Baking soda mistake

[Zbutcher]

Hey everyone,

I'm a dummy and screwed with my PH without realizing my ph probe needed to be calibrated.

Put a little bicarb in my tank and ****** alk.

It went from 9.3 to 14.

Did a water change yesterday to bring it down to 12.4 then did one today and brought it down to 11.4. I'm wondering if I should do another tomorrow to bring back down to where it was or leave it be at 11.4 and let it lower naturally. Thoughts?

Each water change was about 15% I don't want to do too many water changes that it screws up the tank even more.

Please advise.

 

[Pistondog]

Close enough. It'll come down if you have corals or with future, scheduled water changes,

 

[Zbutcher]

Close enough. It'll come down if you have corals or with future, scheduled water changes,

So you are saying leave it and don't do anymore water changes and let it go down naturally? I only have 2 small frags at the moment. I am just worried about my fish and doing any more water changes.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What was happening to alk before you dosed? Was it declining?

12.4 dKH is not a big issue. Waiting is fine.

Many folks use 11-12 dKH for high coral growth.

 

[Zbutcher]

What was happening to alk before you dosed? Was it declining?

12.4 dKH is not a big issue. Waiting is fine.

Many folks use 11-12 dKH for high coral growth.

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the response.

My PH was sitting at 8 and I wanted to bring it up a bit. Everyone said baking soda was a great way to do so. But no one mentioned the dkh spike.

Oh really? Wow I didn't realize that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey Randy,

Thanks for the response.

My PH was sitting at 8 and I wanted to bring it up a bit. Everyone said baking soda was a great way to do so. But no one mentioned the dkh spike.

Oh really? Wow I didn't realize that.

Baking soda?

They might also have mentioned that it lowers pH while adding alkalinity. lol

 

[GARRIGA]

I use Seachem Acid Buffer to reduce alkalinity. Converters carbonates to CO2 which is temporary. For me easier to administer than water changes and I can limit it to approximately 1 dkh drop per day or every other day. Do monitor PH to ensure it doesn’t drop too low.

 

[Zbutcher]

Baking soda?

They might also have mentioned that it lowers pH while adding alkalinity. lol

Omg legit? I swear I saw a BRS video saying it upped it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Omg legit? I swear I saw a BRS video saying it upped it

lol

Even though a baking soda solution has a higher pH than seawater, it lowers the pH of seawater when added to it.

You might be thinking of washing soda, sodium carbonate. It raises both alk and pH.

No supplement raises pH without adding alkalinity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, having a higher alkalinity, however you get there, can help boost pH a bit after full aeration , but using a method to raise alk that itself raises pH is a better bet than using a method that first lowers pH then may slowly raise it as the tank releases CO2.

 

[Zbutcher]

FWIW, having a higher alkalinity, however you get there, can help boost pH a bit after full aeration , but using a method to raise alk that itself raises pH is a better bet than using a method that first lowers pH then may slowly raise it as the tank releases CO2.

Thanks for the clarification man!