RE: [Killietalk] Any soft water Nothos

[Brian Watters <bwatters at sasktel_net>]

David Sanchez wrote:

>
>I was under the impression these were, rainwater,
>temporary pools they lived in? Is that water not soft
>and acid?
>

The average Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) content of the water in all the
Notho localities that I have investigated (a few hundred) is 95 ppm, which
is quite soft. However, the water is invariably alkaline, the avarage pH
being 7.4. When the pool fills up the water leaches Ca and Mg from the
substrate, keeping the water alkaline. The very few Notho habitats that have
acidic water are almost always those that have a large amount of decaying
vegetation in them and the consequent acidification exceeds the buffering
capacity of the substrate.
________________________________________
Brian Watters
56 Gardiner Avenue
Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 4P6, Canada
Tel: (306) 584-9161 (home)
E-mail: bwatters at sasktel_net

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