# how can i raise ph



## khoa456 (Sep 15, 2011)

is there other ways to raise ph besides limestone or use crushed coral. please to give me any suggestions


----------



## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Those are the best ways, but the "new" water you use to replace water change water with should be the same ph as the old. Fish can tolerate a slightly wrong ph, but do not handle ph swings very well. I personally don't recommend chemicals like "PH up" or "PH down" because ph swings can occur. I have africans and south american fish that do quite well in my 7.4 tap water. I do not alter it.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Like crushed coral, limestone, oyster shells, dolomite, "holey rock", and "cichlid substrate" will slowly raise pH and carbonate hardness by dissolving slowly. This is the safest way to do it.

Directly raising pH by adding 'buffers' to the water also works. Seachem's alkaline regulator or Malawi/Victorian buffer, Kent's "cichlid chemistry". All of these raise pH by adding either phosphate or carbonate buffers. Potassium carbonate is often used by planted tank enthusiasts because it has carbonate to raise hardness and potassium to feed plants. Baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) is supposed to raise dH 1 degree per tsp/50 gallons. Increasing the hardness usually raises pH also. Cichlid keepers often add a blend of baking soda, epsom salt and sea salt to the water. Adding things to the water is long term commitment, you should test and measure and replace the additive when you change water. 

What I say never do is add a base to water with fish in it. Aquarium kits often come with pH Up. It is just NaOH. This may also be what your water company adds to the water to get the pH up so it won't dissolve pipes. The only time this stuff is useful is if you are pre-treating water BEFORE you add it to fish. Some betta keepers will adjust the new water to be exactly the same as the old water so as not to shock the fish when they do 100% water changes. NaOH raises pH only, does not increase gH and therefore is not likely to make a lasting change. Using pH up will often cause the pH to go up shortly and then fall again. People add more pH Up and repeat and the poor fish are in yo yo water. Don't do it.

Why do you want to raise your pH? Do you have African cichlids? There is no 'magic' pH. Most fish do well in a range, often wider than you expect. To just keep pH from dropping off in soft water, a tsp of baking soda can often do the trick.


----------



## WheelerGoley (Dec 27, 2011)

I have oscars and after I perform my 25%-50% water change I use a chemical sold at most local pet stores called proper ph and it works great. With only one treatment my ph is right back to were I need it to be. Some people may not like this due to the quick change in ph levels but I have never had an issue with it. I also do not like "ph up" or ph down" but my reasoning is a little different. These chemicals do no do a massive ph level change in a quick time, matter a fact for every treatment you do to the water you are only raising the ph level .2 which for most fish is not a dramatic raise in ph levels.


----------

