Hi, Your right, why worry iff you don't have to. In saying that, Ph will follow the sg, To take the alk up, without it effecting the Ph, you need both sodium biocarbinate, and sodium carbonate,[ the latter being baked biocarbinate], one slightly raises Ph[ carbonate] and one slightly lowers it[ bio ]. A buffer is practically a mix of both, so as to balance the effect on th Ph, allowing the alk to raise without effecting the Ph. Just a little handy info. Regards.