Calcium Carbonate

[Bam Cond]

I have an acid neutraliser on my water system. We are on a well which is
fairly acidic. I am thinking about using the calcium carbonate from the
neutralizer to raise the ph in my tank. Currently it is at 6.2 which seems a
little low.

Does anyone have an idea for how much to add at one time. I have a 25 g
tank.

Beau

[Margolis]

Just use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise the alkilinity and ph.
It is by far the best.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[spiral_72]

Yup, baking soda is by far the way to go.

[davemillman@gmail.com]

Bam,

Is there a reason you believe you need to adjust your pH? Many
aquarists in North America would kill for your water-it is ideal for
Discus, Tetras, Apistos, and many other South American fish.

Of course if you are raising Tanganyikan cichlids, you may want some
more alkaline, harder water. In that case, CaCO3 would be the better
bet, because it raises both KH and GH simultaneously. Raising KH is
what raises pH.

[Margolis]

> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Bam,
>
> Is there a reason you believe you need to adjust your pH? Many
> aquarists in North America would kill for your water-it is ideal for
> Discus, Tetras, Apistos, and many other South American fish.
>
> Of course if you are raising Tanganyikan cichlids, you may want some
> more alkaline, harder water. In that case, CaCO3 would be the better
> bet, because it raises both KH and GH simultaneously. Raising KH is
> what raises pH.
>


One very good reason is that when the alkalinity gets too low you risk ph
crashes in a planted tank that will kill the fish. Plus if you are not
adding co2, the plants will need the bicarbonate for the carbon, and if you
are adding co2 you will need the extra buffering capacity of the
bicarbonate. gh isn't quite as important.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Bam Cond]

Dave,

Thank you for that information. I knew that tetras liked it slightly acidic,
but I was afraid my water was to low. I had recently added fish for the
first time in a long time and they were severely stressed. Everything else
that I could test was right on the money so I was worried about the ph.
Finally I checked the nitrate level in the tank and it was way high. like
40ppm. This had be really confused because I change water regularly.
Finally, I checked that wate at my tap. It was also at 40ppm. I have since
installed a r/o system so now everything is in good shape.
> wrote in message
ups.com...
> Bam,
>
> Is there a reason you believe you need to adjust your pH? Many
> aquarists in North America would kill for your water-it is ideal for
> Discus, Tetras, Apistos, and many other South American fish.
>
> Of course if you are raising Tanganyikan cichlids, you may want some
> more alkaline, harder water. In that case, CaCO3 would be the better
> bet, because it raises both KH and GH simultaneously. Raising KH is
> what raises pH.
>