# How to raise KH without changing PH



## natemcnutty (May 26, 2016)

corgifishkeeper said:


> Are there any other method to raise KH without affecting my PH, or lower my PH without affecting KH?


Short answer is no. You cannot raise KH without also raising pH. You can temporarily lower pH without dramatically affecting KH by using weak acids such as carbon dioxide. Once the CO2 gasses off, then the pH will go back up while your KH will remain pretty much the same the entire time.


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## Surf (Jun 13, 2017)

you can lower your PH further by removing KH from the water. Plants need a lot of calcium and magnesium to grow. When the plants do that they will leave behind sulfates which are unavoidably plentiful in equilibrium. That will drop the ph. But to do that you need to stop adding KH and reduce as much as possible in your substrate. Any calcium carbonate or magnesium carbonate (shells , crushed coral) will try to push the ph up to 7.

In my low-tech tank (RO water with GH booster) if I remove the old snail shells PH will drop to 6. If I put the shells back in PH typically stays at 6.5 but does reach 7 on occasion. So if your Tank is already at 6.8 much of the GH acidity in the tank is being neutralized by the KH you are adding and any calcium in your substrate. IF you reduce the KH you PH may drop. As long a your PH doesn't drop below 6 you should be OK.


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## corgifishkeeper (Apr 27, 2018)

The main reason I want to lower ph is there seem to be always a trace of ammonia in my tank, when I do the API test or take my water to my lfs to test with strips, it always show between 0 to 0.25 PPM of ammonia. My tank has been cycled and up and running for almost a month, and I been slowly adding fish to it. So far all my fish are doing fine, but I am worry the low amount of ammonia could harm them long term, and if I can lower my ph to below 7 the ammonia will turn into ammonium which will be less harmful to fishes.


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

I wouldn't worry about the ammonia or the pH. You are fine where you are. The API ammonia kit always reads in the same 0-.25 area for me as well. Start to worry if you reach .5 NH3. If you have reason to be concerned about NH3, Seachem makes a good monitor that attaches to the inside of your tank and you can just glance at it whenever you are curious about your NH3 level. It's called "Ammonia Alert" and is about $7 on Amazon. It will last many months so you can build confidence in your tank stability by the time you discard it.

BTW: you'll have to start approaching pH 6.0 before you will see significant conversion of NH3 into NH4. however, your bio-filter should be taking care of any ammonia and converting it into nitrates.


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## corgifishkeeper (Apr 27, 2018)

Yet I always get 0-0.25 reading ammonia since day 1 and I actually tested distilled water and it gave me the same color so I know it's just inaccuracy in the test itself. I was just looking to keep pH in the slightly acidic in case if something go wrong with my ammonia. I am aware of the ammonia alert, not sure I would need it and not sure the accuracy of it as well.


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## Deanna (Feb 15, 2017)

There is no such thing as 'accuracy' in our hobbyist test kits - not any of them. Fortunately, ballpark is good enough. If your ammonia test were to be perfectly clear, you would still be justified in doubting that you actually had no ammonia. In any case, if you have healthy bio-filter (either in your bio-media in your filter or in the substrate and tank surfaces, probably both) you should not worry about ammonia. Along the lines of test accuracy, are you measuring your pH with a high-range kit? The typical API kit won't read above ~7.5 pH, but they do have a high-range one.

As far as reducing the pH. I would not use reducing agents such as Seachem Acid Buffer as these are temporary and wear off quickly. This means no stability, which is bad for fish. It is better to let the fish live in higher, but constant, pH than whipping it around frequently. Fish are very tolerant of a wide range of pH, from 5 up to 9.

The suggestions, above by others, to lower your pH are good, but will only go so far if your tap is actually that high. Some water companies add sodium hydroxide (NaOH) in order to raise pH. This will not be detected by KH tests. You may want to check with your water company. I'm not an expert on NaOH, but I think peat moss will remove it. Better to let others comment on it's handling and whether it dissipates. You may have to cut your tap water with RO or distilled water.


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## babystarz (Sep 25, 2012)

I'm currently testing out the use of driftwood leaking tannins + baking soda dosing to see if I can raise my KH without raising the pH too much.


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## corgifishkeeper (Apr 27, 2018)

I can tell you that baking soda will raise the ph and the tannins from driftwood dont really help much and it really makes you water tan, and the effect from driftwood will wear out since there will be less tannis release once it age in your tank. 

Right now I just forget about the ph thing, just trying to maintain my kh and gh and keep it constant using baking soda and seachem equalibrium.


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