pH issues!!! - Page 2 - El Natural

Prometheus · 05-12-2008, 12:00 PM

Hello ripples

submerged will be nice

Quote:

My water is naturally in around 7.8-8.0... I checked my NPT tank for the first time a few days ago. It's a around 6.0. All the organics and plants will bring it down.

I thought plants will bring the pH up and not down?

Red_Rose · 05-12-2008, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistergreen

you can have a filter but don't cause water surface agitation.
Maybe a canister or a submerged powerhead type filter.

My water is naturally in around 7.8-8.0... I checked my NPT tank for the first time a few days ago. It's a around 6.0. All the organics and plants will bring it down. I'm trying to bring it up with lime stones and shells( Going to raise some fancy snails ).

You can mix in RO/distilled water to bring the ph/hardness down.

My tap water is at 7.8 and I have yet to see a drop in both the hardness and pH. How long as your tank been set up for? Do you know what your GH and KH are from the tap?

Prometheus · 05-12-2008, 04:14 PM

Yes, like I said

Quote:

So I called the water supply company and found out that the tap water is soft and has a pH of 9.2 with a hardness of 1 grain per gallon (or 16 ppm).

not sure bout kH

Prometheus · 05-12-2008, 04:18 PM

mmm... i think it's been set up for about 2 months .. I'm not exactly sure.

Red_Rose · 05-12-2008, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Prometheus

mmm... i think it's been set up for about 2 months .. I'm not exactly sure.

Actually, I was asking mistergreen what his/her water hardness was and how long the tank was set up for.

mistergreen · 05-12-2008, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_Rose

My tap water is at 7.8 and I have yet to see a drop in both the hardness and pH. How long as your tank been set up for? Do you know what your GH and KH are from the tap?

I have 2 NPT. One up for 1 year, the other 2 years. And they're stuffed with plants. I remembered one of the tank being 8.0ph or something like that when I first started.
I was surprised to about the PH too.. HK is 3-4 dkh out of the tap. I'll have to check the KH in the tanks..

isn't it obvious i'm male (mistergreen)

helenf · 05-12-2008, 11:51 PM

I believe the calcium carbonate in all those shells (oyster, egg, shell grit, whatever) will buffer the PH to around 8.3, if allowed to dissolve as much as possible. Won't it? Could be part of the reason your PH is high.

Also, to correct a confusion here. If you are not adding CO2 to the tank, aeration will increase the amount of CO2 in the water, not decrease it. So removing the filter will lower the CO2 and slightly increase the PH as a result, I would expect.

The reason is that if you are adding CO2 to a tank, you get more CO2 in the water than in the air. So more aeration allows more CO2 to move out of the water into the air, reducing the level of CO2 in the tank.

If you have a planted tank without adding CO2 (like most NPTs, one assumes) you have the opposite situation: the plants use up the CO2, meaning that there is less CO2 in the water than in the air. So more aeration will cause CO2 to move from the air to the water, increasing the amount dissolved in the water.

You only ever need to worry about surface agitation driving off CO2 if you are adding CO2 to the tank. My understanding is that in just about any other situation you can think of, surface agitation is good.

mistergreen · 05-13-2008, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by helenf

.

Also, to correct a confusion here. If you are not adding CO2 to the tank, aeration will increase the amount of CO2 in the water, not decrease it. So removing the filter will lower the CO2 and slightly increase the PH as a result, I would expect.

that's debatable.

Red_Rose · 05-13-2008, 08:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mistergreen

I have 2 NPT. One up for 1 year, the other 2 years. And they're stuffed with plants. I remembered one of the tank being 8.0ph or something like that when I first started.
I was surprised to about the PH too.. HK is 3-4 dkh out of the tap. I'll have to check the KH in the tanks..

isn't it obvious i'm male (mistergreen)

Your KH could be the reason why the pH dropped. My stupid KH from the tap is so high that I don't think it will drop over time. At least my plants and betta are fine with it so I guess that's all that matters.

I've learnt that you can't always go by a username. There is a username that I use on other forums and you wouldn't believe at how many people assume that I'm a man because of it! lol

Prometheus · 05-13-2008, 11:47 AM

Quote:

You do need to be fairly certain that you have your nitrogen fixing bacteria established in your sunstrate before removing the AC filter. One way to do this is to remove the filter but leave the media cartridge (or at least the foam pad) in the tank for a few days after you pull the rest of the filter (hanging near a PH would be ideal).

You say hanging near a PH.. what is that?

How do you know if the bacteria is established in the substrate? How long does this usually take? I tried to put the foam pad in the tank but there was a bunch of debris and residue that was coming off of it into the water, so I decided to put it back in the filter and restart the filter after doing a partial water change and filling it to the top. I will have to find something submersible first maybe. Unfortunately I dont think walmart sells filters around here so I'll have to look around.