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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #646
IDMiamiBob at aol_com wrote:
>
>
> And oh, yeah. Sniff an open bottle of Muriatic acid and tell me > that isn't HCl eating your eyeballs out.
Sure does! ... But look at the label: Muriatic acid = concentrated HCl
of ~28+%!!! Breathing it might kill you -- or at least give you an edema
of the lungs!
A 0.01 N HCl solution (pH 2.02) does *not* smell and one can take a sip
of it without any harm.
As I said previously, I do not question your observations, just your
explanation of the phenomenon. There *must* be another reason than
"gassing off" why the pH rose. Was there any cigarette (or other) smoke
(amines)? Did anybody wash the floor in the house (ammonia)? Other trace
sources of alkalies? And I mean *traces* -- it does not take much at
those concentrations. Some alkaline substance in the air would account
for the observation that covering the tank slowed down the acidity loss.
You don't mention the original hardness, alkalinity and pH of the water,
how much acid you added, as well as the final values, except final
alkalinity of 40 ppm. What was the final pH and how much it rose? What
type/brand of pH meter did you use? any other experimental details --
what indicator is used in your alkalinity kit, etc.?
Best
George