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Re: Webb-Kelly tank
>
> From: ac554 at freenet_carleton.ca (David Whittaker)
> Date: Wed, 9 Aug 1995 09:46:04 -0400
> Subject: Peculiarities of Webb-Kelly tank
>
> [snip]
> Water Parameters
> Before After
> KH (TETRA) 2.0/2.5 3.0
> pH (TETRA) 6.4 7.2
> CO2 injection x/3 sec x/2 sec where x is 1 bubble
>
> [snip]
>
> I understand that phosphates and silicates contribute to alkalinity.
> These could be found either in the clay or in the pond tablet fertilizer.
> Does anyone know if this might be the answer? Wouldn't the TETRA KH test
> also falsely measure these as carbonate hardness and so produce a high
> phony KH? Any ideas? The most credible answer receives the Whittaker
> prize in stoichiometry.
>
> Dave
Oooh I like prizes :). Ok let a newbie try this one. I think you've already
said it. The slight alkalinity increase is likely due to the phosphate in
your water. Most KH test kits, likely including Tetras, measure the
total KH, not just the part that's due to bicarbonate.
Now why does the pH go up so much with such a slight increase in KH? In
my tank with a KH of ~10, I notice a pH change of 0.2-0.4 during the
course of a day due to photosynthesis. So it might be that since your KH
is so low (<3) a slight change in KH or CO2 would significantly affect
your pH. Is it possible that you have more demand for CO2 since the
initial setup (due to algae growth perhaps)?
John Y. Ching (jyching at watnow_uwaterloo.ca) |
Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence Lab |
Department of Systems Design Engineering |
University of Waterloo, Canada |