Alkalinity in a fish tank...how important is it?

Question

I have a 20 gallon fish tank that right now has just 3 neon tetras in it as I wait for the tank to finish cycling. Getting to the end stages of that.
When I do my measurements for everything I always seem to have a very low alkalinity...is this important to fix?
I have been paying attention to the ammonia, nitrates, nitrites...but have not done anything about the alkalinity.
From the little bit I have read on the web it seems to be important for coral and such...but I will not have any coral in my tank so should I worry about it?

You are correct...this will be a freshwater tank.

Answer 1

You don't need to worry about it that much. As long as it is stable and isn't going from one end of the spectrum to the other, the fish will be fine. If you clean your tank regularly, you won't have any problems.

Craig is right, you won't have any corals.

Jon, Crushed coral actually makes water more alkaline, peat makes it more acidic.

Nosoop4u

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Alkalinity in a fish tank...how important is it?
I have a 20 gallon fish tank that right now has just 3 neon tetras in it as I wait for the tank to finish cycling. Getting to the end stages of that.
When I do my measurements for everything I always seem to have a very low alkalinity...is this important to fix?
I have been paying attention to...

Answer 3

Aquarium Alkalinity

Answer 4

Alkaline water, like Soup is talking about, can be important if it's way on the extreme range of the readings, such as in acidic, if you start dropping under a 6.0 you'll need to add buffer, and if you start going up to a 9.0 you'll need to lower the buffering, but outside of that, then he's right, keeping whatever you have in your tank stable is the most important thing to do. There is nothing wrong at all with you checking up on your water chemistry. I'd say if you've cycled out, you don't need to do it daily, but it certainly isn't going to harm anything for you to take a reading. I'm six months now into my yearly set ups, and I still check, I just wanna hear someone tell me I'm doing something wrong lol.

If I remember right on the coral, crushed coral can help lower the akalinity of the water. Neons are quite sensative to water chemistry so even more so, don't worry about these things, worry more about your water being consistant.

JV

Thanks soup, sorry my bad, was a really long day lol.

Answer 5

neon tetras are freshwater while coral is saltwater. for a marine tank (saltwater) you want the alkalinity to be at 12dkh. As far as frshwater as long as you are testing for amonia nitrate nitrite and pH then you shouldnt have to worry much about it.

Answer 6

As long as you are not using distilled water for your tank, the alkalinity will be what it is going to be. Adding items to your tank can raise and lower this number. It goes hand in hand with PH. If your PH is a constant your alkalinity will be as well and there should be no reason to worry about it.

Here is more on PH/KH and how it works and what to do if it doesn't. Hope this helps.
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!