h_tully 10 Report post Posted January 10, 2011 Hi, In the tank that I've been trying to fishlessly cycle, I noticed that the pH has dropped to around 7.8 (probably due to prolonged Ammonium chloride application - maybe this is why the biofilter mysteriously crashed?). I know that for freshwater, Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is commonly used to adjust pH: can I use this in a marine tank too, or will it stuff around with the composition of the ASW? If so, how do I bump the pH back up? Cheers, h_tully Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Turbo 10 Report post Posted February 7, 2011 Yes you can use bicarb to raise alk and ph. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Brengun 7 Report post Posted February 9, 2011 When my salinity is up there at 1.03 meaning I definitely dont need more salt, my calcium if 450 so I don't need more of it, magnesium is 1500 so its cool then I only need top up water but my pure water is way down at ph 5 or something so I do add some bicarb to the top up water esp if my tank ph is dropping a bit down to 8.1. Just helps buffer that part up a bit and hopefully doesn't throw out any of the other readings except maybe to bring down that salinity a bit to 1.027 which would be a good thing. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
florix 2 Report post Posted February 9, 2011 Look at the cause of it. Why is PH down? I would look at switching AS I know red sea (when mixed correctly) gives you a perfect balance of all things important to reef tanks. Of it was me I would do a water change. It shouldn't increase anything else an this will slowly increase PH. If your still cycling then I wouldn't worry too much. Just bring it up slowly and go from there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
