Freshwater Aquarium - Understanding PH

Introduction

When you install a freshwater aquarium in your home or office you need to become a part-time chemist. There are several parameters you need to watch, one being pH.

Having been a nuclear chemist in the Navy, I became quite familiar with what pH was and how to measure it. It was important to protect the piping in the nuclear plant and the steam generator. In a freshwater aquarium it is important to prevent stressing your fish

What Is It

PH is a measure of how alkaline (basic) or acidic a substance is. In this case we will be measuring the pH of water in your freshwater aquarium.

First of all pH has no units. It is just a number that goes from 0 to 14. If your water is measured as having a pH of 7, it is said to be neutral. That is it is neither basic nor acidic.

If your water has a pH less than 7.0 it is considered acidic and greater than 7.0 your water is considered basic.

How To Measure It

When you measure for pH you are actually measuring the concentration of the hydrogen ion (H+) in water. The more acidic the water is the more hydrogen ions are in the water.

When I was in the Navy we measured pH by using electronic probes. But this type of equipment is quite expensive for the normal Aquarist. Most of the people who own aquariums will use paper strips that will change to a certain color based on the pH of the water.

In my case, being an ex-Navy chemist, I prefer to use a more advanced method; I use test tubes and chemicals. I add the chemicals to my sample water in the test tube and look for a color change in the sample water. The color will decide what the pH is.

Adjusting It In Your Aquarium

In my aquarium my pH remains rather constant, around 6.8. If you do have to adjust your pH, the best way is to get chemicals that will either raise or lower pH. These chemicals are obtained from your local pet store.

Follow the directions carefully and do not try to adjust the pH by more than 0.1 at one time. A rapid change of more than 0.1 can stress your fish and cause illness or even death.

If you use tap water for replacement, it is usually basic when it comes out of the tap because of the chemicals added to the water. Let it set overnight to remove the chemicals and lower the pH which more closely resembles the pH in your tank.

If you want more information on how to keep an aquarium, download a free eBook, titled "15 Tips On Building And Maintaining An Aquarium", at http://www.squidoo.com/homefreshwateraquariums or at Your Home Freshwater Aquarium.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=J_W_Chase

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7263398