[TK220]

I have a 220 gallon tank that is heavily decorated with driftwood. While i have boiled the driftwood for many hours (16 - 20), I am still finding that the wood lowers my PH significantly.

My water comes out of the tap at about 8.0, but withing 2 or 3 days my tank lowers to 6.0. I would like to add baking soda to raise the PH and stabilize it. Currently I change about 60% of the water every 2 weeks.

How much baking soda do I add? How often should I add it?

Your help is appreciated.

Tank Dwellers:
1 Green Severum
1 Keyhole Cichlid
1 Firemouth Cichlid
1 Convict Cichlid
1 Bala Shark
6 Clown Loaches
5 Giant Danios
4 Australian Rainbow Fish
1 Pleco
2 Corys

 

[kewlkatdady]

With your stocking list, I wouldn't raise the ph...

 

[TK220]

really, I was thinking a more neutral PH would be appropriate. That's how I have always kept them in the past before I loaded in the driftwood.

 

[kewlkatdady]

my ph out of the tap is around 7.6 and I keep africans that generally do better in a higher ph range.

I've found over the years that the fish actually will acclimate to a ph that isn't the same as to what the ph was in the lakes that they are from because my fish are not wild caught. They are farm raised.

With this said the most important thing is to have a consistant ph range. I wouldn't buffer that ph unless my fish were WC.

I'm not a SA or CA expert, but I know they generally strive in the lower ph ranges. 6 may be a little low for them, but not much.

If their colors are good, I'd leave it, or you will have to buffer all the time and it wasn't worth the hassle to me because my fish all have good color and are breeding.

 

[white-worms]

With your stocking list, I wouldn't raise the ph...

I would be tempted to not raise it either, but if he goes any lower than PH 6.0, he might be risking a PH crash. I'm really suprised that the driftwood is taking your PH down so fast to such a low level. You sure you don't have a really mature "filter" that taking it down so fast instead.