Re: [APD] My tank water doesn't match the tap water

["S. Hieber" <shieber at yahoo_com>]

Well, since Roger isn't posting much on APD these days, I'll take a stab at a bit of it.
 
The heater question is probably the easiest. If it is melting the material around it, then we can, at least tentatively, conclude two things:
 
First, that the heater is getting hot enough in the near vacinity to melt the material and
Second, the material melts at that temperature.
 
A heater will get hotter than the temperature at which it maintains the aquarium. However, it is unlikley to get hot enough to melt silica sand (which, iirc, requires a few hundred degrees.. However, it could get hot enough to melt the plastic coating that many aquarium gravel manufacturers put on their gravel to reduce dust or add color.
 
Sand might have materials in it that will contribute to the alkalinity measured by your KH test, even carbonates but not necessarily. As Tom has recently reminded us, many KH test only assume that the source of alkalinity is carbonates, but that is not always the case. Or things that gum up the tests could be introduced with water pH stabilizers.
 
 
Anyone else.
 
sh
 
* * * * * * * * * * * It's new; it's fun; it's the New England Aquatic Plant Society NEAPS, is a newly formed organization interested in aquarium flora and fauna. http://www.ne-aquaticplants.com/ 


----- Original Message ----
From: Barry Anderberg <apd at swoobs_org>
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 31, 2006 6:29:00 PM
Subject: Re: [APD] My tank water doesn't match the tap water


Anyone?

Barry Anderberg wrote:
> I noticed that my tank water's KH is 24 dH and my tap water is 20 dH.
>
> Another thing I found was that my tap's pH is about 7.5 meaning I have 
> about 19 ppm of CO2 right out of the tap.
>
> Putting the water in a bucket with an airstone for a few hours confirmed 
> this as the pH of that water went up to near 8.0.
>
> I have nothing in my tank that would contribute to carbonate hardness.  
> At present it contains silica sand, three pieces of driftwood, four fake 
> plants, and a crappy "Whisper" brand heater which seems to have melted 
> some of the silica sand when it was closer to the bottom of the tank.  
> How that's possible at 80F is anyone's guess..
>
>  I guess I would like to know if others routinely experience a change in 
> KH from tap to tank, what could be causing it, and also if it is 
> possible and/or common to see 19 ppm of CO2 in tap water.
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> Barry Anderberg wrote:
>   
>> I am amazed at the fact that we are able to send human beings into outer 
>> space, split the atom, and uncover the secret laws of the universe, and 
>> yet we cannot figure out why algae grows or doesn't grow in a planted 
>> aquarium.
>>
>> I find that a little hard to swallow, especially given all the people in 
>> the world with degrees in botany and plant biology, etc., etc.  People 
>> in the planted tank community may not have unraveled the mysteries of 
>> algae but I'm pretty sure someone somewhere knows exactly what makes 
>> algae grow, or not.  I think.
>>
>> -Barry
>>
>> Liz Wilhite wrote:
>>   
>>     
>>> On 1/29/06, Jerry Baker <jerry at bakerweb_biz> wrote:
>>>   
>>>     
>>>       
>>>> S. Hieber wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Agreed. The fact that there are so many ways to successfully grow plants
>>>> says to me that there is a lot we don't know. There is an objective
>>>> truth out there -- a recipe guaranteed to grow plants well and algae not
>>>> so well. The problem is we don't yet know enough to say exactly what
>>>> that recipe is.
>>>>     
>>>>       
>>>>         
>>> I disagree.  I think there are many recipes out there for what works.  There
>>> are many balance points.
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>    
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