Re: CO2 and buffering

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: CO2 and buffering
From: George Booth <booth at hpmtlgb1_lvld.hp.com>
Date: Wed, 20 Sep 1995 16:26:32 -0600
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Wed, 20 Sep 1995 15:39:02 EDT." <199509201939.PAA27126 at looney_actwin.com>

> From: Matt Rhoten <mrhoten at oz_net>
> 
> >> add sodium bicarbonate to keep my carbonate hardness up and my pH
> >> stable
> 
> > I don't think this is a good idea.  Sodium bicarbonate will also raise
> > the pH, not stabilize it.  Again, DIY CO2 is your best bet IMHO.
> 
> Then what is the recommended way to raise carbonate hardness? 

Sodium bicarbonate or calcium carbonate IS the recommended way.  Yes,
they will raise the pH to the mid to high 7s and CO2 is then used to
bring it back down to 6.8 or 7.0.  If you used a buffer that did not
raise the pH, it would be difficult to get a neutral pH with useful
amounts of CO2.

> I'm not
> likely to inject CO2 with a carbonate hardness of roughly 30ppm
> (that's around 1.7dKH). 

Right, 3.5 to 5 dKH is a good range. 

George