Barca888 Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 Hi, I used to always be told to keep the hardness in community tanks above 4. This is meant to keep the ph more stable. I used to use some carbonate shells but that also raises the ph? Do most people bother raising their community tank hardness and what kind of ways do they use this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tam Posted September 21, 2004 Share Posted September 21, 2004 use baking soda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted September 22, 2004 Share Posted September 22, 2004 use baking soda This is Sodium bicarbonate, it will increase your carbonate hardness but will also increase your pH. You can't increase carbonate hardness without increasing pH. Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punie Posted September 23, 2004 Share Posted September 23, 2004 Just add some coral chips. By keeping the hardness constant, it acts as a buffer against flunctuating PH levels. This in turn is good for your fish no? Cheers, Jerome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 Hmm, i was under the impression that while they are related you can raise hardness without changing the ph too much?? And i thaught sodium bicarbonate was Bi-carb soda rather than Baking Soda. I know bi-carb raises PH, and Baking soda raises hardness. I dont think they are the same. Can someone clear this up for us please . Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Hi Anthony, Baking soda and bicarb soda are the same, both sodium bicarbonate. Baking powder also contains corn flour, not good for the aquarium. Adding sodium bicarbinate will increase your carbonate hardness (essentally a measure of bicarbinate concentration at pH levels usually found in an aquarium) but will not increase your general hardness (measure of calcium and magnesium ion concentration). You can't increase carbonate hardness without increasing pH This comment I made is not strictly correct, it depends on the pH before adding further bicarbinate. Being a buffer the bicarbinate will stabilise the pH towards its buffer point, in the case of bicarbinate approx 8.0. So if your ph is above 8 and you add bicarbinate it will reduce the pH towards 8.0 Sorry for the confusion Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 no problems, thanks for clearing that up, wasn't aware they were the same . I shall admit i was wrong . Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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