Setting up a 20 gallon guppy tank with 8 GH tapwater on hand.

[Robbert]

This is probably a dumb idea because I could not find anything on the subject.

I know raising ph and gh with baking soda in a fish tank is risky.

But would it be smart or helpful and safe to add some baking soda to a (few) buckets of tap water to reach the desired ph, hardness and buffering capacity.
And then set up your new tank with that water. Then after the tank is cycled and stable, add some crushed coral to keep up or compensate for the water changes.

I guess the safe bet is just use normal tap water be patient and add coral later. But i was trigged by an old video on the channel.

 

[Whitecloud09]

I see no problem with adding baking soda and crushed coral. I say it just do it. 

On 1/19/2024 at 4:14 PM, Robbert said:

This is probably a dumb idea because I could not find anything on the subject.

I know raising ph and gh with baking soda in a fish tank is risky.

But would it be smart or helpful and safe to add some baking soda to a (few) buckets of tap water to reach the desired ph, hardness and buffering capacity.
And then set up your new tank with that water. Then after the tank is cycled and stable, add some crushed coral to keep up or compensate for the water changes.

I guess the safe bet is just use normal tap water be patient and add coral later. But i was trigged by an old video on the channel.

 

Never thought about that idea and it sounds pretty smart to do….but it’s up to u…

[PineSong]

The problem with adjustments made by baking soda, I believe, is that they are pretty unstable. Whatever you are trying to accomplish by using it (like safety of the fish) may not happen if there are big changes in pH. Also, I think it's impossible to predict how soon the crushed coral will start to make a noticeable difference in the pH. 

I noticed unusually high pH (for my tanks) in my 20g tall over the weekend--it looked like an 8 on the Co-op test strip and my tanks are usually around 6.8-7.2. The tank already had crushed coral added to the substrate, and I added another cup or so in the filter basket of an Aquaclear filter I had on hand and started running it. So far, it's hasn't made a great difference. So, if I was using baking soda thinking that by the time the baking soda wears off the coral will have started working, I'd have been wrong.

I think it's important to know why the pH of the water is so high--is that the pH of your tap water, or something that is happening once it gets into your tank? And what is the pH of the water the guppies are coming from? If that's your local tap water and they are locally bred, they may be fine with it.

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/19/2024 at 6:43 PM, PineSong said:

The problem with adjustments made by baking soda, I believe, is that they are pretty unstable. Whatever you are trying to accomplish by using it (like safety of the fish) may not happen if there are big changes in pH. Also, I think it's impossible to predict how soon the crushed coral will start to make a noticeable difference in the pH. 

I noticed unusually high pH (for my tanks) in my 20g tall over the weekend--it looked like an 8 on the Co-op test strip and my tanks are usually around 6.8-7.2. The tank already had crushed coral added to the substrate, and I added another cup or so in the filter basket of an Aquaclear filter I had on hand and started running it. So far, it's hasn't made a great difference. So, if I was using baking soda thinking that by the time the baking soda wears off the coral will have started working, I'd have been wrong.

I think it's important to know why the pH of the water is so high--is that the pH of your tap water, or something that is happening once it gets into your tank? And what is the pH of the water the guppies are coming from? If that's your local tap water and they are locally bred, they may be fine with it.

True

[Robbert]

Aren't coral and baking soda raising hardness and pH ?  so if you are at 8 and trying to reach 7,2 by Adding more. wouldn't that be counter productive?

In any case what im trying to ask is this:

Would it be good to make the tapwater that I use for my initial build of the tank harder. (no fish in cycle) soo that I get a head start on the slower process of the coral getting my water up to Endler guppy specs. And is using baking soda safe when you mix it in a bucket then measure until its its where it needs to be. Then  using that water start cycling and add fis way way later in " the cycle".

[face]

by adding baking soda your adding carbonate and salt that’s it nothing else I will increase your pH kh tds 

now if you add crushed coral your ph kh gh and tds will increase but how quickly it dissolves is dependent on your ph above 7.5 ish it won’t dissolve at all so by adding baking soda you’re stopping the crushed coral from dissolving the way it would in your normal water 

in short if your going to add crushed corals just do it first figure out how much you need now and just keep it there The cycle is a perfect time to figure all this stuff out imo.

[Robbert]

Right so with baking soda you will miss all other minerals. thanks for the clarification.

[Whitecloud09]

On 1/19/2024 at 7:14 PM, Robbert said:

Aren't coral and baking soda raising hardness and pH ?  so if you are at 8 and trying to reach 7,2 by Adding more. wouldn't that be counter productive?

In any case what im trying to ask is this:

Would it be good to make the tapwater that I use for my initial build of the tank harder. (no fish in cycle) soo that I get a head start on the slower process of the coral getting my water up to Endler guppy specs. And is using baking soda safe when you mix it in a bucket then measure until its its where it needs to be. Then  using that water start cycling and add fis way way later in " the cycle".

Oh sorry I misunderstood u😂 yes true I had no clue at first but yeah u are right 

 

On 1/20/2024 at 4:38 AM, Robbert said:

Right so with baking soda you will miss all other minerals. thanks for the clarification.