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Re: R/O Right & startup
Jay -
Please don't treat this reply as a complete answer, because there are plenty
of people reading the Digest who can comment more completely. I will
comment on the pH, which is obviously way too low (although it does take a
while to get used to matching colors - if you continue to have a problem try
one of the more expensive test kits with the colored plastic strip. You can
also take your water to your local fish store and have the pH tested there -
leave lots of air and maintain temperature).
Forget about the coral or anything else in the system which leeches
calcium - it is much easier to adjust the pH with sodium bicarbonate or
Alkaline Buffer - try half the suggested dose first because in soft water
the pH changes rapidly all at once. Oh. After all of the previous, please
forgive my ignorance about CO2 injection. There is a distinct possibility
that your CO2 injection rate is too high. CO2 forms carbolic acid when
dissoved in water, lowering the pH. I think this is probably the case, but
others will have to confirm this. They say the way to find out for sure
whether this is your pH problem is to put some water from your aquarium into
a small bottle with air, shake it up real good, uncover and wait 24 hours
and test the pH. If it is different from your aquarium, the difference is
the CO2.
The water hardness RO Right is talking about is GH - general hardness, which
has nothing to do with the carbonate pH buffer system, KH. Other people can
advise you as to what is the recommended general hardness - your's sounds
low.
The other thing is that 160 watts fluorescent on a 75 gallon tank (about 2
watts per gallon) is very minimal for that size tank. If your tank is
taller than 12 inches and you want to grow anything besides low-light plants
(people will argue with me on this) I would seriously consider adding 2 more
bulbs or even a metal halide. For fluoriscents, use full-spectrum/daylight
and check out the Krib or newsgroup FAQs for the ones with the highest
lumens.
Please excuse my verbosity.
Steve
> Date: Tue, 28 Nov 2000 21:28:43 -0600
> From: Jay Reeves <jbreeves at isd_net>
> Subject: R/O Right & startup
<snip>
> Setup - The tank is a 75gal. with high pressure Co2 via Eheim
> counter/diffuser, Substrate Gold in #20 red flint, 160 watts flourescent
> light driven by Ice Cap, RO water with Kent R/O right, supplemental
> fertilazation with Liquid Gold. Current parameters - GH = 3, KH = 2,
> and PH = 5.0, and Fe = 0.5 mg/l. I am not an "old pro" at using the
> test kits. Reported values more likely to be higher than actual as
> opposed to lower.
>
> I added 1/2 teaspoon Kent R/O Right to each 10 gallons of RO water per
> LFS advice. However, the container indicates that as much as 1 t. / 10
> gal. produces soft water. Here is the question - should I raise the
> hardness with more RO Right, add coral etc. to the filter, or add baking
> soda(?) to the water to get hardness up. It seems that adding the RO
> right would be the simplest and most consistent but I just don't know.
> Will changing the KH raise the PH? I know this is water 101 for all of
> you, but I really do appreciate any help.
>
> Thanks,
> Jay Reeves