freaked out over kh

[amcoffeegirl]

In mostly all of my tanks i am slowly losing ph even with 30% weekly water changes. after testing today i found that most of my tanks have non-readable kh levels. i decided to add baking soda even though i knew it would raise the ph also. im afraid now i added to much. i know i stressed out my goldfish. they were gasping at the surface which they never do. they seem fine now but the initial reaction wasnt good. i mixed it first in water then dumped it in. i shouldve went slower. Then tested. So long story is i raised my ph from 6.0 to 7.0 and my kh is at 40. i will not do this again. ive heard that for baking soda to work that you have to do this every week. so why are all my tanks at 6.0 ph this is crazy to me. 2 yrs ago they were steady 7.4. so how do i do this? I would like to make sure that with weekly water changes i can maintain a tank without falling ph. is crushed coral the answer?

[The Trigger]

I would use crushed coral or a small piece of limestone. What's your tap water read as far as GH, kh and pH?

[jart]

Is your pH stable from week to week?
Are you adding CO2?

As long as the pH is relatively stable, there may not be a need to alter it.

[Hoppy]

Were you having problems with the plants or fish before you decided to raise the KH? If not, it would have been better to ignore the pH. It is rarely necessary to be concerned with pH when it is changing slowly. Ordinary weekly water change should stabilize it pretty well then.

[Aquaticfan]

Have you tested your KH and PH out of the tap?

What is your substrate? Certain ones can have effect on lowering PH. Do you have driftwood, Peat???? These things can lower these numbers.

and finally how often do you do water changes?

[amcoffeegirl]

The lowest i can read is 6.0 thats where my ph was. the highest i read is 8.6 thats where my tap water is. i dont show a reading anytime with kh. things were fine with the fish and things seemed stable. i didnt test for maybe 6-8 months because the fish were fine.and i never miss water changes. so the decline mustve been slow and steady. but i dont want to continue with ph off the low end. i will get some coral and see what that does

[The Trigger]

If ur tap has that high of a pH than something in your tank is lowering your pH making it acidic. 6.0 oat a problem if your fish and plants are doing fine. I keep my tank at like 6 for my blue rams and my plants and fish thrive

[Aquaticfan]

Originally Posted by The Trigger

If ur tap has that high of a pH than something in your tank is lowering your pH making it acidic. 6.0 oat a problem if your fish and plants are doing fine. I keep my tank at like 6 for my blue rams and my plants and fish thrive

Unless the tap water is being artificially boosted to a higher PH as the Alkaline water is not hard on pipes and such after leaving the water treatment. I know our PH at the Tap here is right at 8.0 to 8.4. BUT the KH is only 3 to 5 dkh. So its a little low. In my tank the water PH degrades to a lower PH easily even without much in the water to change it. Just because the KH staying power isnt there.

This could be part of the issue along with things like drift wood and such lowering the PH.

[Aquaticfan]

Originally Posted by amcoffeegirl

The lowest i can read is 6.0 thats where my ph was. the highest i read is 8.6 thats where my tap water is. i dont show a reading anytime with kh. things were fine with the fish and things seemed stable. i didnt test for maybe 6-8 months because the fish were fine.and i never miss water changes. so the decline mustve been slow and steady. but i dont want to continue with ph off the low end. i will get some coral and see what that does

How often are your water changes?

Do you have any Drift wood?? Peat?

[amcoffeegirl]

I dont use peat and have never altered my water before. i do have some driftwood but not in all of my tanks. i do weekly 30% water changes. The driftwood in my tanks have leached there tannins many months ago. i do not think this is a factor in this case.

[amcoffeegirl]

Ok all my fish are still alive luckily. i agree that the kh has no staying power. in my 46 gallon my goldfish are still pipeing at the surface. no amonia is present.

[Profector]

If I remember correctly you want to raise your alkalinity and then your ph, otherwise you're fighting a loosing battle. Perhaps someone can confirm that. Also uncooked baking soda has co2 into, so when you first put it in it should lower ph a little, but as the co2 is driven off it'll raise ph I think the most it will raise it is 8 maybe 8.2. I might of missed it, did you say if you're injecting co2?

If it isn't causing a problem I wouldn't mess with it.

[Profector]

If your fish are at the surface you may want to look at putting a powerhead near the surface of the water. Sounds like not enough oxygen in the water. Mixing air with water will drive off co2 and raise your ph. Perhaps deep clean your filter and substrate, natural processes in the filters will lower your ph too. Stuff builds up in the substrate over time and raises nitrates. Good for the plants, but the process will lower the ph to

[Diana]

I have used baking soda in aquariums with no problems.

Tap water:
KH 4-5 German degrees of hardness
pH upper 7s to low 8s (water company adds sodium hydroxide)

Tank with Soil Master Select (high CEC substrate that removes KH from the water)
KH 0
pH as low as the test goes, 6.0

Add 1 teaspoon baking soda to a standard 29 gallon tank with a canister filter, about 2" of substrate, some rocks... Assume 25 gallons of water if you want.
KH 2 degrees
pH 6.2
That small a change had no affect on the fish. If I wanted to raise the KH and pH higher, I would find out what was making it drop and correct that.

Is this a planted tank?
I would try larger water changes, or more frequent water changes. pH can drop as organic matter builds up in the tank.
However, if the tap water tests 0 degrees KH I would add some. Baking soda is not the only source.
If the GH is also low you could add calcium carbonate.
Adding coral or crushed limestone or oystershell grit to the filter or the substrate can help, but I would adjust the new water that you are adding with every water change. Do not rely on just the materials that dissolve slowly to do the job once the water is in the tank. That would subject the fish to changing conditions of a sudden drop in KH with each water change. Then it would gradually rise, only to drop again with the next water change.

Goldfish are pretty adaptable, but do better with the GH and KH higher (5-10 degrees is about right, a little higher is OK, but not much lower) and the pH on the alkaline side of neutral (pretty much anywhere in the 7s is best, down to about 6.8).
If you can get the GH, KH and pH in this range, and keep it there, that would be optimum for the Golds, and reasonable for pretty much all the aquarium plants that might be in the tank.

[amcoffeegirl]

thanks for taking the time to reply. it makes alot of sense. i want to keep it simple. this is a barebottom tank with driftwood tied on and floating plants. All of my tanks had the 6.0 ph though. i guess i will have to discover how much baking soda to add to each 4g bucket of new water for my water changes. i still use buckets. lol. all of my tanks have plants but only my tropical community is truly a planted tank. thanks everyone for your help.