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Problem levels of Na and SO4 from water analysis
I recently received some vague feedback in rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants
newsgroup regarding my city's water analysis. I'm hoping that someone here
can set me straight.
You can find the copy of the water analysis here
http://members.home.net/aivers/, then select Seasonal Test Result..
I receive the Bearspaw water.
My tap water contains ~40 mg/L of sulphate. One particular response I
received suggested this level was quite high and could be bad for my
substrate in the long run (by turning into sulphite). While I understand
that plants use considerable amounts of sulphur, I can't help but wonder if
this concentration, plus the sulphate added by my K2SO4 additions, maybe
overkill. I'm thinking I should switch to KCl to minimize the sulphate
levels and increase my low chloride levels (0.6 mg/L) at the same time. Any
suggestions?
BTW, I'm fighting a blue-green algae problem on top of my Profile/gravel
substrate (any link to high sulphates?).
I have 48 mg/L of calcium, 13 mg/L of magnesium, 2.2 mg/L of sodium and I
supplement the low potassium (0.6 mg/L) with K2SO4 to match the magnesium
level. The same person who responded above also suggested my sodium level
(2.16 mg/L) was low. When I asked what level this person suggested they
responded that their water contained 6.5 mg/L of sodium.
This got me thinking about the cation ratios found in The Optimum Aquarium
(sodium dominates the cations ratio while chloride dominates the anions
ratio). I then read in the archives that the cation ratio isn't important,
but can anyone suggest how much sodium and chloride should be maintained in
a planted aquarium? Should I be adding NaCl?
Thank you for your time,
Aaron Ivers
Calgary Alberta Canada