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PH: Buffering tank


Adrianfox

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Obviously something in the tank is buffering the water to acidity. Before you go adding a whole bunch of products which may or may not cost you any money to buffer the water back up, I suggest some water changes and finding the source of the pH crash and rectifying it. That would probably solve your problem without the need to add anything.

A few questions to brainstorm what the problem might be?

Do you have a deep substrate?

Does your substrate get turned over regularly?

Do you do regular water changes removing all the debris from the substrate and in and around tank decor?

Do you have large amounts of bogwood in the tank?

Do you have plants?

Is there rotting/decaying material (plant/fish/food) anywhere in your tank that you haven't removed effectively?

Generally pH crashes are caused by decaying material in the substrate IME. Plants and their CO2/O2 exchanges also cause pH to drop. Acids in bogwoods can also contribute to a pH change.

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Ducksta is 100% right, no point in trying to raise the PH until you find what is causing it to drop in the first place! HOWEVER, once you DO locate the problem then you could try adding some coral sand, marble etc. into your substrate to buffer the PH, alternatively you could make up some of the home-made rift lake buffer that is outline in the forum FAQ. There is a number of ways to raise PH, however I would really do as Ducksta has suggested and try to ascertain why it is dropping before you worry about more permanent raising methods. Good luck champ thumb.gif

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thumb.gif I obviously forgot to mention when I wrote my rant, what BBR has pointed out - that once you have a stable situation, crushed coral, marble or shell grit as substrate buffers the water. If you dont like the look of that, you can use the buffer in a filter. Crushed oyster shells are good in a cannister I hear for filtration as well as buffering.
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The way it buffers water is by breaking down into the water. If your using it in a highly turbulent area then you dont need as much as it will break down faster. What you will find though is that when you clean your cannister filter the shell box doesnt seem as full as last time laugh.gif As for how much is needed in a cannister, well if you have an adequate cannister for a 450l tank the media area should be huge and you can devote a tray to buffering materials.

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