I have a 135 gal. It was set up about 3 weeks ago. It has not cycled yet. I have two thirds R/O water and one third tap. It has 3 pieces of Med driftwood, 1 med piece of lace rock, 100 lbs of colourquartz sand and 9 live plants. Why is my PH at 8.0? Is it the colourquartz? That piece of lacerock cant be jacking it up that much...or can it?
What is jacking up my PH?
- Thread starter LisaH
- Start date
If you take 2/3 RO water and mix it with 1/3 tap water in a plastic container, what is the pH? If it is significantly less than 8.0, then, it's probably the rock and/or sand. But you can test to find out. Let's say the water alone has a pH of 7.0 in the plastic container. Add some sand and let it sit for a few days and then take the pH again. If elevated, you have your answer. It is the sand. If not elevated, then you sort of have an answer...not the sand, probably the rock. You can test the rock in a similar fashion. This is the way I would work through this.
I'll get busy and start testing.
My tap PH is 7.5
The R/O PH is 6.4
The two thirds R/O mixed with one third tap PH is 7.2
The KH of the R/O is in the 0-50 ppm range.
I have the R/o tap mix water with a piece of lace rock soaking in it and the mix with the colourquartz soaking. I guess I should let them soak for a while before testing.
The R/O PH is 6.4
The two thirds R/O mixed with one third tap PH is 7.2
The KH of the R/O is in the 0-50 ppm range.
I have the R/o tap mix water with a piece of lace rock soaking in it and the mix with the colourquartz soaking. I guess I should let them soak for a while before testing.
Are you sure there isn't anything your forgetting, as the driftwood should also be bring the pH down.
I have a little lighted plastic volcano in there but did not test that. I think I found my problem.
I've had the sand and rock soaking for 12 hours and the results are in.
Bottled tap-R/O mix is 7.2
With the lace rock it elevated to 7.5
With the colourquartz it elevated to 8.1
I think I need to add more driftwood to battle this.
I set up this 135 for discus but...they will be growing out in my 55. My 55 matches the breeders test numbers and is cycled. I have about 7 months to fix the 135 before discus are put in.
I've had the sand and rock soaking for 12 hours and the results are in.
Bottled tap-R/O mix is 7.2
With the lace rock it elevated to 7.5
With the colourquartz it elevated to 8.1
I think I need to add more driftwood to battle this.
I set up this 135 for discus but...they will be growing out in my 55. My 55 matches the breeders test numbers and is cycled. I have about 7 months to fix the 135 before discus are put in.
My suggestion would be to quit using R/O water. There is very little need for it unless your local water is so bad that you can't use it straight. The process of reverse osmosis essentially removes all the suspended particles that raise your GH and KH. You need these particles to buffer the pH in your water. If you have a nice high KH, you won't get the jump in pH. Besides, fish have evolved to live in water that contains these suspended particles. The water they live in in the natural world certainly isn't R/O water.
LisaH;2005391; said:
There is one other thing to bear in mind. Your aquarium is a "closed" biological system. The water in it contains a finite and hence, exhaustible amount of buffering capacity (the KH). You have further reduced this by using 2/3 RO water. As such, your aquarium will tend to acidify over time, on its own, due to the metabolic activity of the fish and bacteria. If you determine that the sand and/or rock is/are, in fact, causing a gradual increase in pH, this could actually be a good thing because it will counteract the biological acidification and facilitate a more stable pH (regardless of what type of water used). Establishing a final setup all depends on acquiring a sense of what the pH range is likely to be, what your fish can tolerate, how often you perform water changes and of course, how much you like the esthetics of the sand and rock.
What kind of fish are you going to be keeping.
If discus and/or Amazonian tetras, maybe the RO idea isn't bad. Because your Las Vegas tap has a nice buffering capacity, and they appreciate a semi mineral void environment.
If your going to keep Africans or Central Americans your straight tap water is fine.
RO could have the unpleasent effect of stealing minerals from your African and Centrals, effecting their ability to osmoregulate, because they originate in liquid rock.
If discus and/or Amazonian tetras, maybe the RO idea isn't bad. Because your Las Vegas tap has a nice buffering capacity, and they appreciate a semi mineral void environment.
If your going to keep Africans or Central Americans your straight tap water is fine.
RO could have the unpleasent effect of stealing minerals from your African and Centrals, effecting their ability to osmoregulate, because they originate in liquid rock.