Using Bking Sodau And Epson Salts

[mmcrew]

Hi guys. Just a quick one about the above realy
Iv seen people using this in their tanks but I'm a little unsure why or how much to use and wil it benefit my current tank setup
My water readings are already quite high and my ph is now about 7.5, so if I add any or even the aquarium salt will it change anything
Cheers for the replys

 

[lordofthesea]

i wouldn't try it it's kinda hit and miss. i use calcareous rock to buffer the ph. looks nice too.

 

[GGriffin]

I believe baking soda will raise the Ph to 8.2.

 

[Bebobb]

i wouldn't try it it's kinda hit and miss. i use calcareous rock to buffer the ph. looks nice too.

Not if you add the right amount every water change.

 

[lalo99]

It really depends on your tap waters ph. If its 7.5, then don’t bother. A steady ph is better than a fluctuating one. If your tap water has a pH below 7, then buffering should be done to match current water conditions. The lower the tap waters ph the more baking soda you will need. You should also know the GH and KH out of your tap. Baking soda will raise the KH and ph and Epsom salts raise GH. As mentioned above baking soda will max out the ph at around 8.2. Remember salts are only removed through water changes. Epsom Salts will also cause your fish will poop more often. Natural buffering is also recommended. Adding crushe coral to your filtersor using a form of limestone in thetank will also help buffer the water. However, this is not instantaneous. You should still match tank parameters with your water change.

 

[Bebobb]

It really depends on your tap waters ph. If its 7.5, then don’t bother. A steady ph is better than a fluctuating one. If your tap water has a pH below 7, then buffering should be done to match current water conditions. The lower the tap waters ph the more baking soda you will need. You should also know the GH and KH out of your tap. Baking soda will raise the KH and ph and Epsom salts raise GH. As mentioned above baking soda will max out the ph at around 8.2. Remember salts are only removed through water changes. Epsom Salts will also cause your fish will poop more often. Natural buffering is also recommended. Adding crushe coral to your filtersor using a form of limestone in thetank will also help buffer the water. However, this is not instantaneous. You should still match tank parameters with your water change.

Marine argonite sand helps buffer it also.

 

[woody1k]

Well i also wouldnt use the salts , ive found that just using rather crushed coral or having plenty of Ocean rock in the tank works great , also i have been trying Tropical marine gravel with some fast results with a ph stable of 8.5 with weekly water changes of 25% but not using coral or ocean rock at all . my cichlids seem to love it even tho its at the higher ph level . dont know what other ppl think of this would be nice to hear other views ?

 

[dthoffsett]

I prefer to used aragonite sand to keep a nice stable higher PH & KH, it beats having to add baking soda every water change which I found to be annoying.

 

[Yanks15]

Hey dthoffsett, you've been answering alot of my cichlid questions and I'm afraid they may have been for not I've been having a problem with my water lately. My pH will not stay above 6.8, even after large wc. I am going to try using the epsom salts,baking soda, marine salt mix to see if I can get things straight. My KH is 1 and GH 4. I have to find an efficient way to get the pH up to 8.0+ and keep it there before I go any further with my cichlid tank idea.

Didn't mean to hijack thread.

 

[woody1k]

Well i also wouldnt use the baking soda , ive found that just using rather crushed coral or having plenty of Ocean rock in the tank works great , also i have been trying Tropical marine gravel with some fast results with a ph stable of 8.5 with weekly water changes of 25% but not using coral or ocean rock at all . my cichlids seem to love it even tho its at the higher ph level . dont know what other ppl think of this would be nice to hear other views ?

 

[dthoffsett]

Hey dthoffsett, you've been answering alot of my cichlid questions and I'm afraid they may have been for not I've been having a problem with my water lately. My pH will not stay above 6.8, even after large wc. I am going to try using the epsom salts,baking soda, marine salt mix to see if I can get things straight. My KH is 1 and GH 4. I have to find an efficient way to get the pH up to 8.0+ and keep it there before I go any further with my cichlid tank idea.

Didn't mean to hijack thread.

Sounds like your low KH is causing the PH to drop, you can add some crushed coral to your filter and/or go with some aragonite sand (can't remember what your substrate is) which should help keep everything stable. I really think of baking soda/epsom salt as a last resort since it has to be added at every water change.

 

[GGriffin]

Hey dthoffsett, you've been answering alot of my cichlid questions and I'm afraid they may have been for not I've been having a problem with my water lately. My pH will not stay above 6.8, even after large wc. I am going to try using the epsom salts,baking soda, marine salt mix to see if I can get things straight. My KH is 1 and GH 4. I have to find an efficient way to get the pH up to 8.0+ and keep it there before I go any further with my cichlid tank idea.

Didn't mean to hijack thread.

Sounds like your low KH is causing the PH to drop, you can add some crushed coral to your filter and/or go with some aragonite sand (can't remember what your substrate is) which should help keep everything stable. I really think of baking soda/epsom salt as a last resort since it has to be added at every water change.

Baking Soda probably better used as something as a stop gap, until the coral/aragonite or limestone starts to disolve into the water and buffers it.

 

[Yanks15]

I do realise adding this mix is a little time consuming. The tank I'm dealing with right now is a community w/ guppies and black neons. Is it acceptable to use aragonite sand for this tank? I understand that using crushed coral in the filter has to be changed out when it becomes ineffective. Could there be big pH drops if it dies out between water changes?

Thanks for the advice.

 

[dthoffsett]

I do realise adding this mix is a little time consuming. The tank I'm dealing with right now is a community w/ guppies and black neons. Is it acceptable to use aragonite sand for this tank? I understand that using crushed coral in the filter has to be changed out when it becomes ineffective. Could there be big pH drops if it dies out between water changes?

Thanks for the advice.

Oh, sorry I thought this was in relation to setting up your mbuna tank. No, aragonite wouldn't work for your community tank. Crushed coral doesn't lose its buffering ability until it completly dissolves which would take a very long time. What actually happens is that your good bacteria will start to colonize on it building up a bio-film of sorts that causes it to dissolve much slower. So all you need to do is rinse it off well in tap water to kill off any bacteria, which is the opposite of what you're told to do with filters.

Have you been able to determine the cause of your PH drop? My understanding is that finding out what is causing the drop and eliminating it if possible would be better than just trying to raise your PH as what was causing the drop would still be there. If that makes any sense at all.

 

[mmcrew]

iv brought some crushed coral so im going to put a media bag in my external filter and that should sort out the ph problem, just the nitrate problem now to solve out,