Liquid KH dosing

[funkyaneurysm]

Hi,

Who can think of a way to dose liquid KH or alk buffer using a dosing pump?

It's easy to find solutions (no pun intended) for marine tanks OR powders for fresh water tanks. But I've not found a liquid product for fresh water.

My tap water is 1KH so I need to dose alkalinity buffer, or kh+, into the tank to prevent gradual decline in PH.

I use a fully automated water change system & auto top off system so I'd love to integrate a liquid KH/Alk dosing using my peristaltic pumps.

Ideally this liquid would not be phosphate based.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!
Andrew

 

[Kaliska]

Neutral regulator comes in liquid http://seachem.com/liquid-neutral-regulator.php Probably costs a lot more though. You can dissolve a little powder in water and you then have a liquid alkalinity product. It doesn't usually settle out like some of the gh minerals will. I mix up a liquid solution sometimes to modify an existing tank with alkaline regulator. I've left a concentrated container sitting for a week before while I slowly added it to the tank every day. I also have a problem with using alkaline regulator by itself on ro water because there are none of the acids present in a working tank in my ro mixing container so the ph may drop .2 after mixing into the tank. Some tanks I want at 8 or higher so I mix a dose in to a half gallon to gallon of water and slowly pour it in. I will probably switch to tanganyika buffer after this container runs out.

 

[IndigoTJo]

I hope you are still reading this, as i think this is exactly what i needed to see. I've had my tank up and running for 2 months and all tests have been fine until today. The KH reading is in danger zone, and so is my ph kinda suddenly. It was 7 to 7.5 and now it is at least down to 6.5. I'm going to do a wc today, but maybe you understand what i need to do. Sorry to bump into your thread, i appreciate the advice.

 

[Kaliska]

First leave some of your tapwater out in a clean container over night and test again. The ph may go up or down as various things even out. You also might want to test kh at that point because if the kh is low the acids produced by waste material in the tank will lower the ph easier. That will tell you if water changes are even useful. Often they aren't. I only know seachem products. There are other companies. Get some alkaline buffer, neutral regulator, etc... depending what you want your ph to be. To target a more specific ph you can combine certain seachem products but it's not necessary if you just want your water buffered better so the ph doesn't swing. It has instructions for dosing on the containers. You mix the dose you need into some water, make sure it is fully dissolved, and then slowly add it to the aquarium. It might take a few increasing doses over several days to adjust the fish without too much stress. In the future mix all your water change water the night before with an appropriately sized pump/powerhead and what you find to be the right dosage before adding it to the aquarium.

I get a ph of 7.8-8.2 with only alkaline buffer depending on the kh I dose for. Neutral regulator is intended to keep the water around 7.0. There is also discus buffer and acid buffer if you want to maintain a lower ph but keep it stable and like I said you can combine them to get an exact ph. Check seachem.com for info and instructions on their products. Kent also makes several good water treatments for alkalinity and general hardness but I am not familiar with them.

Another option that is much simpler but less controlled is to use crushed coral or limestone rock. With coral or coral sand you can put it in a bag in your filter or near a powerhead to move the water over it. Limestone might take more rock than fits in a filter. It will buffer up to 8 ph but usually more like 7.6-7.8. Water changes have to be kept small unless you can store water longer because the dissolving materials don't buffer as quickly as a powder/liquid mixed directly in.