Does anyone have experience using organic buffers for pH control in soft water acid aquariums?

As most sources on water chemistry will point out, low dissolved solids water has intrinsically poor buffering capacity. The commercially available acid buffering products typically involve phosphate anion systems, which bring their own problems of fertilization leading to algal overgrowth.

There is a series of organic buffers, usually referred to as "Good" buffers (after the organic chemist, Norman Good, who originally designed and published the series - Good's buffers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) which are mainstays of the biochemical and molecular biology laboratories. Good selected these specifically to have good chemical and metabolic stability. Two of these, PIPES (pKa = 6.8) and MES (pKa 6.15) have pKa's in the appropriate range to be effective buffers for the soft water - acidic biotope.

I have done a bit of Google-based searching, and have not found references to the use of these in aquaria - does anyone out there know of any information on it?

Protostic

I would use only curshed coral. It will bump up your ph and give your water the buffers it needs to hold your ph stable. Can be put in your substrate or in a filter bag in your filter.

Well, thanks for that insight, which I would make use of were I looking for pH control in an alkaline/hard water setting, but my question related to acidic/ soft water habitats.

Protistic

Okay. Up to you.

My kid uses it on his extremely acidic water that will continue to drop out (below 6) since the buffers in the water are nearly non-existent. Uses 1/4 cup on a filter bag and it holds the ph stable at 6.5. It hasn't increased gh in the water that I can tell.

baking soda will increase kh without increasing gh or adding phosphates.


FWIW I use live plants to suck out the carbon dioxide which raises the pH to above 8.

my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I tried baking soda on his tank and it would only hold for a few days and it would slowly start to drop again.

Yep

you have to keep dosing. when kh drops down add some baking soda.

Sounds almost like the diy 2 part for marine systems.

the key is not blind dosing but keeping the kh at some level.


my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

The crushed coral holds it constant. Or at least it has now for a few weeks. Even after large water changes.

That should. Along with any calcium carbonate based product. Even crushed oyster shells would do.

dissolves calcum carbonate up to some pH then stops.


my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

My apologies to all, perhaps I wasn't sufficiently explicit - I am looking to create and maintain soft acid conditions for Amazon-type fauna. I need to LOWER the pH of my well water (~pH 6.8, hardness <5DH [post-water softener], TDS 175 PPM).

So, again ...does anyone know, directly or by reference, of information on the use of organic buffers to lower pH and buffer the system at that lowered pH?

Protistic

Good luck.

Woopsies

I guess I got it turned around.


FWIW


I have kept amazon type fishe, angles, neon tetras and so on in tanks with peat moss covered with play sand, covered with pro choice pc select.

Neon did appear to require the peat moss which kept kh at 4 degrees and gh at 9 degrees.


That being said the pH in all the tank rose to over 8 (8.4-8.8 purple with api high range test kit).

So I think the kh and gh were better things to measure.

IMHO the pH in those tank was high because of the plant actions.


my .02

__________________
fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden