Seachem Marine Buffer

Marine Buffer® will safely raise marine pH to 8.3. It will not raise the pH above 8.3 even in the event of an inadvertent overdose. Marine Buffer® is a blended product and is not just baking soda or soda ash, commonly sold as a substitute. These products can raise the pH to dangerous levels if not used correctly. Marine Buffer® contains sodium, magnesium, calcium, strontium and potassium salts of carbonate, bicarbonate, chloride, sulphate and borate. Use Seachem's MultiTest™ Marine pH and Alkalinity to check pH and total alkalinity. Use Marine Trace™ to restore the proper level of trace and feed NutriDiet® Marine Flakes for thriving, healthy saltwater fish.

Total alkalinity is a measure of three main ions: carbonate, bicarbonate and borate. In salt water, bicarbonate drives the pH towards 7.8, carbonate drives the pH towards 9.1 and borate towards 9.5 or more. Due to the chemistry of buffer systems, the closer you get in pH to the pK of a buffer system, the harder it is for the pH to shift. So if you mix a buffer so that the combined product brings the pH towards 8.3, the more you use, the more stable the pH becomes. This is the principle of Marine Buffer™. It is a blended buffer that trains and maintains your pH at 8.3 due to the blend. The problem with this seemingly simple solution is that most salt mixes contain substantial amounts of bicarbonate salts. This moves the pK of the buffer system further towards 7.8, and a buffer that shoots for 8.3 will never quite get there. Thus, the pK of Marine Buffer is actually slightly higher than 8.3 in order to fight against the influx of bicarbonate with each water change. Marine Buffer™ was the first buffer on the market to contain borate salts (which make a saltwater buffer system much more stable), and Marine Buffer™ remains the most effective pH buffer on the market for aquariums sailors.