Ph-Up

Trinity · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 5

Hi.

I just ran out of my Ph-UP powder that i bought a few years ago when i
bought my aquarium. It was a rather small portion of it, and it came with
Ph-DOWN powder as well, though that is still pretty much full.
I was wondering, to save me a trip down to my local aquarium store, though
its not a long trip at all, and some money, can i use normal kitchen bicarb
(baking) soda instead, as i know its a basic powder and will lower the Ph -
but is it safe? This is just an inquiry, i definitely wont use it if told
otherwise. Just wondering what supplements are normally available for these
type of things.
I have a pair of beautiful freshwater Angelfish if that helps. No other fish
in the aquarium - the Angels breed often and the small fry are little
terrors and kill anything with fins. They are a large fish, so would that
maean that though would be more tolerant?

Trinity

Archived from group: alt>aquaria>tropical>fish>hobbist

carlrs · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 120

Trinity wrote:
> Hi.
>
> I just ran out of my Ph-UP powder that i bought a few years ago when i
> bought my aquarium. It was a rather small portion of it, and it came with
> Ph-DOWN powder as well, though that is still pretty much full.
> I was wondering, to save me a trip down to my local aquarium store, though
> its not a long trip at all, and some money, can i use normal kitchen bicarb
> (baking) soda instead, as i know its a basic powder and will lower the Ph -
> but is it safe? This is just an inquiry, i definitely wont use it if told
> otherwise. Just wondering what supplements are normally available for these
> type of things.
> I have a pair of beautiful freshwater Angelfish if that helps. No other fish
> in the aquarium - the Angels breed often and the small fry are little
> terrors and kill anything with fins. They are a large fish, so would that
> maean that though would be more tolerant?

You can add baking soda for the short term, but I would recommend a
product that controls you KH as well. A proper KH will keep a more
balanced ph with much less stress on the fish. Another aspect of KH is
that calcium is the main controller of KH, and calcium is ESSENTIAL to
many osmotic processes of fish metabolism.
I have written about KH in this article:
http://kh-aquarium.blogspot.com/

Carl

swarvegorilla · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 235

Ok sodium bicarbonate and bi-carb of soda are both the same thing and both
usually sold as PH-UP
Now baking soda is something different here.... or maybe not, I dont....
know
anyway bi-carb is fine
just only add a little bit at a time
ya want as slow a ph swing as possible.
Smile

"Trinity" wrote in message $0$22362$afc38c87@news.optusnet.com.au...
> Hi.
>
> I just ran out of my Ph-UP powder that i bought a few years ago when i
> bought my aquarium. It was a rather small portion of it, and it came with
> Ph-DOWN powder as well, though that is still pretty much full.
> I was wondering, to save me a trip down to my local aquarium store, though
> its not a long trip at all, and some money, can i use normal kitchen
> bicarb (baking) soda instead, as i know its a basic powder and will lower
> the Ph - but is it safe? This is just an inquiry, i definitely wont use it
> if told otherwise. Just wondering what supplements are normally available
> for these type of things.
> I have a pair of beautiful freshwater Angelfish if that helps. No other
> fish in the aquarium - the Angels breed often and the small fry are little
> terrors and kill anything with fins. They are a large fish, so would that
> maean that though would be more tolerant?
>
> Trinity
>

Jesse · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 1

Can you tell me what affects the PH. I have an ongoing problem with a
tank i set up this year with gravel bought from the local fish stockist
so i dont think its that. However the PH is at about 6.2 and the tap
water is at 7. I have been doing weekly checks on it and I have used
PH down and a product for leveling it at 7 but nothing seems to work.
Any ideas what is the best course of action? This has been going on
for about 3 months now. i have lost some fish but not many. the main
prob is that they are getting white spot and other fungus which i am
also trating them for.

Jesse
carlrs wrote:

> Trinity wrote:
> > Hi.
> >
> > I just ran out of my Ph-UP powder that i bought a few years ago when i
> > bought my aquarium. It was a rather small portion of it, and it came with
> > Ph-DOWN powder as well, though that is still pretty much full.
> > I was wondering, to save me a trip down to my local aquarium store, though
> > its not a long trip at all, and some money, can i use normal kitchen bicarb
> > (baking) soda instead, as i know its a basic powder and will lower the Ph -
> > but is it safe? This is just an inquiry, i definitely wont use it if told
> > otherwise. Just wondering what supplements are normally available for these
> > type of things.
> > I have a pair of beautiful freshwater Angelfish if that helps. No other fish
> > in the aquarium - the Angels breed often and the small fry are little
> > terrors and kill anything with fins. They are a large fish, so would that
> > maean that though would be more tolerant?
>
> You can add baking soda for the short term, but I would recommend a
> product that controls you KH as well. A proper KH will keep a more
> balanced ph with much less stress on the fish. Another aspect of KH is
> that calcium is the main controller of KH, and calcium is ESSENTIAL to
> many osmotic processes of fish metabolism.
> I have written about KH in this article:
> http://kh-aquarium.blogspot.com/
>
> Carl

carlrs · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 120

Jesse wrote:
> Can you tell me what affects the PH. I have an ongoing problem with a
> tank i set up this year with gravel bought from the local fish stockist
> so i dont think its that. However the PH is at about 6.2 and the tap
> water is at 7. I have been doing weekly checks on it and I have used
> PH down and a product for leveling it at 7 but nothing seems to work.
> Any ideas what is the best course of action? This has been going on
> for about 3 months now. i have lost some fish but not many. the main
> prob is that they are getting white spot and other fungus which i am
> also trating them for.

The build up of organic debris (mulch) in your aquarium or filter will
produce acids that will constantly lower ph. I have made house calls to
customers with low ph problems and found canister filters or UGF with a
layer of organic mulch on the bottom, which was dropping thier ph. If
you have a problem with ph that constantly goes up, you may have too
many buffers or not enough dissolved CO2.. Increasing aeration,
checking your substrate for buffers can help with high ph problems.
But your problems seem to be a constantly lowering ph. I again
emphasize checking for organic build up and lower your bio load, watch
for over feeding, and add something to stabilize your KH. I recommend a
minimum KH of 80 ppm to stabilze your ph.
Another point here is that the main component of KH is calcium, and
Calcium is essential to proper fish health, healing, and disease
resistance.
Here is more about KH:
http://kh-aquarium.blogspot.com/
I prefer Wonder Shells for KH control in FW (there are other products
available), here is a link for them:
http://www.americanaquariumproducts.com/Aquariumtreatments.html

Remember first to lower you bio load and check for organic mulch build
up.

Carl