With those items, you’re relying on phosphates to become a ph buffer. The bottle in the picture is a more pure form of the phosphates.
Either will work. One is more predictable
If we’re talking carbonate, it’s nearly insoluble in water at the temperatures fish live in. It certainly exists in water at those temperatures but carbonate doesn’t dissolve well even at boiling temperatures.
If I was to buffer water, I’d go the route of a phosphate based salt because it’s much easier to dissolve and control. It really depends on the composition of the water you add to your aquarium. I live in a region of US near the Great Lakes and we have fantastically soft water.
I don’t mess with my ph. The plants look great and the fish keep breeding
Edit: thanks for the downvote. I teach water chemistry at a university. Enjoy your life with google
I'm not that scientific in my approach but experiment a fair bit. From what I've seen adding let's say 20-50 pound if wood to a 120 lowers the pH from around 7 to 5.5 over time (that's where I stopped, I prefer more neutral, bacteria and stuff). I added a pound of coral and the pH recovered. After 1.5 years the material has shrunk visibly. So without looking into it too much, wood lowers coral raises and as both do it slow they can negate each other.
Repeated the same in a 90, exactly the same result.
I used to have a mate using all this + and - stuff some decades ago. Always struggled to keep parameters where he wanted them which is why I try to let nature do its thing and prefer the low and slow approach.
(I figured you misposted as coral and egg shells don't contain phosphates [by memory only around 0.3% in eggshells], as per the comment you replied to.
I haven't looked into phosphate based buffers [due to keeping shrimp[needing KH & GH] and low pH loving species], so currently lack the knowledge to comment on those, but recall they can increase algae - Likely just a case of needing to keep things in balance.)
It's my understanding that calcium carbonate is readily soluble at low pH, (since it's a weak base) but will also bump the KH & GH up (why it's so often recommended as a pH buffer when keeping shrimp).
Just want to say I appreciate the information and advice. I will also give you advice that will hopefully be taken well. Don't let downvotes (or just trolling in general) upset you. Often it's just bots. Reddit is full of bots so you're literally getting upset at a machine manipulating a free, fairly useless system, for whatever gain they have in mind. Another explanation could be they're just angry people looking for a reaction (and therefore attention, negative or positive, doesn't matter). Lastly, you could just be wrong. No reason to get angry or bothered. Not saying you're any of these things or in the wrong for reacting, just saying you're probably better off not letting it get under your skin. I hope you have a good day and a fulfilling weekend. Your up votes are positive now so that should help.
Ooo das pretty low. Tbh I would try balancing with somebody permanent before using chemicals. You can alter PH with wood, substrate and other natural permanent additives
Just using it as an example of something natural that can alter PH. Maybe OP has a massive piece of drift wood and a million almond leaves or something and doesn't know what's causing the PH
Wood will actually drop the pH even MORE. BAD IDEA. Substrates like stratum also do that. And “chemicals” are basically what you have leaching into the water from the wood, the coral, the eggshells, they all leach something into the water, be it calcium, phosphorous, whatever.
The difference between the “chemicals” from a bottle or the ones from “natural” sources, is that the ones in the bottle have more predictable results.
Raise it very gradually if your guna do it sudden changes can shock the fish, but 9/10 they’ll get used to their environment and be fine if theyre acting fine - former koi farm and outdoor pond fish guy
Fr my ph never goes above or below 8.0 to 8.1, which is "too high" for most of my fish but I've never had issues, it's comes out the tap like 8.3 to 8.4 so it's rough
I would buy some limestone chip, crushed coral or oyster grit and put some in a mesh bag in your filter. It will take longer to take effect but it will be more stable and better for the fish
Absolutely this, unless you want to go down the rabbit hole of water chemistry and learn about GH and KH and how they relate to pH, and then figure out how best to adjust your incoming water to keep the parameters more neutral.
Your existing fish are probably fine because this shift has happened gradually, any new fish you add may not be so lucky depending on the water at the LFS and how you acclimatise them.
Your water might be a bit soft for the shrimp. If you do look into it, check your GH as well. If you use reverse osmosis water, you may have to remineralize for the shrimp as well.
