URGENT leeching concrete background.

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Matt724

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jan 19, 2009
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Los Angeles, CA
I just made a diy background and i need to lower the ph. I bought buffering salts for tanganyikan fish (9-9.4) and i don't know what to do. I read that they speed up the time to leech out the ph raising things in concrete. How long will this take and how should i go about doing this? there is no water in the tank yet but i wanted to start tonight. Once this is all set up I will have plenty of pics to show around from start to finish. I just need you guys to lead me through this step. Comon mfk.:D Ty
 
yeah, i made a diy background using styrafoam and layers of concrete on top. Kinda like this, but not as good. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5Ng6GeF9mA Right now i am at the stage where i need to get the ph of the water down to around 9 for my tangs but I don't know how. I got the tanganyikan buffer salt from the lfs, but i dont know how to use them or how long they take. I want to get it so that the background stops raising the ph past 9. right now i have the tank filled with water and a simple pump for water flow. i added a tsp of the salts and now im just waiting. I don't know what to do now.
 
The only thing for it is to keep it submerged and keep changing the water till the ph comes down.Adding buffers now will slow down or stop the process,you want the water to be neutral or acidic.If you can use RO or distilled water that would be best.
 
By some non toxic concrete sealer such as Thoro-Seal. Concrete will leach alkali which is why its raising the PH. What concrete mix did you use?

I have done little research on Acryl60 to make sure its non toxic but I have seen pond owners online use it through some research. I would do your own research on it, I will too but that is a bonding agent and also makes the create water proof so there is no leaching. You need to mix it up in the concrete.

What needs to be known about create is that you want to put it on as thick as possible. Water makes the crete weaker and less dense, less water will make it stronger and more dense. The more dense concrete is, the less leaching there will be. You can have zero leaching from concrete if you make it dense enough.

Use some portland cement type 2. Don't use type one as its not meant to be in constant contact with water. Get some Sand/Topping Mix. Thats what its called on the bag. Mix ratio about 2/3 Portland to 1/3 sand mix. (Give you an idea, 1 bag portland to 1/2 bag of sand mix) Mix with very little water, you want the concrete to look like cake batter, thicker than a paste. After it cures 24/48 hours, you can coat it with a sealer such as Thoro-Seal. Although at that mix there should be very little to no leaching occuring.
 
Thoro-Seal is a sealer I found online and recommended by most. Its not clear though.

You can buy some Acid stains too. $60 a gallon around here in NH. You can apply the stains with a brush or spray bottle to give it a real natural look. I would look for a non toxic clear concrete sealer. Wash down the concrete after acid staining to neutralize the acids.

I build water features, rock walls and flag stone patios, all of which are 100% concrete. Acid stains and a sealer really bring out the beauty which is why I suggest them.

You can get an examples of what I do here.
http://stonemakers.innovationlandscaping.com

Slideshow of some water features. I have to upload more completed water feature pictures. All of these are made out of solid monolithic concrete. 3500 PSI concrete. I bet you will ask how we stacked the crete with no forms and shaped it like that :)
http://stonemakers.innovationlandscaping.com/samples/displayimage.php?album=10&pid=95&slideshow=5000

One of the photos, of a massive water feature was constructed out of styro foam and covered with GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete)
 
I've used the 'plastic concrete mix' which is what Jgray described. It still leaches out a little but evens out in ponds in a few months. All I can say is to do W/C until the tank gets to tap pH then start using the RO in WCs. Do this slowly over time so that you fish don't totally freakout and die from the pH changes
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com