This might be a little long , but I wanted to post the ordeal I just went through over the last week or so. I was having a problem with a crashing Ph, and when I mean crashing.....from 7.0 after a water change to 5.0 and possibly below almost overnight. Some of you may remember in a thread I posted a few days ago I asked about meds accumulating on the bio-wheel ( white spots ) and having plants soften your water and drop your Ph low, etc. Well I was carring out the prescribed water changes on both my tanks like some suggested on here. I hadn't picked up the coral or tried any dolomite ( plentiful in the Niagara River gorge ) that is found around here to harden the water up and go the natural route yet either. SOMETHING just didnt add up as to why it would drop SO much SO fast.....
I spoke to my old man who is a chemist and a chemical plant manager for 34 years and knows more about that stuff than I care to listen to, but had some wonderful insight. We turned to what I use as a De-chlorinator. I use Jungle ACE , and Kordon NOVAQUA as a conditioner...which looked to me like a Stress Coat kind of product. I remembered reading on here that a lot of the De-chlor/chloramine products use Sodium Thiosulfate to do what they do. We consulted his Merck Index , the chemists "bible" according to my old man and I found exactly what was causing the problem. I was adding TOO MUCH of this product which was causing a reaction with the C02 given off by the plants and the H20 which as an end result was giving me Sulphur Dioxide, Carbonic Acid, HCl among other things...which I don't have time to post right now or remember ( if interest in this post rises , I will gladly post more on it later ) Every syptom I had was due to my putting too much of this in the tank, I'm guessing that both products I used contained it since they both De-chlorinate. Any opinions or questions , PLEASE write back or if anyone has any other ideas , I would love to hear what some of you chemistry guru's have to say!!! Thanks , sorry for the long post.
steviem
I spoke to my old man who is a chemist and a chemical plant manager for 34 years and knows more about that stuff than I care to listen to, but had some wonderful insight. We turned to what I use as a De-chlorinator. I use Jungle ACE , and Kordon NOVAQUA as a conditioner...which looked to me like a Stress Coat kind of product. I remembered reading on here that a lot of the De-chlor/chloramine products use Sodium Thiosulfate to do what they do. We consulted his Merck Index , the chemists "bible" according to my old man and I found exactly what was causing the problem. I was adding TOO MUCH of this product which was causing a reaction with the C02 given off by the plants and the H20 which as an end result was giving me Sulphur Dioxide, Carbonic Acid, HCl among other things...which I don't have time to post right now or remember ( if interest in this post rises , I will gladly post more on it later ) Every syptom I had was due to my putting too much of this in the tank, I'm guessing that both products I used contained it since they both De-chlorinate. Any opinions or questions , PLEASE write back or if anyone has any other ideas , I would love to hear what some of you chemistry guru's have to say!!! Thanks , sorry for the long post.
steviem