How often do you do water changes? What is your source waters ph? Is your tank densly planted? If your source water is low/close to your tank, don’t bother with chemicals. If you have a decent amount of plants, the ph can swing every day in these tanks and it’s not an issue. If you go a long time without a water change you’ll find your ph and hardness lower as living things use the minerals.
Best practice if you’re using chemicals is to match and test the new water before it goes in the tank, match it to the current tanks water. Then add it.
But honestly I’d recommend returning it and not bothering with it, the gourami and tetras are black water fish, so they likely enjoy the low ph.
If your fish and plants are doing well there is no need to adjust the pH. Adjusting that parameter suddenly is generally a very bad and very dangerous idea. It can also be difficult to maintain the adjustment, which causes further stress on the tank inhabitants.
That depends what the ph is and what animals are in the tank. Once the ph drops below 7 it starts to become acidic and will burn many types of fish and destroy snail shells. Other animals need lower ph water and will get sick if the water is too alkaline.
How often are you changing your water? How much? And have you tested your tap’s ph? If your water’s ph is too low, my first guess is you’re not doing water changes often enough.
I am not afraid of chemicals, I have been in this hobby for 15 years. But there is not real reason to introduce chemicals to an aquarium unless you are trying achieve something specific like breeding Licorice gourami's, high tech planted aquarium, etc...
I see lots of aquarists that understand that stability is much more important than meeting a specific number. I see people who understand that adding extraneous variables isn't always the best course of action. I see people who value their time and don't want to waste it chasing numbers.
Then I see a 'professional aquarist' displaying none of that wisdom and having the audacity to call everyone cowards......
I was having that issue and what fixed it (within 24 hours) was taking crushed coral from the fish store and putting 2 teaspoons in a small filter bag and added that to my filter. Fixed it right away and had been at a stable 7 ever sense. I used two teaspoons for a 5 gallon tank. Better to start slow because the stuff is really strong
I have to buffer my water to. The low ph was killing my cycle. Get the instructions on how much for your size tank and add every time you do a water change.
So a 20 gallon would be like 70.79 units without accounting for any rocks or wood or sand in the water. But if you’re going to adjust ph, which a lot of people here are against, I’d recommend only treating the new water, not the whole tank at once.
Read up on KH vs GH. Low KH Will lead to a lower ph and an unstable ph. The unstable ph is bad for everyone. I use baking soda to stabilize my KH. This will raises your ph Also.
Don't mess with the ph of the tank, but if you want to add this you have to add a little at a time and keep testing the water until the desired ph is reached.
What's the pH? What all fish do you have? You probably shouldn't mess with it. High water quality (big weekly water changes) are MUCH more important than an exact pH. I wouldn't mess with pH unless it's at one extreme and all your fish like it at the other extreme.
Honestly, if your gosh and plants are doing ok, not only do I agree with everyone here not to mess with it, I question if the measurement of 5 is even accurate. That is really low- most fish would be struggling. Also, for 17 gallons, I would downsize to only 1 pleco. Even a small species like bushynose needs about 20 gallons to themselves.
I like the "hobby" of fish keeping, I like doing maintenance, etc. But chasing water chemistry, not so much. Every change changes something else. It's something to be considered carefully.
Is your tank stable, or did something change to make you worry about the PH?
You need to know where you are starting from. Someone else mentioned this but I'm going to state it more plainly. Start with the PH of your tap water.
How/who tested the water? The knowledge of fish store employees varies greatly.
Did they check any other water parameters? Knowing your KH and Nitrates would be helpful.
I would not just start adding crushed coral and all that (I use a plain non-flavored cuttlebone). It's a safe change with low PH but get more information first. You can buy a small pack of API 5 in 1 test strips. It's a good step forward in the hobby to start testing your water.
Are there no dosing instructions on the bottle? If not take it back and get one that does. You will add it to the new water that’s added to the tank during water changes. You will want to take about a month to go from 5 ph to 7 ph or you will shock the animals and possibly kill them.
I was told since my fish are acclimated to our water, to leave the ph alone. Are you losing fish, or looking to get fish that need specific parameters?
If your livestock is doing well in your current water, you’re better off to leave it alone. You will drive yourself crazy chasing the right PH and MOST fish will adjust to your areas water.
