usually.

[Crazy Frog]

you mean when u take out some coral chips the ph level in the water will be reduce..though ph is begin bring up already and will maintain there.By taking out the coral chip it will reduce the ph ... dont understand can someone explain how does it works...thanks

[ghim]

coral chips are ph enhancing. Which means the amount of coral chips you put will increase the ph proportionately.

It is like adding sugar to your coffee. The more you add the sweeter it is. Though this is not really a good example

[d2sign]

you mean when u take out some coral chips the ph level in the water will be reduce..though ph is begin bring up already and will maintain there.By taking out the coral chip it will reduce the ph ... dont understand can someone explain how does it works...thanks

Check the pH of your tap water, if is lower than your tank, do some water change after take out certain amount of coral chips, that help to bring down pH.

[torque6]

coral chips affect PH of water, but at a much slow pace. The downside is you have to monitor PH level with the amount of CC used. I usually give a 2 days for the PH to take effect.

remember to add it slowly to regulate PH.

[Trisaro]

Coral/oyster chips are mainly used as pH buffer. So you do not have to worry about wild swings of pH when the condition has become stable.

[michaelmah]

my case, PH from 5.8 shot up to 6.4 within 30 minutes in my nano tank, and stable at that range.After that my shrimplet swim like superman .

[wllm33]

my case, PH from 5.8 shot up to 6.4 within 30 minutes in my nano tank, and stable at that range.After that my shrimplet swim like superman .

does this mean that shrimps are more happy with higher ph than lower in plant tanks?
will it affect the plants if the ph goes higher?
no wonder my sakura shrimps look a bit down if that is the case.

[michaelmah]

the previous batch crs did superman for 2-3 day then 4th day become mummy.

Now I know superman , seem to be water parameter problem and they strees by that cause.

Now I hope there are fine because I can only see 3 out 6 crs in my nano tank.

Ph to plant, this I not very sure.

ANy expert help to voice up

[michaelmah]

the coral seem to bring up and up the ph over time and time....

[whuntley]

the previous batch crs did superman for 2-3 day then 4th day become mummy.

Is it possible that they just molted, and the "mummy" is the old shell? While still soft, they are very good at hiding.

Now I know superman , seem to be water parameter problem and they strees by that cause.

Now I hope there are fine because I can only see 3 out 6 crs in my nano tank.

Ph to plant, this I not very sure.

ANy expert help to voice up

Plants, fish, and most inverts cannot really feel pH and are not strongly affected. Can you feel the pH when you go swimming? Well, neither can they.

Plants and fish are pretty comfortable at any pH between 4 and 10, but may not reproduce well in the wrong range. I don't know about shrimp, but suspect they are about the same.

That said, a change in pH can cause ammonia poisoning as harmless ammonium changes to deadly ammonia if pH is suddenly raised above about 7.5. You probably have almost no ammonia if you have a well-planted tank. [This is the main source for the old "pH shock" myth so popular among fish atlas authors who know no chemistry.]

At low pH, fish can get "brown blood" disease which is nitrite poisoning (sometimes called acidosis). Usually it is only when overcrowded and polluted. Again, clean water and there's no pH problem.

The real problem is not the pH, but the total dissolved solids (tds). They determine the osmotic pressure across skin and gill cell walls. Sudden changes in tds can cause real damage. Fish have a complex, three-level system for keeping fresh water from rushing into surface cells and making them burst. Suddenly dunking a fresh-water fish in sea water is less deadly, as that mostly just dehydrates the cells until the osmotic regulation can adjust.

If you drop the tds by a factor of more than 2, serious damage is likely, and opportunistic infections will get into the damaged cells. Death usually follows, sometimes right away, but usually after some days of being sick.

In tiny fish the adjustment takes as little as 15 minutes or so. Large anadromous fish, like salmon, hang at the river mouth for a day or more before swimming upstream to spawn. In any case, we must always make changes in the dissolved solids a slow enough process that the fish (or plants) can adjust.

I have no idea how sensitive shrimp are to tds change, but I would guess they have some need for acclimation, too.

BTW, coral or shells add hardness as well as raise pH. The buffer system there is Calcium Carbonate and Calcium Bicarbonate. You can get better results and not increase hardness by using common baking soda, Sodium Bicarbonate, to buffer the water into the high 7s. For the life of me I cannot imagine any real reason you would want to do this.

Wright