Jacob P asked:
ok, so i read online that soda could increase the pH of water. i have a 25gal wide tank and just moved all my guppies to a smaller tank. the pH in the large tank was 7.2 so i added diet coke (only stuff i had) it’s been a day andd the water still has a brownish tinge. should i have used just soda ash? or do i just let my filter run a few more days? last question: do i have to change all of thwe water in the tank??????
yeah i’m changing all of the water right now. one article i read just said to put coke in it
i’ve emptied it and i’m now recycling it. it’ll probably be a 2-4 days before i start adding malawis
ok, so i read online that soda could increase the pH of water. i have a 25gal wide tank and just moved all my guppies to a smaller tank. the pH in the large tank was 7.2 so i added diet coke (only stuff i had) it’s been a day andd the water still has a brownish tinge. should i have used just soda ash? or do i just let my filter run a few more days? last question: do i have to change all of thwe water in the tank??????
yeah i’m changing all of the water right now. one article i read just said to put coke in it
i’ve emptied it and i’m now recycling it. it’ll probably be a 2-4 days before i start adding malawis
June 20th, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Soda ash is what was meant.
How much soda did you put in?
I can’t imagine the sugars and other ingredients of the soda being good for the fish. I would consider a water change, but if you changed all you’d probably have to do a mini-cycle over again.
June 21st, 2009 at 5:37 pm
The coke may not be the safest idea for the cichlids, that may be a little too much there are drops that you can pick up at the local pet store that can help your ph problem. It is recommended that you only change 25% of the water at most 50% but the full water change may send the fish into shock.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:58 am
The ash may be the problem.it depend on how much u put in ur tank
June 27th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
I think what they meant by soda is baking soda my friend. However, you can use several other means to adjust this. When keeping Africans, it’s important to not just focus on your GH, *(general hardness) but your KH as well (Calcium Hardness).
What I reccomend you use in this case is either crushed Coral which is an excellent source of Calcium, or you can get any number of hardness buffer salts, made just to simulate the rift African lakes these fish come from. The buffer salts contain the proper doses of both Calcium and Magnesium you’d need, and by increasing you hardness, you will raise your PH at the same time. It’s a totally rare case where you have a high hardness reading, but not a high PH. Use the crushed coral or cichlid salts, and you’ll be much better off in the long run. I’ll link you to the site I get my cichlid salts from. Be ware to ignore Jack asses.