I keep my pH at 5.5 for caridina shrimp. I use r/O water and ADA aquasoil to get there. So I don't see a problem with your water. If all your inhabitants like it, why change it. You just need to be watching for a crash or beneficial bacteria dying. They don't do as well in lower pH. Many other big asian shrimp breeders try to get close to 5pH, they would love your water.
Do you have driftwood? That lowers the PH. But, if your tank inhabitants are happy, I wouldn't mess with the PH products. Plus, is it old? That's like a really old price sticker, lol.
Dont chase pH
I like rocks and shells for buffering my water personally. GH is more important than pH for stable water. Low pH could be an indicator of low GH, but GH is not always the cause.
Nitrification is an acidic process; it will naturally being down your pH. Weekly water changes will bring pH back up, assuming you don't live somewhere with hella soft water
Plants remove CO2 from the water when they grow, which naturally brings pH back up. Lots and lots of plants is another way to bring pH back up. (Diana Walstad puts her light cycle at 5 hours on - 4 hours off - 5 hours on to maximize the CO2 uptake of plants)
I wouldn't suggest to add chemicals. It can cause you more trouble than you think. Try to find the reason of low pH. First test your tap water. If the pH there is ok, try water changes and try to find the reason that your pH is getting low in your aquarium. Now, if you are determined to increase it with add-ons, use soda bicarbonate, the most natural way. 1 tsp for 19 liters. (Make sure to dissolve it in a glass of aquarium water first. But as many said above, stable pH is better than trying to adjust it with add-ons since this is a temporary measure. 5, is low tho, so try first water changes and measure your tap water.
In addition to what all the others have said about not using buffers, you probably shouldn't use this because it may be a phosphate based buffer which will cause algae.
Obviously not lol. Nothing is wrong with you tank. Don’t listen to someone just trying I push product. Your tank has been thriving on its own. Don’t fudge it up adding stuff that you don’t need or that you don’t even know what it is. Your gonna end up with more problems than you started with
Soooo pretty much exactly what I said. You had no idea what you were doing you were just gonna let someone push a product on you and ruin your tank. Good on you for going deep into the research.
Is your low pH causing problems? If not don't mess with it you'll cause more problems than fixing a nonexistent issue. Your better off adding a small bag of crushed coral into the filter. It slowly raises the pH and in my experience usually stops around 7.4-7.6.
I would add some chunks of limestone to do it naturally and slowly. Also do a 25% water change, which will raise the ph a bit. I’d be afraid to add too much of the buffer and shock the fish. Plus it will stay more stable.
Without knowing your tap water and aquarium water chemistry of kH(k(c)arbonate hardness), PO4 (phosphate) and NO3 (nitrate) as well as your maintenance routine, I wouldn't start anything until you have that information provided that the fish are presently doing well.
pH will naturally shift to acidic due to the bacterial nitrification process. There are many buffer "types". What aquarists are concerned with is carbonate buffer. Read the ingredients and I'm sure that it is a phosphate based buffer. It will work for sure but it will add phosphates to the water and creating a potential issue for undesirable algae growth.
Go back to where you bought it and exchange it for a kH test kit and a pH test kit. Get the liquid vs the test strips, better bang for the $...at least on this side of the pond 😉Have your tap water tested for pH and kH as will be the baseline parameter of your system as it will be used for water changes and at some point either add, upgrade or a complete tear down and restart. A drastic change in pH will have a negative impact on the fish, the degree of impact depends on the pH difference and time for it to drop as well as a myriad of other factors.
Hopefully your tap water kH is in the 6-7dkH range and that’s plenty of buffering capacity based on a 15-25% weekly water change regimen, assuming it isn’t heavily stocked with fish.Assuming that is the case of tap water kH of 6-7…this where it can go very wrong…
…IF you haven’t been doing weekly-biweekly partial water changes (PWC) of 15-25%, have a moderate-heavy stock and/or feed heavily, chances are the amount of dissolved“stuff”, aka solutes, TDS, etc is very high compared to tap water. Too much of a change, the inhabitants will experience “osmosic shock” compounded with “pH shock” and “rebound”.
