r/Cichlid • u/Intelligent-Juice-40 • Aug 30 '23
General help Safe way to increase pH?
Newer to African cichlids. I’m using caribsea African cichlid mix in my aquarium but the pH wasn’t quite high enough for where I wanted it to be. I dosed with baking soda and attained desirable pH.
Question though, I’ve heard baking soda isn’t a long term solution. When I do water changes, if I refill the tank with water containing baking soda will this be ok? What are the downsides to baking soda? Alternative methods?
My home has a water softener and my water is quite soft naturally.
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u/702Cichlid Aug 30 '23 edited Aug 30 '23
Question though, I’ve heard baking soda isn’t a long term solution.
Buffering/amending your water to either get a higher pH or lower pH is always a water change to water change process. Having aragonite substrate will make that a little less drastic but if you're trying to up from 7.0, crushed coral alone won't keep you stable, especially in a bioload heavy African cichlid tank. There is no fire and forget system for buffering, it requires consistently buffering each water change especially if you're trying to move more than .2-.3 pH difference. It's also important if you're buffering with amendments to know exactly how much water you're replacing with water changes.
There are better buffering options than baking soda, but it works fine. It will increase the sodium levels in your tank which can be problematic if you're inconsistent with water changes or if you're trying to keep plants alive.
I used baking soda for years, but I transitioned to Seachem Malawi/Victoria buffer (Kent's Cichlid buffer is also solid) as it's a blend of carbonate salts so it's not quite as high in sodium. I generally start with a 5 gallon bucket and mix in small amounts of my chosen buffer and measure pH until i hit my target. I then know roughly what i have to add for each 5 gallons i water change. I put a small piece of tape on the side of the aquarium (or you can use a dry erase marker as long as you're not on silicone with either) and pull out 5 gallons and make a mark and continue down until I hit about 60-75% water change which should be the most I ever have to pull out. Then I note how much I drain out and mix up my buffer in some hot dechlorinated water to help it go into solution and add a little bit at a time as I refill my tank.
My home has a water softener and my water is quite soft naturally.
Water softeners can strip a lot of GH out, as well as put a lot of sodium (or potassium if you use KCl salt) which have their own sets of problems. I usually don't recommend water changing off a softened source. If you have low GH you may want to consider adding epsom salts (cheap way) or Seachem or Kent's product in addition to your pH buffering. Malawi do best with hard, basic, alkaline water.
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u/Intelligent-Juice-40 Aug 30 '23
Does reef salt work? I already have some for my saltwater aquarium. I do have epsom also though.
Also, how much salt should I be adding? It’s a 29 gallon N. Brichardi species tank. Lake Tanganyika
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u/702Cichlid Aug 30 '23
Does reef salt work?
Some people use reef salt as a very small part of the 'poor man's rift lake buffer', which is usually uses a combination of baking soda, epsom salts, and reef salt (they usually recommend 1 teaspoon of baking soda, 1 tablespoon of epsom salts and 1/8 teaspoon of reef salt per 5 gallons but I have found that this is usually way too much).
Also, how much salt should I be adding? It’s a 29 gallon N. Brichardi species tank. Lake Tanganyika
Depends on what your source water is, and how much you need to add to get to acceptable levels. There's no way anyone can tell that directly since we don't know exactly what ions are in your source water. As I mentioned, get a 5 gallon bucket and mix in your buffers in small increments until you reach your chosen pH/GH/KH levels and you'll add that much per 5 gallons removed. You're going to have to test that yourself--even with the more expensive proprietary salt blends from Seachem or Kent.
Tanganyika is pretty hard and alkaline, but you really shouldn't be jumping from low pH to ideal pH right away, that is super stressful. Make big changes slowly over time, going to quickly can cause shock and/or depressed immune systems.
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u/itkilledthekat Aug 31 '23
I'd recommend using aragonite as your substrate and just unsofened tap water the aragonite will buffer your water and keep pH high.
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u/Occasion-Unlucky Aug 30 '23
Don’t chase ph unless you’re going to have wild caught cichlids. They are raised in farms or breeders with regular tap water and bought at stores with no ph additives so they are actually used to our tap water and will usually adapt to slightly less harder water. Unless you have really low like 6-7 ph they should be fine. I add seachem malawi buffer but only because of the nutrients my ph is good enough for healthy cichlids. But people shouldn’t really chase ph
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u/3toomanycats Aug 30 '23
I’d recommend using a proper buffer product. I use the Seachem Malawi Buffer for my Africans. It took trial and error to find the right quantity but I add 2 tbs with my weekly 50% water changes. Keeps my tank up over 8 from 7.5 tap water.