[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V4 #903 Denton Water
Cheryl Hoffmann wrote:
* "Dear Listers:
*
* A friend of mine works for the Water Department in the nearby city
of Denton,
* TX. I am currently using RO water (reconstituted with SeaChem's
Equilibrium
* and PMDD/Jobes) because of the high sodium levels in my tap water
(288 mg/l).
* A couple of years ago I posted the analysis of my tap water here in
Oak Point
* and the general concensus amongst the water gurus at that time was
"Yuck." I
* am considering mixing Denton water with my R/O water because I still
am
* having algae problems. I think there is some element missing in my
current
* regiment.
*
* Would anyone care to pontificate on this analysis of Denton's water?
*
* CHEMICAL ANALYSES RAW TAP DIST
* Aluminum (Al) mg/l 0.030 0.033 < 0.030
* Ammonia (NH3) mg/L 0.171 0.58 0.56
* Bicarbonate (as CaCO3) mg/L 99.5 95.9 98.3
* Calcium (CaCO3) mg/L 71.7 68.2 67.0
* Chloride (Cl) mg/L 21.6 25.9 26.7
* Fluoride (F) mg/L 0.3 0.7 0.7
* Iron (Fe) mg/L 1.43 0.03 0.030
* Magnesium (Mg) mg/L 4.98 4.65 4.56
* pH (std units) 8.01 8.20 8.18
* Phosphate (P) mg/l 0.072 0.007 0.007
* Potassium (K) mg/L 6.30 6.50 6.71
* Sodium (Na) mg/L 26.9 39.1 38.5
* Sulfate (SO4) mg/L 41.8 69.9 73.3
* Temperature ( C) 22.5 22.8 24.0
* Total Alkalinity (as CaCO3) mg/L 81.6 78.6 80.6
* Total Hardness (as CaCO3) mg/L 104 107 102
* Total Solids (TS) mg/L 236 256 264
* Specific Conductance (umhos/cm) 343 421 414
* Nitrate-N (NO3) mg/L 0.04 0.17 0.11
* Langliers Index Value (-) 0.01 0.00
* Manganese (Mn) mg/L 0.066 < 0.01 < 0.01
*
* Does anyone know the significance Langliers Index Value?
*
* Also, I asked the friend who gave this to me, what about Boron? She
said that
* they don't test for it, because there isn't any.
*
* BTW, this water is considered by local homebrewers to be absolutely
the best
* water ever for making beer and wine. Maybe I should switch hobbies.
:-)
*
* Cheryl Hofmann
* Oak Point, TX"
Hi Cheryl,
I am also located just down 75 from you a few miles in Dallas. I don't see a
huge amount of differences in the chemical composition of our water
supplies. Are you sure this is your only water source. In Dallas we draw
from 3 separate reservoirs. The reason I ask is that you mention your Sodium
levels are at 288mg/l. In the chart you provided, from Denton County Water
Dept, it appears they are closer to 39mg/l. which is fine if that is the
case. Other than being a just a little low in MG to CA ratio just as mine
is, your water looks Ok as is to me. IMHO Using RO is a waste of time and
expense for your plant tank and will cause more problems than it cures. On
the other hand it does taste better :-).
I don't think your algae problems are due to your tap water. My water is
just a degree harder in GH and in KH (Alkalinity). I dose MGSO4 at water
changes to bring my CA:MG ration back to 3:1 and I
dechlorinate/dechloriminate with Amquel. That's it! Absolutely no Algae
problems in my 55 gallon plant tank, my 90 gallon plant tank is another
story but its problems are obviously not caused by the same tap water that
goes into the 55gallon.
Try looking at your CO2 or nutrient levels. Post your tanks water
parameters (NO3, GH, KH, pH,CO2, FE, etc. ), lighting, and substrate
information and maybe we can help you to find the cause of your algae
problems.
regards,
Larry Lampert
Dallas,TX