PH level & Water Changes

[pommie]

Ive been topping up with distilled water and using it for my water changes. Ive notice that my PH level has dropped to 7.8.

Can anyone recommend a way to bring that back to 8.2 and what should I be doing in the future to prevent it dropping?

I wont be able to get to a LFS shop till Monday so I hope my situation is not that serious that I need to get the baking soda out?

My tank is a Nano 2ft & I have a partial Coral Sand Bed.

Does the Distilled water cause the PH to drop?

Thanks

[vincegoh]

I don't think that it is due to the topping up with distilled water that reduced ur pH. Try to find the source. Good luck

[hotlemond]

Distilled water has no carbonate hardness (KH) which the the water needs in the tank to stabilize the PH, you wil have to add in additive to raise it back to 8.2.

Though I am not saying that it eats away your PH, unless you had a high PH measurement to start off with until the distilled water came into the picture.

[pommie]

Just tested a 2 gallon batch of distilled water Ive had mixing over night and the PH is 7.8

Can anyone tell me what kind of measurements of baking soda I need to use to bring the tank up from 7.8 to 8.0?

Tank capacity is 18 Gallons

Thanks

[pommie]

Confused now!!

Just added a small amount of baking soda to the salt water mix and check the PH level.

Now it read 7.4!

Ive going to mix a fresh bactch of water but in case I cant get hold of any Kalkwasser today can anybody help me by explaining what I might have done wrong?

Thanks

[blueheaven]

Well I think you have been confused over a very common problem that aquarists face.

pH is measured as the amount of hydrogen or hydroxide ions and it is totally different from alkalinity that me measure. This is why kalkwasser, being calcium hydroxide, will raise the pH of your water as it supplies hydroxide ions.

The alkalinity that we measure is the amount of carbonate and bicarbonate ions and thus is called carbonate hardness. Therefore, if you want to raise pH, adding baking soda will not work.

This is why you see many people dosing kalkwasser even though their calcium levels are intact. Basically, if you top up with a good quality salt, pH would not be a problem.

An important point to remember is that a one point increase in pH is actually a ten fold increase in ions and thus do not try to raise pH too fast or it will cause major stress to the tank inhabitants

[Maverick77]

Sorry to hijack this thread but since I'm a newbie and is interested to know abt maintaining pH level...

Am wondering apart from adding additives, what are the other methods that i can use to rasie pH?

[vincegoh]

Distilled water has no carbonate hardness (KH) which the the water needs in the tank to stabilize the PH, you wil have to add in additive to raise it back to 8.2.

Though I am not saying that it eats away your PH, unless you had a high PH measurement to start off with until the distilled water came into the picture.

Mmm...

Why we top up water?.... because water evaporated from the tank... and the water is just pure water which is like distilled water... thus to replace the loss, we used distilled water...

I see no reason why that is the cause for the a drop in pH.

My guess is that our friend tank is still new... hence there should be a lot of dying off from the LR, etc... inducing CO2 which reduces the pH.

It may be due to other reasons but topping up with distilled water is not a cause. In fact, it is good as it will not increase the PO, etc from the tap water.

[35Cents]

Why we top up water?.... because water evaporated from the tank... and the water is just pure water which is like distilled water... thus to replace the loss, we used distilled water...

I see no reason why that is the cause for the a drop in pH.

If you add a water source of pH different than the pH in the tank, pH will not unlikely change significantly IF the hardness of the tank water is high.

In this case distilled water has a hardness of 0, thus the hardness in the tank will definately goes down in due time if you are not using any buffers. When the hardness in tank water goes to a low level, the pH of the tank will decrease if the water top up pH is less than 8.3, capise?

In short, if using distilled water, kindly watch out for the hardness level, and PLEASE dose buffers.

[Kelmen]

Agreed, topup water shouldn't affect your tank pH dramatically. Unless you doing a "Huge" topup (% over yout tank volume), or your topup water is really "nasty".

My topup water is filtered water below pH 8, and yet I still hving high pH problem

about 4 - 5 liter (topup) to my 340 liters tank.

[pommie]

Thanks for your replies.

Would you recommend I use Kalkwasser as a buffer?

[Eric]

Thanks for your replies.

Would you recommend I use Kalkwasser as a buffer?

Kalk mix with distilled water for auto top up plus one week once a teaspoon of Kent marine superDKH have done a good job in maintaining my ph between 8.06-8.30

Your ph will drop to the lowest around 3-4hrs after lights off. Thats when you should look out and do your "balancing act".

Eric

[madmac]

Ive been topping up with distilled water and using it for my water changes. Ive notice that my PH level has dropped to 7.8.

Can anyone recommend a way to bring that back to 8.2 and what should I be doing in the future to prevent it dropping?

Try this:

Bake one portion of baking soda for 2 hrs at 250ºC. Then mixed the portion with 6 portions of normal baking soda... 1 teaspoon will raised your dKH by 1 for every 150l.

Does the Distilled water cause the PH to drop?

Yes.

edit:

sorry it should be 350ºC.!

[madmac]

Confused now!!

Just added a small amount of baking soda to the salt water mix and check the PH level.

Now it read 7.4!

Ive going to mix a fresh bactch of water but in case I cant get hold of any Kalkwasser today can anybody help me by explaining what I might have done wrong?

Thanks

When you mixed pH of different fluids, you can't avg them... its a misconception... e.g, when a pH of one solution is 7.8, while the other is 8 mixing them don't give you a pH of 7.9... a very likely result is that, it may even be lower than 7.8.

[madmac]

Therefore, if you want to raise pH, adding baking soda will not work.

blue, the above is absolutely false. It will most certainly work.!

[madmac]

Sorry to hijack this thread but since I'm a newbie and is interested to know abt maintaining pH level...

Am wondering apart from adding additives, what are the other methods that i can use to rasie pH?

Low pH: Causes and Cures

Kelmen, the link below is be helpful for you.

My topup water is filtered water below pH 8, and yet I still hving high pH problem

about 4 - 5 liter (topup) to my 340 liters tank.

High pH: Causes and Cures

[Ancelot]

HAHA! Interesting..

I agree with one of the reefer forgot his name *bleahz* our fren's tank here is new. Cant think out of any other reason why his PH drops so frantically.

Anyways, i wont wanna try my baking soda on my tank. I want my tank to be an art in e house not another dish on the table for everyone to eat. LOLX.

Just my 2 cents..

[Eric]

Ive been topping up with distilled water and using it for my water changes. Ive notice that my PH level has dropped to 7.8.

Can anyone recommend a way to bring that back to 8.2 and what should I be doing in the future to prevent it dropping?

I wont be able to get to a LFS shop till Monday so I hope my situation is not that serious that I need to get the baking soda out?

My tank is a Nano 2ft & I have a partial Coral Sand Bed.

Does the Distilled water cause the PH to drop?

Thanks

Yours is a Nano tank, I suggest you do a 30% water change and check your ph again. If still low, dose a teaspoon of ph buffer mix with distilled water at interval or even better, slow drip the ph buffer mix solution to your tank. You will be alright for the moment.

Do a check on your DKH level when you are done with raising the ph. Since you are using distilled water for water change and top up, a dosage of DKH buffer on a regular basis is nessesary cos your carbonate hardness will be extremely low. You can try the Kent marine superdkh.

Eric