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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #209
> Now the PH constantly increases to 8.2 or more. Even when I
>adjust the PH down, it raises again.
>Does anybody have any idea what is going on?
>Since my PH is raising to 8 or more isn't the buffering effect of the
>water exhausted? Why would it still increase?
>Please help me. I am on the verge of tearing down the tank and removing
>my soil mixture and cleaning my gravel.
I had the same kind of problem: pH sitting at 8.5 or higher. I had been told
by an aquarium store manager that putting coral gravel in my tank would not
cause a problem if I just had a small dish of it as a "pond" in the tank. I
think he just wanted to sell lots of pH controlling products. I tried
everything to get the pH down: Vinegar, Muriatic acid, pH down, CO2, you
name it. Finally I gave up, tore the tank down, cleaned the gravel
thoroughly and started over again. In the process I also found out that one
of the pieces of wood I had in the tank was buffering the tank's pH up also.
With the removal of the coral-gravel pond and the offnding wood, my pH sits
at 7.0 to 7.2. My plants are happy.
Justin P. Healy in cloudy Savannah.