# Baking Soda, water is cloudy



## rcapps (Jun 15, 2013)

Hey,

I tried adding baking soda in small amounts to raise my pH. It worked, at least for now. I've since read that this is a bad idea. Anyhow, it made my water really cloudy likely because it reacted with minerals to form a precipitate. I changed about 80% of the water and am slowly adding it back while keeping the filter on, but it's still really cloudy. Is there a better way? Will I have to drain the whole thing? I'd rather not since I have live plants in there.

Thanks


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## Sebastian (Dec 27, 2012)

You won't need to drain the whole thing, just keep doing 50% water changes for a few days. You have no fish in there yet? If at all possible try not to manipulate the water parameters too much. I figure you were going for a rift lake tank? If you really feel you need to drain it, it won't hurt the plants if you keep them wet and fill it right back up.


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## colmanh (Jul 10, 2013)

Yeah, adding things to alter pH usually isn't a great idea. A fluctuating pH can be really stressful for fish, which means you'll have to be hyper vigilant to make sure it doesnt fluctuate. 

If you need to alter the pH of your water, you could try changing substrates. Some substrates contain elements that will alter the pH slightly for you. This may be helpful.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Fish can adjust to various pH ranges, more damaging is fluctuations caused by trying to adjust your pH. There are much more stable and safer ways to adjust, but try to avoid doing this whenever possible. 

In the meantime, very frequent (daily), large (50%+) waterchanges should clear things up. If you tank is cycled, you may want to check your bacteria to make sure it's still cycled


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

What is your ph? What is your kh? What you did was primarily to add kh. This will keep your ph more stable.

If you have a really low kh, all the water changes in the world won't matter. If so, I'd recommend getting some crushed coral (can be found on Amazon) and placing in a bag in your filter. This will add kh and will not require you to mix every time you do a water change.


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