Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #76

To: Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #76
From: "Jennifer Orme Van Buskirk" <J.VanBuskirk at m_cc.utah.edu>
Date: Fri, 17 May 1996 00:05:13 +0000
Comments: Authenticated sender is <jv6a50 at u_cc.utah.edu>
> From: RTalukdar at mail_utexas.edu (Roni Talukdar)
> Date: Thu, 16 May 1996 08:44:57 -0500
> Subject: Re: Driftwood and pH

> I don't think driftwood would raise your pH.  do you have any of that
> Terralit fertilizer?  I think another discus keeper mentioned that it raised
> the pH in her tank.

No- no terralit, only substrate Gold laterite- but I haven't heard of it 
buffering water up.
 
> 
> 30 ppm is not much.  Discus are bred commercially at 50 ppm.  Are you
> perhaps talking about 30 degrees hardness?

Sorry-  I forgot to add a zero: Utah tap water comes out at 300ppm+
I just dilute it with RO water to about 60-70ppm 

> 
> From: "Dave Gomberg" <gomberg at wcf_com>
> Date: Thu, 16 May 96 08:51:16 -0800
> Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #75
> 
> Matt, what makes you think it's not still the gravel?   What tests
> did you perform on the new gravel?   Best test is gravel+water to
> just cover+muriatic acid (be VERY CAREFUL, muriatic acid dissolves
> concrete!).  Bubbling indicates shells, no bubbling at all is OK.  
> If you have bubbling you can dissolve out the shells with acid (good
> use for more of the bottle).  I need about a cup of acid to treat 3
> gallons of gravel.  It takes about a day (with hourly stirs) to get
> all the shell.  Then wash a lot.   Dave
> 
> Dave Gomberg, Experimenta      San Francisco CA USA   gomberg at wcf_com

Well the only test I did was to place about a cup full of gravel in 
sraight RO water which started out at a pH of 6.0 or less(the bottem 
end of my test kit) and a hardness of zero.  After a week the pH 
stabilized at 6.8 and the hardness remained at zero ppm.  (** I and 
my discus would love to have the water buffered at 6.8**)

With my last gravel, the pH rose to over 7.6  and the hardness went to 
300ppm.  This is about the same chemistry as my tap water, and it 
seems to make sense considering that the gravel was purchased from a 
local gravel yard (being that Utah was once a lake bottem, the gravel 
is loaded with fossilized critters).

The only other object that is in the aquarium is a large piece of 
driftwood- the reason I wonder is that I found it locally here in 
Utah, and with the soil, gravel, streams, rivers, and everything it 
seems having a alkaine pH; I wondered if the local trees could also 
buffer pH up (sorry if my lack of chemical understanding shined in 
that last paragraph)?

What I think I will try first is to install the Sandpoint "Ugly Green 
Beast" co2 diffuser into my aquarium along with a powerhead ("oh 
great"- another object to plug into my firehazard wall plugs) and see 
if I can get more gas difussed into my aquarium.

Thanks for all the suggestions- this is the power of a mailing list 
like this.

Matt Van Buskirk
j.vanbuskirk at m_cc.utah.edu