Re: KH drop

["David Whittaker" <dwhitt at sympatico_ca>]

Someone, maybe  Jason, had a pH drop in a tank of 7 degrees. Three months
ago I brought to the attention of this list, the effect that Profile has on
pH and
KH. I was kind of surprised that no one had noticed or mentioned it before.
This product must be loaded with hydrogen atoms which switch out for other
cations present in the water. In very soft water this is dangerous, as the
pH of
the tank will drop below 4. I lost quite a few fish the first time I tried
Profile as
a stand-alone substrate. I still have the original setup, but buffer the
water using
dolomite or calcite. Growth is o.k. and pH is now neutral.

The very best growth that I've ever had from any substrate has been from a
mixture of  30% Profile, 20% potting soil and 50% Aquatic Plant soil.
Aquatic
Plant soil (dirt bought at a local garden center) by itself is excellent. My
guess
is that the soil helps buffer the initial acidic effect of the Profile,
while the
Profile makes the cations such as iron present in the soil more available
for
uptake. Probably any soil which includes some limestone will do. If the
water
has a medium hardness, such as Jason's, Profile alone might be adequate in
the long run, the trace elements being supplied from fish food.

To date I've just planted a few plants in flower pots filled with the
mixture
in otherwise functioning aquariums. They took off -no obvious nutrient
difficiencies.

Regards,

> It could possibly be the Profile causing the drop in alkalinity.  Someone
> on the list, I think it was Wayne, had this same problem a few months ago
> and it was traced to the Profile substrate.  Nitrates also appeared along
> with the KH/pH drop.  Have you tested the nitrate level in the tank?
>
> I would look to the substrate before suspecting the driftwood unless the
> wood's been soaked in a strong acid at some point.  I suppose it's
> possible, but IMHO, it would take a tremendous amount of fungal activity
to
> drop the KH from 11 to 4 degrees in 4 days.
> - --
> Chuck Huffine
> Knoxville, Tennessee