buffering ph by adding minerals

i know you can add various things to your water to buffer the ph
towards a certain value, that value being different depending exactly
which mineral(s) you add, but does anyone know what will buffer to a
ph of 7?
Sodium bicarb buffers to around 8 i think
coral to around 8.2 ish
limestone...not sure

I did try evian! its got 360ppm bicarbonates (kh) and is ph 7.2, so
you can add as much as you need to achieve any kh you want, but its
effects seem to be temporary, and i think i need to add a solid so
that it can slowly dissolve.....but what to add?

chris

|| i know you can add various things to your water to buffer the ph
|| towards a certain value, that value being different depending exactly
|| which mineral(s) you add, but does anyone know what will buffer to a
|| ph of 7?
|| Sodium bicarb buffers to around 8 i think
|| coral to around 8.2 ish
|| limestone...not sure

These numbers are relative to the water you start with.... if you're
starting with 7.0 water, adding baking soda can acheive 8.0, so if you want
7, and a kH of 3 or so, maybe adding CO2 which will bring back your pH to
7.2 or so...

I've used baking soda and CO2 to maintain a 7.0 tank for almost 2 years...
always stable

I've heard crushed coral, limestone, and marble chips are all good to use..

|| I did try evian! its got 360ppm bicarbonates (kh) and is ph 7.2, so
|| you can add as much as you need to achieve any kh you want, but its
|| effects seem to be temporary, and i think i need to add a solid so
|| that it can slowly dissolve.....but what to add?
||
|| chris

What is your water to start with??

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"chris nuttall" wrote in message
om...
i know you can add various things to your water to buffer the ph
towards a certain value, that value being different depending exactly
which mineral(s) you add, but does anyone know what will buffer to a
ph of 7?
Sodium bicarb buffers to around 8 i think
coral to around 8.2 ish
limestone...not sure

I did try evian! its got 360ppm bicarbonates (kh) and is ph 7.2, so
you can add as much as you need to achieve any kh you want, but its
effects seem to be temporary, and i think i need to add a solid so
that it can slowly dissolve.....but what to add?

chris

I think Red pretty much covered all the bases.

I had a PH crash a while ago and tried a few products. I tried the lawn lime
(not slaked) first and it was OK, but it was messy. I also tested some
limestone screenings (meant for under patio stones), which worked better
(faster) then the lawn lime, but had to be thoroughly washed, as it
contained a lot of contaminants. Finally, ended up using the crushed coral
in my filter, as it was cleaner and fast acting. My KH is around 150 and PH
stays around 7.5 using the coral. My test samples of lawn lime and limestone
screenings were somewhere around 7.8 after a week.

my tap water is ph 7 with a kh of 11 degrees
my tank water is also ph 7 with a maximum kh of 8 or 9 (it keeps
dropping see my other post called ph kh snails and clown loach)
i get falling kh and ultimately ph, so i want to add buffering
capacity to the water to maintain ph 7.0 if possible, but i am worried
that coral will buffer it up to 8 ish.....i just dont want to kill any
fish by experimenting.

chris

|| my tap water is ph 7 with a kh of 11 degrees
|| my tank water is also ph 7 with a maximum kh of 8 or 9 (it keeps
|| dropping see my other post called ph kh snails and clown loach)
|| i get falling kh and ultimately ph, so i want to add buffering
|| capacity to the water to maintain ph 7.0 if possible, but i am
|| worried that coral will buffer it up to 8 ish.....i just dont want
|| to kill any fish by experimenting.
||
|| chris

1. Most fish will adjust to whatever water you have... that being said...
let's move on..
2. pH doesn't harm fish unless it changes quickly or dramatically... pH
swings as they are called, is more dangerous than just keeping a different
pH than a fish starts out in...
3. Unless you're actively breeding, a pH between 6.5 and 7.5 isn't bad for
alot of fish...I've kept guppies in both extremes, you get females with a
lower pH and males with a higher pH...
4 for a planted tank, your pH and kH give you a CO2 level of 33ppm which
seems erroneous... are you injecting CO2 at all?

If you have a 7.0 tank, and 11kH I'd be happy with it... I'd just settle on
a weekly routine of doing a water change and adding a teaspoon of sodium
bicarbonate (*baking soda*) to it as a buffer... that will raise your pH to
7.4, but it ultimately won't drop as fast as before... giving you a certain
time frame to work with....

Peat can lower your pH, and soften it I believe.. then adding the baking
soda as the buffer can acheive your desired affect, it is a bit of trouble
though...

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| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
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| ==========================
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"chris nuttall" wrote in message
om...
my tap water is ph 7 with a kh of 11 degrees
my tank water is also ph 7 with a maximum kh of 8 or 9 (it keeps
dropping see my other post called ph kh snails and clown loach)
i get falling kh and ultimately ph, so i want to add buffering
capacity to the water to maintain ph 7.0 if possible, but i am worried
that coral will buffer it up to 8 ish.....i just dont want to kill any
fish by experimenting.

chris

Chris,

You should be OK with coral. Add a small amount, say a cup per 10 gallons
and test daily. If your KH is not satisfactory after a week (too low), add
more coral.

My tap water is very similar to yours, but my PH WAS falling below 6, even
with weekly water changes. I had 'old tank syndrome' sneak up on me. I added
about four cups of coral to my 55 gallon and my KH has stayed around 150 and
my PH is between 7 and 7.5. It's never been anywhere near 8, but I do weekly
water changes as I said.

"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...
snip

3. Unless you're actively breeding, a pH between 6.5 and 7.5 isn't bad
for
alot of fish...I've kept guppies in both extremes, you get females with
a
lower pH and males with a higher pH...

I'd heard about Krib fry being influenced by pH, but not Guppies, however
I have Guppies in one of my tanks (8.4pH), and I noticed today that it's
currently an all-male population. I can't vouch for more males than
females being born (though it seems that way), but the females *have*
been much more short lived than the males. I think 8.4pH is outside
their limits. Perhaps I'll switch to other fry-generators like Mollys,
Swordtails or even Platys as they all seemed more tolerant of the high
pH.
--
www.NetMax.tk

snip

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| RedForeman ©® fabricator and creator of the ratbike streetfighter!!!
| ==========================
| 2003 TRX450ES
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| '98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
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what is 'old tank syndrome'?

chris

about the co2 level; i do not inject co2, there is an air pump running
(which should have the opposite effect i think). The ph and kh only
start at those values, they soon fall to much lower levels.
for 2 years there was no problem, its only recently started happening
(co-incidentally at the same time i started getting a lot of snails, i
wonder if they could be robbing the water of bicarbonates?)

i have tried bicardonate of soda, the ph and kh still fall, they just
start from a higher value, i tried evian too, with the same result.
i think i should get some coral, then as it dissolves there will be
more 'in reserve'

chris

Thusly (chris nuttall) Spake Unto All:

what is 'old tank syndrome'?

Never heard of it in freshwater, but in sal****er it is an observation
that after several years of flawless operation aquaria tend to slowly
decline. "Restarting" the aquarium with fresh live rock and sand
brings it back on track. Ron Shimek has propsed that OTS is caused by
heavy metal build-up in the rockwork - at the pH's seen in marine
aquaria, the heavy metals found as contaminants in the salt mix
precipitate on limestone.