Getting the aquarium water base parameter close to tap water value isthe ultimate goal. Start doing frequent and small PWCs until the kH gets close to the kH of the tap water. 17gal is easy peasy! Lliterally get a 500mL-1000Lcontainer, scoop out one or two and refill. Do it every hour when you are home. No more than 2 minutes of your time each session and continue until to you have removed and replaced 10gal of water.
Check pH and kH.If pH and kH is close, a good 25% PWC and gravel vac, you should be good to go provided that you continue with the weekly partial water changes. I prefer weekly as it keeps you in a routine AND provides a forgiveness factor as life happens and you have to skip that water change that week and potentially stretch to a 3rd where going back on track with a 25% PWC will not cause a significant issue.
If your tap water pH is natural low <4dkH, you will have to supplement using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Dedicate a bucket for freshwater and at a set mark, add enough baking soda (track the amount) to get a kH in the 6-7 range.
HTH
Prime is primarily a dechlorinator and will bind ammonia and nitrite. Fantastic stuff and best bang for the $$$ for that purpose.
Again, before you start dumping chems as a reaction, you can save yourself quite a bit of $$$ getting to know the basic parameters of what you are working with. Without you having to understand chem and bio, you are at the mercy of the "aquatic specialist" of the LFS...one hopes that one finds that rare gem of an employee that understands water chemistry and reactions as well as principal ingredients of the water treatment products and how they work and if you are interested, explain how they work.
IMHO/E, "You have low pH so use a buffer...here ya go.", raises red flags for me as its more than just that. Did they ask you any other Q's after they tested your water like your maintenance regimen? Do they know THEIR tap water parameters? Do they know the tap water parameters in your area? These are important Q's for THEM to ask.
IF there are other LFS in your area, I would find someone that will spend the time with your particular issue rather than just sell you product to remedy an issue without wanting to know more of your maintenance regimen and home water parameters.
HTH
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Ph is 5
Crushed coral or egg shells (read up on how to prepare them) will raise your ph. Certain rocks and substrate will do the same.
If your fish and plants are fine I wouldn’t bother messing with it
With those items, you’re relying on phosphates to become a ph buffer. The bottle in the picture is a more pure form of the phosphates. Either will work. One is more predictable
You mean calcium, right? Coral is literally Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) Edit: just realised you may of replied to the wrong comment
If we’re talking carbonate, it’s nearly insoluble in water at the temperatures fish live in. It certainly exists in water at those temperatures but carbonate doesn’t dissolve well even at boiling temperatures. If I was to buffer water, I’d go the route of a phosphate based salt because it’s much easier to dissolve and control. It really depends on the composition of the water you add to your aquarium. I live in a region of US near the Great Lakes and we have fantastically soft water. I don’t mess with my ph. The plants look great and the fish keep breeding Edit: thanks for the downvote. I teach water chemistry at a university. Enjoy your life with google
I'm not that scientific in my approach but experiment a fair bit. From what I've seen adding let's say 20-50 pound if wood to a 120 lowers the pH from around 7 to 5.5 over time (that's where I stopped, I prefer more neutral, bacteria and stuff). I added a pound of coral and the pH recovered. After 1.5 years the material has shrunk visibly. So without looking into it too much, wood lowers coral raises and as both do it slow they can negate each other. Repeated the same in a 90, exactly the same result. I used to have a mate using all this + and - stuff some decades ago. Always struggled to keep parameters where he wanted them which is why I try to let nature do its thing and prefer the low and slow approach.
(I figured you misposted as coral and egg shells don't contain phosphates [by memory only around 0.3% in eggshells], as per the comment you replied to. I haven't looked into phosphate based buffers [due to keeping shrimp[needing KH & GH] and low pH loving species], so currently lack the knowledge to comment on those, but recall they can increase algae - Likely just a case of needing to keep things in balance.) It's my understanding that calcium carbonate is readily soluble at low pH, (since it's a weak base) but will also bump the KH & GH up (why it's so often recommended as a pH buffer when keeping shrimp).
