Why did my fish tank water get cloudy after adding baking soda to raise the ph?

Question

Fish look fine water however has a cloudy haze.

Answer 1

It is a reaction with materials in the water . I agree here on not using baking soda in a tank. First of all it is only a quick treatment, but not a good one.

Stop adding this to your tank. The salt added doesn't do your tank any good as well as the loss of the complex buffers which your water will become acustom to.
I don't know who started his with baking soda but just don't use it. As was mentioned it will fix your water for about a day, until the filters pull it out leaving you with excellerated salt in the tank. Also you needed to add more and more and more.

Here is more on PH and how to adjust it or live with it:

This is going to sound dumb but what kind of gravel do you have? Believe it or not certain types of gravel will keep your ph from increasing or increase it too much.

The property of water to resist changes in pH is known as buffering capacity. You can determine the capacity of your buffering system by measuring total hardness. A reading of 4-6 dH or higher is usually adequate to keep the buffering system in place and maintain a stable pH. A reading under 4 dH means there isn't enough of a buffering system and the pH is likely to drop. For higher pH levels, you will probably want to aim for 6-12 dH. Many hobbyists choose to measure only Carbonate Hardness (KH), which is a measure of the calcium carbonates in your water. This test is also effective in maintaining a proper buffer system. When testing for Carbonate Hardness, a reading of 75-100 mg/L is adequate for most aquariums, while a reading of 100-200 mg/L would be desired for higher pH levels. For the purpose of freshwater aquariums, measuring either total hardness or carbonate hardness is necessary, but measuring both independently would not be needed.

You need to know that anywhere in your aquarium where detritus (a fancy term for dirt) accumulates is a source of Phosphate production. As detritus accumulates in your gravel bed and on your filter pads, the Phosphate levels in your aquarium rise. Free Phosphate ions may bond with calcareous buffering material, precipitating calcium from your aquarium, and reducing your aquariums ability to keep pH stable. This is why it is so very important to clean your filter pads regularly and vacuum the aquarium gravel with each water change. In addition, your tap water contains buffering ions. Doing regular partial water changes will help to replenish the buffers which have been lost. This is important in all aquariums, because fish respiration and organic wastes alone will cause a gradual drop in the ability of your aquarium to buffer against pH swings.

Now the question becomes what to do if the fish you want to keep have very special pH requirements. If your fish prefer a pH level which is reasonably close to the pH your aquarium water is naturally buffered to, then I do not recommend you make any changes at all. Unless you are keeping an extremely specialized fish your fish will be fine. On the other hand, if your fish have pH requirements which are far from the values in your tank, then you have work to do.

Let us consider methods of raising the pH of your tap water. There are many additives on the market today which claim to raise your pH. Most of the liquid products on the market today are a 50/50 success at best when used alone only to find the ph will soon return to the normal level of 6. You also need to use a product to increase the buffering ability of your aquarium. To maintain a stable pH in the upper levels of the pH scale for fishkeeping, I would recommend using a buffering substrate such as crushed coral. You can add crushed coral to your existing aquarium. You can place larger amounts of shells or chrushed coral beneath the substraight in the tank. I personally place the crushed coral in a mesh bag and place the bag in my filter. You will want about 1 kg of crushed coral per 40 liters of water to buffer the water to hold a pH around 7.6. This method does not allow for the use of large quantities of crushed coral, but can be effective if you only need to make small adjustments to your aquariums buffering ability. This is why ocean items such as shells and ocean sand should not be used in a fresh water aquarium. It does raise the PH level.

Be assured that attempting to control pH is the most frustrating experience for a fish hobbyist. I would guess that 50% of the problems encountered in new aquariums are a result of the aquarist attempting to change the pH level. Few fish keepers actually need to adjust their pH. For the majority of aquarists your tap water pH will be adequate. The dangers of adjusting the pH incorrectly far outweigh any benefit you may receive by moving your pH a few points on the scale.

Remember, when it comes to adjusting your pH, less is more! Stability is most important. Routine maintenance is the key to keeping your pH stable and your fish healthy!

Also, do not use baking soda in your tank. Over doing the ph plus adding additional salt is not going to do your tank any good. It will also revert back to 6 when the carbon filters pull the Soda out.
Hope this helps

Answer 2

In agreement with other posters, I do not add baking soda to the fish tank. I use coral pellets and sea shells which have been soaked to get out the salt residues. I change the fish tank water each week with filtered water only changing half at a time. The purpose in changing half at a time is to maintain the bio flora while reducing the organics. If you want to be more specific, then test the pH of the water going into the tank first using litmus paper.

Answer 3

I have a 125 were i keep discus. I am running a reverse osmosis with D.I. water to a holding tank and transfer when needed. Found that my ph drop after a couple of years? Was not something i was checking on a regular basis. PH tape are a joke had to buy a meter $$$ 4.0 ouch Now i know why my fish were sickly looking. Baking soda help pick it up, And it did get cloudy, change the carbon out of the my filter should clear it up soon.
Found out running straight DI water is bad? I quest i needed to add something call R.O. Right. Its on it way.
Any other ideal to keep the ph stable using D.I. water?

Answer 4

The cloudy comes from several things. One the chemical reaction that the baking soda has with the minerals in your water. Two some times a bacteria die-off or loss clouds the water especially when you change PH so quickly but this would kill your fish too. Depending on the baking soda used some have cornstarch or other additives to keep it from compacting or hardening. The best thing to do is to dissolve the baking soda in a separate container then slowly add to your tank. Also if this continues to happen a good old diatom filter would clear your water right up.

Answer 5

You should not be using baking soda in your fish tank to controll PH. First off it is a temporary fix for a perm. problem.

Baking soda is not a FIX since it does not contain the complex buffers needed to stabalize PH and adds too much sodium (salt to your tank)

It will also only work until the carbon filters pull it out and the water returns to the normal ph. This is a constant battle and is very stressful on your fish.

Answer 6

Baking soda? Is that really a good way to raise a fish tank's ph? They sell some stuff to raise it, but I wouldn't raise it too quickly....can the fish ingest this?

Answer 7

The cloudiness is calcium carbonate -- chalk. You probably live in an area with hard water, i.e. dissolved calcium and magnesium. A tank filter will get rid of the cloudiness in time.

Answer 8

That's just a typical reaction with other materials in the water and will completely dissolve and clear soon. Nothing to worry about. I woud however suggest you not adjust the pH so much directly in the tank with the fish. Adjust it over time through pretreated water changes. Much more gentle for the fish and will usually avoid this annoying haze.

MM

Answer 9

Hmm Maybe because you put something in it to make it cloudy!!!?????????????????????????????? LOL