# raise ph with baking soda?



## ChosenOne22 (Nov 23, 2003)

has anyone done this? and whats the proper way to do this? i just wanna find a cheaper way to raise ph


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## nitrofish (Jan 14, 2003)

ChosenOne22 said:


> has anyone done this? and whats the proper way to do this? i just wanna find a cheaper way to raise ph


 whats your ph now ? I think bakeing soda will infact raise ph, but I have never used it. I prefer natural buffers such as chrushed sea shells


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## DonD (Mar 11, 2004)

Yes, it does indeed raise the pH. The only thing with it is it is not overly stable. Its buffering capacity can be used up rather quickly. IMO it is best used in conjunction with a substrate like crushed coral.


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## rufus (Jan 6, 2004)

unless your ph is very very low, dont add anything. changing the ph drastically is worse than a low stable one.


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2004)

How much to add depends on the size of your tank and how acidic your water is.

For a 55 gallon, I would add one level teaspoon of Sodium Bicarbonate, wait overnight for the reactions to occur, and then check the pH and see if you need to add more.

Sodium Bicarbonate eventually gets used up and the pH begins to fall again so it needs to be replenished regularly.


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## ChosenOne22 (Nov 23, 2003)

well the purpose is for my future african tank, water straight out of my tap is 6.2 and i need to raise it to the 8.0 range.

so this way is not recommended? and you really have to replensih the baking soda REGULARLY?


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## Guest (Mar 22, 2004)

I wouldn't for an African Cichlid tank. Baking soda works best when making small, temporary corrections in pH. In a tank with soft water, it gets used up rather quickly. It would be a nightmare trying to keep the pH stable using sodium bicarbonate.

For an alkaline cichlid aquarium, it's best to get a substrate made for those type aquariums that keeps the pH high. It will be much more stable and require less pH-adjustment maintanance.


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## ChosenOne22 (Nov 23, 2003)

thanks bullsnake very helpful


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## DonD (Mar 11, 2004)

I could swear I said the same thing.








If your pH is that low, then, as I said, I would definately use the baking soda in conjunction with a marine/african designed substrate. With pH that low, the substrate alone is going to have problems keeping the hardness high enough to keep the pH at 8. This is a definate case of when both should be used.
And as both myself and bullsnake said, it is a temporary fix on its own. Therefor you are going to need to add it at every water change. If you dont, you are going to cause fluctuations in the tanks pH. 
I would seriously consider going with SA's or West Africans so you wont have t mess with this.


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## illnino (Mar 6, 2004)

if you want a ph of 8.0 just add some limestone, i heard it works very well in chichlid tanks cause it raises the ph.


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## ChosenOne22 (Nov 23, 2003)

oh thank u too don and illnino


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## Guest (Mar 23, 2004)

DonD said:


> I could swear I said the same thing.


 woops, Sorry Don, I didn't see your previous post there.

Why don't you have an avatar? An avatar makes your posts instantly recognizable when people are scanning down a thread.


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## micus (Jan 7, 2004)

go outside and get some rocks , boil em and stick em in , and throw some cruched coral in the bottom of your filters, that will bring it up to a steady 8.0


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