What causes pH swings? How do I change my pH? What the heck is “hard” water?
These three things are often overlooked by the Aquarist. Knowing your levels and knowing the basic chemistry can prevent future aquatic life losses in regards to pH.
pH measures how acidic or basic something is. pH 7 is neutral, pH 1 - pH 6.9 is acidic, while pH 7.1 through pH 14 is Alkaline/basic.
A pH drop indicates an increase of Hydrogen cations [H+] - making the water more acidic.
Reversely, a pH increase would mean an increase of hydroxide anions [OH -] or Hydroxil ions - making the water more alkaline/basic.
The presence of these + - ions is how we measure the pH of our water.
GH aka General Hardness or Total Hardness, measures the total other minerals in the water such as Magnesium, Sodium ,Sulfur , Chlorine, Potassium, etc….
High GH corresponds to what’s called “Hard” water. Hard water fishes need more minerals like Magnesium which helps with their breathing, immunity, and bone growth. Hard water also absorbs heavy metals thus reducing toxicity of them in water.
Low GH has low mineral content and is “Soft” water. Care must be taken when dosing with medications such as copper as they are more easily absorbed by the fish. Soft water fish don’t need as many minerals and thus it’s harder for them to adjust to hard water. It’s easier for hard water fish to adjust to soft, however.
KH is the measure of bicarbonate and carbonate ions in water-Carbonate Hardness. These prevent the pH from budging at all.
So when someone says “whats your water hardness” likely they mean KH because a stable KH is important to a stable aquarium pH.
A drop in KH, or KH+GH together means a swing in pH. But for kicks and giggles give them all three values.
Things that can cause + or - pH swings…
Excessive Fertilizer. Broken Down Urea molecules = slightly acidic , Broken Down Ammonia molecules = slightly alkaline compounds : nitrifying bacteria lower the kH slightly
Excessive CO2 - Carbon Dioxide being absorbed into the water or injected in the water…lowers kH and therefore pH
Plant processes (They give out Hydrogen ions or Hydroxil ions depending on what they absorb) most of the time they lower the kH potentially causing swings if water top offs aren’t preformed
any excessive acidic intake or any excessive alkaline intake…adding buffers or different substrates, marine salt , etc
R/O reverse osmosis water which has a neutral pH and no minerals whatsoever
Lack of water top offs and water changes to replace any loss of kH…
Chemicals. Chemicals leaking from decorations or dropped accidentally in the water…some medications
How do I change my pH and keep it there?
Increasing or lowering the pH and keeping it stable can be tricky. The easiest and most preferred way to change your pH is to change your water source to one with preferable levels.
It’s not wise to only add pH changing chemicals (ie pH Up or pH Down) to a water source that already has a low kH value. The water will shift dramatically and potentially kill the fish.
To Raise pH: Increase KH or GH+KH by using Aquarium buffers and if needed coral substrate or marine salt or even egg shells. The buffers will keep the water from shifting.There are many kinds of buffers to suit your desired pH level.
To Lower pH: A lot more complicated. To lower pH you must lower the mineral content in the water.
You could try using chemical buffers+CO2 dosing, peat moss, etc …. Though that is very dangerous and must be done with extreme caution Every Time you add new water to the tank. It’s very difficult to control!!!
Frankly the safest and easiest way to do it is through the use of R/O - reverse osmosis water.
R/O water + slight buffer would need to be introduced to the tank water very slowly to gradually reduce the pH. After some time you would be completely converted to R/O water + kH buffers as your only water source. You have to add the buffering minerals back into the water! If you don’t have an R/O unit of your own this can be costly, about 60 cents per gallon of water!
All wildlife can only tolerate small swings of pH. There are some animals that cannot handle any change at all.
Most fish and aquatic plants however are able to adapt to a wide range of pH levels and most are already happily acclimated to water in your local area at the fish store. Most of the time no pH change is necessary.
ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS drip acclimate your new fish. The bagging method is not enough if your parameters are vastly different from the fish’s natural habitat and/or from the fish store water. Drip acclimation DIY instructions are everywhere and a simple one can be made by tying a knot on a spare airline.
Well Water that is run through a water softener may have the magnesium+calcium ions that are converted into SODIUM ions. This will kill plants & some fish that are salt sensitive. Change your water source in this case if needed.
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