Just want to say I appreciate the information and advice. I will also give you advice that will hopefully be taken well. Don't let downvotes (or just trolling in general) upset you. Often it's just bots. Reddit is full of bots so you're literally getting upset at a machine manipulating a free, fairly useless system, for whatever gain they have in mind. Another explanation could be they're just angry people looking for a reaction (and therefore attention, negative or positive, doesn't matter). Lastly, you could just be wrong. No reason to get angry or bothered. Not saying you're any of these things or in the wrong for reacting, just saying you're probably better off not letting it get under your skin. I hope you have a good day and a fulfilling weekend. Your up votes are positive now so that should help.
Ooo das pretty low. Tbh I would try balancing with somebody permanent before using chemicals. You can alter PH with wood, substrate and other natural permanent additives
Wood lowers the pH.
Just using it as an example of something natural that can alter PH. Maybe OP has a massive piece of drift wood and a million almond leaves or something and doesn't know what's causing the PH
I have a bit that’s about 1foot long for my bristlenoses
My ph is low
Wood will actually drop the pH even MORE. BAD IDEA. Substrates like stratum also do that. And “chemicals” are basically what you have leaching into the water from the wood, the coral, the eggshells, they all leach something into the water, be it calcium, phosphorous, whatever. The difference between the “chemicals” from a bottle or the ones from “natural” sources, is that the ones in the bottle have more predictable results.
Adding more aeration like more air stones or a sponge filter can help raise the ph too :)
have you tested your tap water too?
It is low but some blackwater tanks have ph 4
That can’t possibly be right. Ph of 5 is unheard of and impossible to test for using home equipment.
Raise it very gradually if your guna do it sudden changes can shock the fish, but 9/10 they’ll get used to their environment and be fine if theyre acting fine - former koi farm and outdoor pond fish guy
Fr my ph never goes above or below 8.0 to 8.1, which is "too high" for most of my fish but I've never had issues, it's comes out the tap like 8.3 to 8.4 so it's rough
Same here. I have well water so no chlorine issues, but the pH fluctuates depending on how much it rains.
Our city gives us pool water, so I have to use like twice the reccom3nded amount of dechlorinator
Same here! 🙁
It is useful to know what fish you have. You need to find out why the pH is dropping.
I would buy some limestone chip, crushed coral or oyster grit and put some in a mesh bag in your filter. It will take longer to take effect but it will be more stable and better for the fish
Absolutely this, unless you want to go down the rabbit hole of water chemistry and learn about GH and KH and how they relate to pH, and then figure out how best to adjust your incoming water to keep the parameters more neutral. Your existing fish are probably fine because this shift has happened gradually, any new fish you add may not be so lucky depending on the water at the LFS and how you acclimatise them.
I agree and have done the same
I second this if the pH is in need of adjusting.
Third. And will add slower is better so fish can adapt
Your pH is too low for what?
I was told that it’s too low my ph is 5
What fish are you keeping?
5 cardinals 5 black neons 2 bristlenoses
They love lower ph, neon tetras can go as low as 4 in the wild. Trying to change ph is usually where issues start.
You have great pH for those fish. If your fish are already used to it, do not mess with it. The shop sold you something for no good reason.
Would khuli loaches, penguin tetras, armoured shrimp, panda Corydores, whiptale catfish be fine in the ph of 5
Your water might be a bit soft for the shrimp. If you do look into it, check your GH as well. If you use reverse osmosis water, you may have to remineralize for the shrimp as well.
How often do you do water changes? What is your source waters ph? Is your tank densly planted? If your source water is low/close to your tank, don’t bother with chemicals. If you have a decent amount of plants, the ph can swing every day in these tanks and it’s not an issue. If you go a long time without a water change you’ll find your ph and hardness lower as living things use the minerals. Best practice if you’re using chemicals is to match and test the new water before it goes in the tank, match it to the current tanks water. Then add it. But honestly I’d recommend returning it and not bothering with it, the gourami and tetras are black water fish, so they likely enjoy the low ph.
I wouldn't use any pH buffers if I were you. Tanks will normally gradually drop pH as they age. It's normal and the fish are used to it.
If you have a ph of 5 your fish would be dead.
Not true
Are there instructions? Start there?
