# up ph using baking soda?



## claire09876 (Jan 9, 2007)

Hello,
I'm fairly new to fish keeping as I've been keeping tropical fish for about 18 months. I have just started to experiment with CO2 to enhance my plants and am using a disolvable tablet every other day. I have only used 3 so far but have been testing ph regularly. I think it's at about 6.5-6.8. I was going to buy a ph-up just incase I needed it but the guy in the shop said baking soda was just as good. He suggested 1/4 teaspoon mixed in water and added to tank would raise the ph slightly. Has anyone every used this and is it safe? Also are electronic ph testers any good?
Thanks, Claire


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## treepimp (Apr 13, 2006)

Adding baking soda to the water will raise your ph and also your KH. I would use baking soda over ph-up because of the phosphates in the ph buffers.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Welcome to APC! 

Why do you want to raise your pH? I don't see anything wrong with your pH levels...

And what tablets are you talking about here?


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

as to electronic pH testers - they are the best as long as you get a decent one and do any required maintenence on them.


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## claire09876 (Jan 9, 2007)

Thanks for your comments. I've been using Sera CO2-tabs plus. They disolve in the water and release the CO2 over 8 hours (generally). I was worried my ph might drop as a consequence and just want to be prepared so I don't put my fish in dangerous position. Any suggestions on a ph meter? and which are decent ones?


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## Cassie (May 27, 2006)

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...00-diy-drop-checker.html?highlight=drop+check

A drop checker might be a better idea, since it just stays in the water and you can tell just by looking how much co2 is in the water so you could notice the change as the tablet dissolves. I must say I'm not familiar with the co2 tablets you are using, but I would think that the continual change in pH might be stressful to your fish. Have you thought of going to DIY or pressurized?


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Hi Claire,
I've just bought some of these tabs for my new nano cube. How are you finding them? I used them for a little while on my 40g, but they were way too expensive long term, i'm hoping 5.5g will be a little more economical as the CO2 shouldn't dissolve as fast.

Thinking of using them for a couple of months while the plants establish, then stopping and adding shrimp.


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## claire09876 (Jan 9, 2007)

Thanks for the info on drop checkers (and the link). I had no idea about these. Are they easy to read or can it be 'borderline' with the colours? I've just looked them up on ebay - are the 'knock offs' just as good?
I think I could try one and see what happens when the tablet disolves and if there is a fluctuation they I can look into other methods. What's DIY - is it Do it yourself? Which thead ill I find that under?
All these questions......it's all very exciting though.


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## claire09876 (Jan 9, 2007)

Forgot to ask Ed......why are you adding shrimp - just cos you like them or is there another reason?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Part of the idea behind using the drop checker as a CO2 checker is to adjust the KH of the water in it so the color of the pH indicator solution in it is green when the pH is where you have 30 or 40 ppm of CO2 in the water (pH=6.6). If you look at the color chart for your pH test kit you will notice that at a green color you can most easily see changes in the color. If you used a near yellow or blue color for the desired amount of CO2 it is very hard to see changes that amount to large changes in ppm of CO2.

The device is so simple any of the ones that you can buy will work fine, and even crude do-it-yourself versions work just as well. Here is the main thread about drop checkers: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-it-yourself/32100-diy-drop-checker.html


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

I use Baking Soda for two reasons in non-soft water tanks when using RO water as a base.

(1) The carbonate in sodium bicarbonate is something of a conjugate that naturally connects with the carbonic acid which forms when CO2 is bubbled into H20. It works really well as a buffer for moderating CO2 induced pH drops.

(2) Some plants, such as Vallisneria, can directly use carbonate dissolved in water. Doesn't work for all plants, but it is something of a fertilizer for those that can utilize carbonate.

I'm guessing that you probably don't need to use baking soda as a buffer with water. For two reasons:

(1) If you are starting with tap water, there is likely a significant amount of dissolved stuff in it. Enough dissolved stuff in the water usually naturally acts as a pH buffer.

(2) CO2 dissolving tablets don't have that much total CO2 in them, so there isn't enough CO2 generated by them to exhaust the natural pH buffer in your tap water.

Hope this helps. It took me several months of intermittent reading on pH , buffers and the carbonic acid cycle before this really started to make sense to me.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

claire09876 said:


> Forgot to ask Ed......why are you adding shrimp - just cos you like them or is there another reason?


Coz I like them 

I'm using the JBL drop checker with a version of Hoppy's 4KH known solution to get an accurate colour change (it seems to be working great, thanks!). The advantage of the JBL one is there is a little colour chart for me to compare against and, as I'm red-green colour blind, I find this to be very convenient. It doesn't look as good as the glass ones though. Check out Aqua Essentials site for a range of these in the UK Claire.

I use RO water with RO Right to remineralise it, but this gives me a KH of 0.
I haven't had any problems uding this with yeast based CO2 or Pressurised CO2. The fish and plants love it.


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## claire09876 (Jan 9, 2007)

Thanks for the info - I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by all the new info. It may take me a while to take it all in....glad I'm not the only one.
Can you explain RO water to me (or distilled), do you make this or buy it? As someone suggested I do just use tap water for water changes. I have just bought a drop checker on ebay and am waiting it's arrival. Some people have said use distilled water, others using tank water. Which is best?
Feeling confused, but challenged!!!!
Thanks :boxing:


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

claire09876 said:


> Thanks for the info - I'm feeling quite overwhelmed by all the new info. It may take me a while to take it all in....glad I'm not the only one.
> Can you explain RO water to me (or distilled), do you make this or buy it? As someone suggested I do just use tap water for water changes. I have just bought a drop checker on ebay and am waiting it's arrival. Some people have said use distilled water, others using tank water. Which is best?
> Feeling confused, but challenged!!!!
> Thanks :boxing:


Distilled water and RO water are both purer forms of water, without a lot of the stuff that our tap water has in it.
Distilled water is produced by evaporating and then condensing water so that only pure H2O is collected.
An RO unit works by forcing water across a partially permeable membrane that is so fine that only small molecules, such as water, can pass through. It relies on high pressure from the mains or booster pumps to do this. For every litre of Product water produced about 5 litres are waste water that are usually sent down the drain.

You don't need to use either for your tank.
Tap water, treated with a water conditioner to prevent the chlorine and chloramine in your tap water harming your fish, is fine. I use RO water coz I keep soft water fish and had an issue with high nitrate in my tap water.

For my drop checker I have taken what i think is the easiest option while still giving me good accuracy. I took some RO water and added bicarbonate of soda to it until i had a KH (carbonate hardness) of 4dKH. This took a lot of trial and error, adding a little Bicarb, then testing with a test kit, adding some more, then adding water if i put too much in! I now have about 500ml of 4KH water sitting in the fridge that should last me ages!
The reason for wanting a KH of 4 is that when the solution turns nice and green that means i have 30ppm of CO2 in the water (thought by many to be the ideal level of CO2). If it's blue, the CO2 is below that level and if it goes a yellowy colour then there's too much CO2, but you will probably see your fish gasping first!
NB you will need water of less than 4KH to make this solution. The best is probably distilled water as that is purer than RO water, but mine seems to be working well.
My JBL drop checker tells you to use tank water in the dropper, but then you won't have as great accuracy of the CO2 level unless you test the KH and work it out.

Hope that helps!


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