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Coral for raising pH | 4 comments (4 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
Re: That is a good question. Seawater can vary bet (none / 0) (#2)
by Nika on Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 08:02:50 AM PST

So how much should I add to my tank?  Am I looking at just a few tablespoons, or a cup or two?

[ Parent ]


Seriously, I would start with only a teaspoon (none / 0) (#3)
by unclescott on Sat Jun 23, 2007 at 08:53:13 AM PST

for a 10-gallon tank at first. You seem to be very faithful in monitoring the pH. I would guess that the chances are that you will eventually use a couple teaspoons by the time your tank is walked up to 7.5 or 7.6. But that will allow you to scale how much per gallon you would put into your changing water.

If you use liters, figure 3.7 per gallon. I had to look it up but  
1 teaspoon = 5 ml
1 tablespoon = 15 ml
(Heck, I wasn't sure of 1 tablespoon = 3 teaspoons.)

The only time I have used baking soda (or if that isn't available, plaster of Paris) as a quick fix was when a grow out tank of young adults was getting very skittish. They can eventually "go crazy" and even kill themselves running into decorations and tank sides. That "crazy man's disease" probably better called "crazy fish disease" is sometimes a sign that the pH is either really rising (alkalosis) or dropping (acidosis). In a grow out tank of eager feeders and busy poopers, biological processes (the nitrogen cycle) will bring the pH down.

I luckily was checking the fish before running off to school. I tossed a teaspoon of plaster of Paris in that 1-gallon tank and went about my teaching duties. Much later in the day I found, to my great relief, that everyone in the tank was still doing ok. But I didn't trust that aquarium's system anymore and did a complete tear down and restart. Obviously feeding was more modest for a few days. :)

I hope that all you will have to do is add a little baking soda. adding cichlid salts may be another trick of the trade - see below.

Here is another discussion of deadly pH. I notice that PeterW jumped in on the discussion. From the San Francisco area, he has to contend with water containing very little mineral too. He was eventually raising great guppies. I'd have used his water to breed rare rainforest killies. ;)

http://www.guppylog.com/story/2005/6/8/85929/50609

Peter is one of those people who has moved very rapidly from questioner to researcher to experimenter to resource person on GL. (Of course experienced and active aquarists continue to be all four of those things.) You might Google search Guppylog for PeterW.

Good luck and all the best!

[ Parent ]



I don't know why I didn't really think adding a (none / 0) (#4)
by unclescott on Wed Jun 27, 2007 at 10:16:35 AM PST

tabkespoon/ 10-gallon tank of Rift Lake Cichlid Salts. (Just another brain cramp.) It came to mind when responding to swordtails by snowshark this morning. There are also a number of recipes for "home made" cichlid salts. They both buffer and add necessary mineral.

Also I reflexively sometimes wonder why we add sodium chloride to livebearer water (what a Grinch!), there is an advantage in adding a little of a sea salt mix, as is done by Scott Lockwood. That has important trace elements and is buffered towards higher pHs.

To a degree, much cheaper feed salts found at agriculture supply stores will do that too. Those salts are just sun dried sea salt.

Both commercial cichlid salts and marine salts can be expensive. Once you have experimented and found what you need to add to a tank, you can cut your overall cost per unit by whipping together a bucket of DIY cichlid salt or by buying in quantity. Until a friend taught me about feed salt, a couple of my shops provided 10-pound bags of sea salt. Often it wasn't generic, it was simply taken from a really large bag of the stuff and rebagged for hobbyists. Often it is cheaper per pound that way.

Just a little more grist for the mill. :)

[ Parent ]



Coral for raising pH | 4 comments (4 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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