Re: Nitrates

[Shireen Gonzaga <whimbrel at comcast_net>]

Jim Seidman said:
> However, the more HCO3- that is in the water, the more additional
> H2CO3 necessary to change the ratio by the same amount. If you
> really add a huge amount of HCO3-, then the concentration of H2CO3
> you can create through CO2 injection will be miniscule in comparison,
> and it'll be difficult to budge your pH from 8.4.


Jim, I'm sorry, but my lack of a chemistry background is making
all this hard for me to understand.

Can you, or someone else, illustrate this as chemical equations
please? Or provide more details? Maybe if I could visualize ions
dancing in my head, I'd understand it better.  :-)

Meanwhile, I was browsing the archives and came across a post from
Paul Sears that contradicts what you said. It's located at
  http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/month.9903/msg00649.html

If there are other posts that explain this in more detail, I've not
found it. I'm systematically combing through the archives, and I'm
not finished yet. If anyone can provide a short-cut, I'd appreciate it.

Hey Brian Rippon, I took your advice and ordered a copy of Walstad's
book from Amazon today. But what I really want is a brain transplant,
and I want Tom Barr to be the donor -- well, not all of his brain,
just the part that deals with aquatic plants.(Not to worry, Tom will
be fine -- he'll just forget all about plants and go become an expert
in something else. I hear owl pellets are real interesting .... ;-)

cheers,
	shireen


--
Shireen Gonzaga
Baltimore
whimbrel at comcast_net