My water - advice for fertilising welcomed

[Faramir]

OK - just got the analysis back from Yorkshire Water.

So...

pH - 7.1 -> 9.2(!), mean 8.0. Note - I've always measured about 7.6, so I suspect there's some odd readings - the sample size is only 10 samples.

SO4 - 50mg/l
Mg++ - 2.2mg/l
Na+ - 28mg/l
K+ - .74mg/l
NO3 - 2.4mg/l, but my tanks all have fish in....
Fe - .044mg/l
Mn - .011mg/l
Cu - trace
Zn - .007mg/l
PO4 - .853mg/l
Cl- - 9.2mg/l
Ca++ - 4.2mg/l
Alkalinity - 16mg/l
Conductivity - 169 micro siemens/cm

Think those should be all the interesting ones.

I can't quite see why the pH isn't lower than it is - the alkalinity is very low - about 1 degree! Am I in danger here adding CO2?

Thoughts welcome!

[Faramir]

I should add - pH with CO2 injection is 6.7

According to the table I have, that makes the CO2 5.3ppm, so I need to get more to dissolve.

[plantbrain]

You need to get the KH or alkalinity up to about 50ppm or 3 KH.
Then add enough CO2 gas only(nothing else) to lower the pH to about 6.4-6.6. Add baking soda to raise the KH.
Use only the CO2 gas to move the pH.

If you do large frequent water changes(50% weekly) it's unlikley you need to add PO4 or very much. I'd say you could get away with it.
Pretty good water for the UK. Especially the low NO3.

So adding K2SO4, trace mix and KNO3 is about all you need after you get the CO2 issue resolved.

You can add more gas by adding more bubbles/sec or get a better method of dissolving the gas or perhaps there's not enough current in the tank.

The other thing is to test the pH when the lights come on and when they go off. See if there's difference. Check against the pH/KH/CO2 chart.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Faramir]

Thanks Tom. Yes, I'm very happy about the water here; most UK water tends towards the hard and nitrate ridden. But Sheffield is right on the edge of the Peak District National Park, and our water comes from the Dark Peak, which is gritstone and peat moorland. You know those pictures you see of the Rio Negro? That's what the Derwent and the Rivelin look like. :)

http://www.stanleyfearns.co.uk/tompeak.jpg

Sorry - waffling and advertising the north of England.

Bicarb's not a problem - I have a big box of it in the cupboard which I use anyway with the Malawians (as you can imagine, Malawians need a bit of treatment to their water, but I'd rather be making water hard than be trying to make it soft!). I'm going to double-check the alkalinity reading (haven't seen a KH test in any of the LFSs but I'll have another try) before I try changing it.

That leaves the CO2. I've just upped the amount of sugar/water in the fermenter, and moved it nearer the radiator. That's improved the bubble rate, but I'm only using an airstone at the moment, so once I've got the KH settled I shall look into a better reactor.

This is much more involved than just keeping fish alive, isn't it? ;)

[Aderynglas]

Hi Faramir love the piccy :D :D It looks like where I live (are you sure thats not the carno reservoir you photographed?)

Your water parameters are almost identical to mine too.

You mention a test for KH, eSHa do one as part of their strip test and I've found them reliable (I cut the strips into 3 to save money, not cos I'm mean - just cos I can ;) )

by the way have you heard of anyone "up north" breeding blue Rams into pH 8.5?????? (see my thread in cichlids)

Regards
paule

[Faramir]

Update

OK - seems the water board measures ppm HCO on their alkalinity measurement - they also quote "alkalinity pH 4.3", so perhaps it's some standardised test that involves changing the pH somehow before measuring. Whatever, it doesn't seem to be directly comparable to the measure we use in the hobby, because I have just got a KH kit and found the real KH figure is 4 degrees. That means that at my pH I've got around 20 ppm CO2, which sounds good to me. The plants are growing like billy-o anyway, so it ain't broke and I shan't fix it. :D The platys don't look as pleased as everyone else about the lower pH, but I'm confident they'll cope. They're going to be moved soon to another aquarium which won't have CO2 injection anyway.