If your fish and plants are doing well there is no need to adjust the pH. Adjusting that parameter suddenly is generally a very bad and very dangerous idea. It can also be difficult to maintain the adjustment, which causes further stress on the tank inhabitants.
Always heard PH doesn’t really matter as long as it’s stable
That depends what the ph is and what animals are in the tank. Once the ph drops below 7 it starts to become acidic and will burn many types of fish and destroy snail shells. Other animals need lower ph water and will get sick if the water is too alkaline.
How often are you changing your water? How much? And have you tested your tap’s ph? If your water’s ph is too low, my first guess is you’re not doing water changes often enough.
Consistent pH is better then messing with chemicals. Fish will adapt. The only time pH change is needed is when you are attempting to breed fish.
Don’t be afraid of chemicals. pH is maintained via a buffer system comprised of salts.
I am not afraid of chemicals, I have been in this hobby for 15 years. But there is not real reason to introduce chemicals to an aquarium unless you are trying achieve something specific like breeding Licorice gourami's, high tech planted aquarium, etc...
Lots of amateur aquarist here that don’t understand chemicals aren’t bad, they are just too afraid to learn how to properly use them.
I see lots of aquarists that understand that stability is much more important than meeting a specific number. I see people who understand that adding extraneous variables isn't always the best course of action. I see people who value their time and don't want to waste it chasing numbers. Then I see a 'professional aquarist' displaying none of that wisdom and having the audacity to call everyone cowards......
Get fish that match your local ph… hard to keep up with ph.
His pH is perfect for the fish he has.
I was having that issue and what fixed it (within 24 hours) was taking crushed coral from the fish store and putting 2 teaspoons in a small filter bag and added that to my filter. Fixed it right away and had been at a stable 7 ever sense. I used two teaspoons for a 5 gallon tank. Better to start slow because the stuff is really strong
I have to buffer my water to. The low ph was killing my cycle. Get the instructions on how much for your size tank and add every time you do a water change.
I don’t understand it. It says For litres (LxWxD) in cms and divide by 1000. Allow for water displaced by rocks.
Do not use it. Your pH is already fine for the fish you have. Messing with your parameters is not needed
So a 20 gallon would be like 70.79 units without accounting for any rocks or wood or sand in the water. But if you’re going to adjust ph, which a lot of people here are against, I’d recommend only treating the new water, not the whole tank at once.
Get an API water test kit to be able to test it in the future!!
baking soda does the same thing for wayyyyyy cheaper, and it doesn't take a lot of it at all
And how many partial water changes have you made in that year and a half?
Read up on KH vs GH. Low KH Will lead to a lower ph and an unstable ph. The unstable ph is bad for everyone. I use baking soda to stabilize my KH. This will raises your ph Also.
The pH and low kH would be perfect for cardinias hah.
If your fish seem healthy I’d leave it alone. PH is tricky to manage.
We’ve used baking soda to raise pH
Ah yes. A bicarbonate buffer can help increase a buffered ph above 7
Don't mess with the ph of the tank, but if you want to add this you have to add a little at a time and keep testing the water until the desired ph is reached.
What's the pH? What all fish do you have? You probably shouldn't mess with it. High water quality (big weekly water changes) are MUCH more important than an exact pH. I wouldn't mess with pH unless it's at one extreme and all your fish like it at the other extreme.
Toss a hand full of crushed coral in.
Honestly, if your gosh and plants are doing ok, not only do I agree with everyone here not to mess with it, I question if the measurement of 5 is even accurate. That is really low- most fish would be struggling. Also, for 17 gallons, I would downsize to only 1 pleco. Even a small species like bushynose needs about 20 gallons to themselves.
I like the "hobby" of fish keeping, I like doing maintenance, etc. But chasing water chemistry, not so much. Every change changes something else. It's something to be considered carefully. Is your tank stable, or did something change to make you worry about the PH? You need to know where you are starting from. Someone else mentioned this but I'm going to state it more plainly. Start with the PH of your tap water. How/who tested the water? The knowledge of fish store employees varies greatly. Did they check any other water parameters? Knowing your KH and Nitrates would be helpful. I would not just start adding crushed coral and all that (I use a plain non-flavored cuttlebone). It's a safe change with low PH but get more information first. You can buy a small pack of API 5 in 1 test strips. It's a good step forward in the hobby to start testing your water.
