Water Chemistry / CO2

[TerenceBoyle]

Hi there,

I have a question about my water chemistry... I tried using test strips and other test kits and have had some trouble interpretting the results, so I decided to call my local water department. They tell me that water out of my tap is:

- PH: 6.74 (I understand this one)
- Alkalinity: 356 ml per liter (is this high or low? is there a way to convert this to dKH?)
- Hardness: 3.3 grains per liter (also don't know what do with this... is this the KH number?)

I want to set up a planted aquarium with a CO2 injector and need to understand the implications here. Will adding any Co2 lower my PH or do I have enough alkalinity that I can set the PH meter to 6.7?

Any helpful advice would be appreciated.

Thanks


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[Volenti]

The ph will be lowered by co2 injection, KH hardness does not effect how much it is lowered, only the starting point.

At a quick look those supplied hardness figures don't add up considering the ph of the water, it should be far higher, don't know what's happening there.

[Mgamer20o0]

go get a liquid test kit.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

[TerenceBoyle]

Thanks for the link - once I have all my numbers correct I think I'll be able to tell if I need injection using this chart... I also understand the relationship between KH and PH better.

I have ordered the liquid test kits I need. I'll update the thread once I have some real numbers... probably in a few days.

[sguthrie]

Here's a spreadsheet I made when dialing in my bubble counter. The first line's notes show the directions.

http://srguthrie.googlepages.com/log.xls


I hope this helps out when you get your titration test kits.

Sam