Ph Raising Substrate?

[carmstrong]

Does anyone know if this substrate causes the pH in a tank to be overly high??
 
http/www.petsmart.com/gsi/webstore/WFS/PETNA-PETCA-Site/en_CA/-/CAD/ViewProduct-Start?CategoryName=300072&CatalogName=36&SKU=36-21325
 
Any help would be much appreciated
 
Thank you

 

[Zikofski]

in what way do you mean raise? I'm not sure tbh but i think my substrate has lowered the ph to around 6.5 tap is 7.5 i thought substrates if they did alter the ph it would lower it rather than increase it.
 
but i did a quick google and i couldn't see anything that states it will raise or lower the ph

 

[carmstrong]

I was speaking with a local fish shop and they asked wy my pH was so high and asked if that substrate was a crushed coral based gravel.
 
I didn't know so i posted it here, I also google searched and couldn't find any ingredient list for this product. 
 
Was just curious if someone has used this before and had issues with high pH. 
 
There are other factors that may be the reason but I figured i start with this. 

 

[DrRob]

Plenty of substrates will buffer pH upwards. Substrate is high surface area, so it's got a high limestone content then it may well push the pH upwards. It's quite a useful feature is Rift valley tanks and marine systems, but not so welcome in a lot of other sets. A similar problem comes with some soil set ups.

 

[Alasse]

Option 1: Put some of the sand in a small glass container and pour vinegar on it, if it bubbles it may raise the PH
 
Option 2: Small glass container, fill with tap water, test PH, leave for 24 hours and retest PH. If you get the same result, add some sand and wait another 24 hours and retest to see if it has altered your PH

 

[carmstrong]

Option 1: Put some of the sand in a small glass container and pour vinegar on it, if it bubbles it may raise the PH
 
Option 2: Small glass container, fill with tap water, test PH, leave for 24 hours and retest PH. If you get the same result, add some sand and wait another 24 hours and retest to see if it has altered your PH

 
Thank you, this is a good idea.. i'll try that.

 

[carmstrong]

So After doing a full water change (not disturbing the substrate and bacteria) I took another reading this morning and the pH is back to 8.2. 
 
My tap water is reading 7.4
 
So I took your advice and took two containers. 
1 with nothing in it, just tap water and the other with tap water and 1/3cup of substrate. 
 
We will see tomorrow what the results are and if the substrate is infact raising my pH and what I can do later to fix this.. 
 
I would hate to have to remove all my gravel and replace it with something cheap and plastic looking

 

[fm1978]

There doesn't seem to be any indication that that particular substrate causes any kind of pH rise. The fact that it's advertised as sand might suggest that it's silicon based and therefore not likely to affect water chemistry. Also, and this may be a very tenuous note, the single review on that site suggests to wash it as it's dusty, this also suggests to me that it's not very soluble and therefore, again, not going to dissolve in water and buffer the pH.
 
I'd suggest it's more likely that your tap water is gassing off after a time, probably some sort of carbonate, which is slightly acidic leaving a more basic water behind.

 

[carmstrong]

I spoke with the local fish store and they said there water in their tanks are 7.8-8.2 as well. 
 
So I guess it just has to do with our area and the tap water we have... 
 
we will see how this works out, hopefully I can get some fish in this tank by the end of the week