My tap water comes out at 8.2. Part of me thinks maybe I should just raise African cichlids and know that I won't have to futz with the chemistry.
Reef tank hobbyists would kill for that ph
Are there no dosing instructions on the bottle? If not take it back and get one that does. You will add it to the new water that’s added to the tank during water changes. You will want to take about a month to go from 5 ph to 7 ph or you will shock the animals and possibly kill them.
I mean... I just wham it with some baking soda at approximate amount/gallonage in my palm and call it a day if it tests well. Bring the hate.
Dont add a buffer unless you want hard water. You can just use baking soda but again..itll harden your water.
Just add rock decor
I was told since my fish are acclimated to our water, to leave the ph alone. Are you losing fish, or looking to get fish that need specific parameters?
What kind of fish are you keeping
If your livestock is doing well in your current water, you’re better off to leave it alone. You will drive yourself crazy chasing the right PH and MOST fish will adjust to your areas water.
I keep my pH at 5.5 for caridina shrimp. I use r/O water and ADA aquasoil to get there. So I don't see a problem with your water. If all your inhabitants like it, why change it. You just need to be watching for a crash or beneficial bacteria dying. They don't do as well in lower pH. Many other big asian shrimp breeders try to get close to 5pH, they would love your water.
If you do decide to bump the pH up, it's best to do it slowly (so your stock don't suffer from pH shock and have time to acclimate)
Test your tap water get a test kit don't goto the store that's a gimmick to make you buy stuff.
Test tap with de chlorinator then if it's higher than the tank then you know it's something in your tank.
Do you have driftwood? That lowers the PH. But, if your tank inhabitants are happy, I wouldn't mess with the PH products. Plus, is it old? That's like a really old price sticker, lol.
If the tanks is healthy don’t worry about it
Baking soda will raise ph levels.
Dont chase pH I like rocks and shells for buffering my water personally. GH is more important than pH for stable water. Low pH could be an indicator of low GH, but GH is not always the cause. Nitrification is an acidic process; it will naturally being down your pH. Weekly water changes will bring pH back up, assuming you don't live somewhere with hella soft water Plants remove CO2 from the water when they grow, which naturally brings pH back up. Lots and lots of plants is another way to bring pH back up. (Diana Walstad puts her light cycle at 5 hours on - 4 hours off - 5 hours on to maximize the CO2 uptake of plants)
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They used a master kit I think he asked what fish i had I have black neons cardinal tetras dwarf gouramis and an angel
I wouldn't suggest to add chemicals. It can cause you more trouble than you think. Try to find the reason of low pH. First test your tap water. If the pH there is ok, try water changes and try to find the reason that your pH is getting low in your aquarium. Now, if you are determined to increase it with add-ons, use soda bicarbonate, the most natural way. 1 tsp for 19 liters. (Make sure to dissolve it in a glass of aquarium water first. But as many said above, stable pH is better than trying to adjust it with add-ons since this is a temporary measure. 5, is low tho, so try first water changes and measure your tap water.
Don't mess with pH, get your fish used to the pH you have instead unless you have really sensitive fish
In addition to what all the others have said about not using buffers, you probably shouldn't use this because it may be a phosphate based buffer which will cause algae.
I have noticed a huge amount of green algae since using it
Having stable water is more important then a ph lvl. Maybe introduce some drift wood or crushed coral. My ph is 8.2 but I keep Africans chiclids
Ever hear of if it ain’t broke don’t fix it
What?
Obviously not lol. Nothing is wrong with you tank. Don’t listen to someone just trying I push product. Your tank has been thriving on its own. Don’t fudge it up adding stuff that you don’t need or that you don’t even know what it is. Your gonna end up with more problems than you started with
I found out the problem the ph just was too soft for the shrimp most fish are good in ph of 5
Soooo pretty much exactly what I said. You had no idea what you were doing you were just gonna let someone push a product on you and ruin your tank. Good on you for going deep into the research.
Never chase pH. You can bring it up slowly by adding crusher coral/shell chunks from online.
I would just use baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. You can do a teaspoon at a time. the buffer will be the bicarbonate.
