kH

[CKetchum]

Tested my 29 gallon tank today, routine monitoring I did not have any concerns.  On the Co-op test strips my kH is very low (yellow) and of course my pH is low 6.0 (or less). Zero nitrites, nitrates <10 (added EG), hardness 150 (I have soft water I add Equilibrium ~ 1 monthly for plants). To avoid pH swings and to bump up my pH and kH I am thinking of crushed coral. In the meantime do I dare add a small amount of Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to neutralize acids? 1/4 tsp? I have  a medium sponge filter for filtration and a small sponge filter. The small filter I have cycled for just in case I need a hospital or quarantine tank. When I get the crushed coral do I just rinse and add to my tank? 1/2 pound? Thoughts? 

I have 7 blue conchu tetras, 2 Von Rios (waiting to add more) 1 peacock gudgeon, 1 hillstream loach, mystery snail and ~ 20 juvenile mystery snails (for 2 more weeks). 

Thank you! 😁

[Ken Burke]

Baking soda is a non-starter for me.  It’s too harsh, and I’m not sure it can hold my ph up long term. 

tweaking your chemistry is really tricky, and it’s easy set up for wild swings.  So best practice (IMO) is work with what you have, so leave things as they are unless your fish or plants are struggling.  

If you decide to tweak things, going slow is advised.   Once you put crushed coral in, you can’t easily take it out.  One other thing, if you add crushed coral, you may need to adjust the amount of equalibrium you add.  I’ve not used that product, so that’s pure speculation on my part.

[face]

first  i would say if your not having a problem don't mess with it your fish all like acidic water(i know nothing about snails but they seem to be doing fine) and you dont seem to be having problems with your cycle so its probubly found its equilibrium

i would also say the dreaded ph swing itself is somewhat over blown ph swings by .5 or so in most tanks there are some tanks and lakes for that matter that have a 1 change daily and fish don't seem to care so in my opinion (and some people will disagree with me) as long as the ph is within the fishes ph range they don't care

what you don't want to do is increase or decrease the minerals in the water to fast that can shock the fish

so thats a really long way of saying why change something thats working

if you really want to change it i would go really slow like half a cup of crushed coral and see what it does no sense in going fast i also wouldn't do the bicarbonate just asking for trouble in a soft water tank in my opinion.

[nabokovfan87]

I would start here.

For your specific issue I would recommend crushed coral. If that isn't viable, look into seachem alkalinity buffer.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh