How can my ph be 8.0 with 80ppm tds and kh of 1? I figure I'm missing some part of water knowledge that I should know. My assumption is with medium to soft water the ph would be lower naturally.
How can my ph...
- Thread starter Bobears
- Start date
Howdy,
the pH is highly unstable with low hardness. It can go either way, the water is basically not buffered. The chances for a low pH crash are higher than the high pH you are observing, but it can swing over easily. You desperately need buffer capacity in your tank, be it by increasing hardness, or be it by introducing humic substances (peat filtration).
Good luck,
HarleyK
the pH is highly unstable with low hardness. It can go either way, the water is basically not buffered. The chances for a low pH crash are higher than the high pH you are observing, but it can swing over easily. You desperately need buffer capacity in your tank, be it by increasing hardness, or be it by introducing humic substances (peat filtration).
Good luck,
HarleyK
Bobears;2037510; said:
It happens. It's not being run through a water softener or anything is it?
You said "tds of 80 ppm", did yo mean gh? CO2 has a lot to do with straight pH test results. Age the water with a bubbler for 24 hrs and recheck and it quite possibly will be lower.
If you're on town water, they probably add something to raise the PH. Low PH, soft water will eventually damage the water pipes of your towns infra-structure, that's why they do it. My town adds potassium hydroxide to it's water and it comes from the tap with a PH of 9.0. It's also a "stable" compound, so aeration won't get rid of it. I have to age it with driftwood or peat to get it low enough to use and then add Epsom salt, marine salt and baking soda to get it to the parameters I want in my tanks.