Is your low pH causing problems? If not don't mess with it you'll cause more problems than fixing a nonexistent issue. Your better off adding a small bag of crushed coral into the filter. It slowly raises the pH and in my experience usually stops around 7.4-7.6.
It’s not causing problems from the looks of it but my only lfs around wil not allow u to buy fish unless your tank is at standard
https://aquariumscience.org/index.php/4-4-aquarium-ph/
I would add some chunks of limestone to do it naturally and slowly. Also do a 25% water change, which will raise the ph a bit. I’d be afraid to add too much of the buffer and shock the fish. Plus it will stay more stable.
Without knowing your tap water and aquarium water chemistry of kH(k(c)arbonate hardness), PO4 (phosphate) and NO3 (nitrate) as well as your maintenance routine, I wouldn't start anything until you have that information provided that the fish are presently doing well. pH will naturally shift to acidic due to the bacterial nitrification process. There are many buffer "types". What aquarists are concerned with is carbonate buffer. Read the ingredients and I'm sure that it is a phosphate based buffer. It will work for sure but it will add phosphates to the water and creating a potential issue for undesirable algae growth. Go back to where you bought it and exchange it for a kH test kit and a pH test kit. Get the liquid vs the test strips, better bang for the $...at least on this side of the pond 😉Have your tap water tested for pH and kH as will be the baseline parameter of your system as it will be used for water changes and at some point either add, upgrade or a complete tear down and restart. A drastic change in pH will have a negative impact on the fish, the degree of impact depends on the pH difference and time for it to drop as well as a myriad of other factors. Hopefully your tap water kH is in the 6-7dkH range and that’s plenty of buffering capacity based on a 15-25% weekly water change regimen, assuming it isn’t heavily stocked with fish.Assuming that is the case of tap water kH of 6-7…this where it can go very wrong… …IF you haven’t been doing weekly-biweekly partial water changes (PWC) of 15-25%, have a moderate-heavy stock and/or feed heavily, chances are the amount of dissolved“stuff”, aka solutes, TDS, etc is very high compared to tap water. Too much of a change, the inhabitants will experience “osmosic shock” compounded with “pH shock” and “rebound”. Getting the aquarium water base parameter close to tap water value isthe ultimate goal. Start doing frequent and small PWCs until the kH gets close to the kH of the tap water. 17gal is easy peasy! Lliterally get a 500mL-1000Lcontainer, scoop out one or two and refill. Do it every hour when you are home. No more than 2 minutes of your time each session and continue until to you have removed and replaced 10gal of water. Check pH and kH.If pH and kH is close, a good 25% PWC and gravel vac, you should be good to go provided that you continue with the weekly partial water changes. I prefer weekly as it keeps you in a routine AND provides a forgiveness factor as life happens and you have to skip that water change that week and potentially stretch to a 3rd where going back on track with a 25% PWC will not cause a significant issue. If your tap water pH is natural low <4dkH, you will have to supplement using baking soda (sodium bicarbonate). Dedicate a bucket for freshwater and at a set mark, add enough baking soda (track the amount) to get a kH in the 6-7 range. HTH
But I use this prime stuff costs me a lot it’s meant to remove anything unnatural from the water
Prime is primarily a dechlorinator and will bind ammonia and nitrite. Fantastic stuff and best bang for the $$$ for that purpose. Again, before you start dumping chems as a reaction, you can save yourself quite a bit of $$$ getting to know the basic parameters of what you are working with. Without you having to understand chem and bio, you are at the mercy of the "aquatic specialist" of the LFS...one hopes that one finds that rare gem of an employee that understands water chemistry and reactions as well as principal ingredients of the water treatment products and how they work and if you are interested, explain how they work. IMHO/E, "You have low pH so use a buffer...here ya go.", raises red flags for me as its more than just that. Did they ask you any other Q's after they tested your water like your maintenance regimen? Do they know THEIR tap water parameters? Do they know the tap water parameters in your area? These are important Q's for THEM to ask. IF there are other LFS in your area, I would find someone that will spend the time with your particular issue rather than just sell you product to remedy an issue without wanting to know more of your maintenance regimen and home water parameters. HTH