Big Problem With Eco-Complete

Happychem,

I re-tested the water and I had the same results once again. I guess there was still some vinegar in the water. I took the bottle and rinsed the water even more this time (my arms were getting tired). I rinsed and rinsed and ......Finally, the water tested just like the tap. Ph: 6.6, Kh: 0.

I will wait until the morning to test the water to see if there is any change in Ph. I will keep you informed.

Lissette
 
Aquabum said:
Happychem,

I re-tested the water and I had the same results once again. I guess there was still some vinegar in the water. I took the bottle and rinsed the water even more this time (my arms were getting tired)....
Click to expand...
I call it happychem's aquarobics! ;)
 
Cool! :cool:

I have to inform you Happychem, that when I tested the water this morning, it went down to 6.0. :eek: What do you make of this?

I have no idea what happend. I'm telling ya, I shook that thing like mad and rinsed it like there was no tomorrow, and to see it back down again really surprised me. Didn't report it then because I had to go out.

Now I'm waiting to see if at 10:00 p.m. the chemistry changes.

Again, I'll keep you informed.

Lissette :)
 
Final Results

Happychem,

I just tested the water. It is still the same from this morning. Ph: 6.0, Kh: 0

I'm sorry that the test didn't turn up any positive results. I can't imagine why the gravel has retained vinegar even after so much rinsing.

For now, I'll just keep the gravel and hopefully the ph will go down in the next several weeks. So far, my fish are doing well, although, I just lost my amano shrimp. :sad I hope that I have no more fatalities.

Thank you for trying to help me. I really appreciate it.

Lissette
 
Hey Aquabum, is that your tank in your avatar? I wouldn't mind seeing a larger picture of it. Looks quite neat. Sorry about your shrimp. I lost three amanos when they jumped into a bleach dip I'd prepared. :o
 
Hello reiverix.

Thanks for the compliment. Yes, it's my tank. I'm forever changing the way it looks. I just added some micro sword plants. They started pearling as soon as I placed them in there, I'm hoping that's a good sign.

I hope that you can see the larger picture of it in the link (as large as it can be displayed).

Sorry to hear the loss of your shrimp too. I truly do miss Sully, but at least I still have Sid. (I know, I'm nuts, but I get attached) :o

Lissette
 
Aquabum, on the contrary! Those were exactly the results I'd expected, or rather, hoped for.

Getting rid of all of an acid is tricky when you're dealing with a porous medium, unless you have something to neutralize it. Your tap water is very soft to start with, so it's kind of like trying to get rid of an acid with another, weaker, acid. That's why I said in my earlier post (#20) not to worry about it too much.

The fact that the water retained a stable pH and KH simply means that there was something there before that was raising pH and KH, some kind of base, most likely a carbonate, but the acid (vinegar) dissolved it, or helped to dissolve it faster. The copious rinsings removed most of the vinegar and all the dissolved base, or enough as to not make any difference. All that remained in the test jug was the eco complete and water. This test shows reasonable proof that it is likely that some dust blew from a pile of basic rocks onto the eco complete pile at their quarry. It looks like unfortunately you got an affected bag, but on the upside the effect will wear away with time.

On a side note, it looks like your water is as soft as mine. I add crushed coral to my filter so that I can add CO2 safely. To some extent, that's the same effect as this dust in your substrate is having on your tank. My pH stays pretty stable around 6.6-6.8 (colours are tough to tell apart) and KH generally rises a little over the course of the week.
 
Happychem,

That's great. I was hoping you'd say that. Thanks so much for clearing that up. Now I can breathe easier.

And reiverix, good question. I'd like to know that too.

Lissette ;)
 
Yes, as long as you're doing regular water changes, of course. ;)

Short answer:
Although not in the same way you might expect. CO2 and CO3-- react together with water to form bicarbonate in a disproportionation reaction (I think that's the name for this type of reaction :rolleyes: )

(1) CO3-- + CO2 + H2O -> 2HCO3-

Which by LeChatelier's principle (a fancy way for saying that a reaction will proceed towards equilibrium and every time you change something in the reaction, the equilibrium will re-adjust) speeds CaCO3 dissolution:

(2) CaCO3 -> Ca++ + CO3--

Long answer:
**** Sciencey note (since apparently I'm feeling nostalgic) ***
An example of LeChatelier's principle at work:
Without CO2 you'd have your normal CaCO3 dissolution shown in (2) above. The CaCO3 would dissolve to a certain extent depending on your water parameters (pH/KH). The only way to get more dissolution after this would be a water change.

Now we add CO2. The CO2 reacts with CO3, a product of reaction (2), as shown in reaction (1).

Think of these reactions like balance scales. Since CO2 reacts with the CO3--, you've removed the CO3-- from one side of the balance scale that controls #2. As a result, more CaCO3 dissolves into your water.

So by adding CO2, you've sped up the dissolution of CaCO3. Now when you do your water change you remove much more CO3--, plus you also strip out the HCO3- and CO2, so you do a mini-reset that should allow even more dissolution than you'd expect under non-CO2 conditions.
 
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