pH 7.8!!

LOL, Harry--I've done that myself. I forget to hit the little underlined "2" or "3" at the bottom of the post before replying, then find out later there was more to read. I like the alien abduction explanation ...

Yes, I think the FizzTab, or at least some kind of CO2, was preferable to the sodium biphosphate. At least with CO2 my water was clear. I'm really hoping that posting the aged water's test results tomorrow will help some of you savvy folks tell me what's happening between that gorgeous 7.0 pH coming right out of my tap and the heavy-duty 7.8 residing in my tank.

Are you sure 4 tabs a week would do it? Also, I thought about hiding the "bell" thing behind some plants, but it sticks out about three inches at least, so that might be hard to do.

Anyway, I'll post the test parameters tomorrow on the "aged" tapwater.

Thanks for the help, you guys.

-- Pat
 
CW: In the Drs. Foster & Smith catalog, the Fizz Factory section says "add 1 tablet to each 10 gallons of aquarium water once a week." That's how I came up with the 4 tablets/week number for your tank. I don't know how this system generates its C02, but it's so darned inexpensive that I'm tempted to buy one just to see how it works. Unless they don't tell you...how much info came with yours when you bought it?

BTW, what did your final set of water tests show?
 
"Aged" water parameters:

pH (a faint) 7.8, which means somewhere betwee 7.6 and 7.8?
KH: 18
GH: 32

What does this mean? Here were the other parameters:

Out of the tap:
pH 7.0
KH: 18
GH: 31

Tank water:
ph: 7.8
KH: 12
GH: 23

Help?! What do these numbers mean as far as lowering my pH in any successful way? And for my plants, lowering pH will not increase the CO2 in the water in and of itself, will it. My plants are getting by okay, I guess; it's the pH I'd like to get down, as explained in a prior post--for the fish.

Harry, the instructions that came with the Fizz Factory say for a tank "over 30," to dose "up to twice a day," and I found that to be necessary in my tank--but probably because the numbers on GH and KH were just driving the pH back up, true? I'm so confused ...

Do you have any ideas about the ugly bell CO2 holding chamber/dissipator?

For the rest of you guys, I sure would appreciate a layman's interpretation of what these numbers mean.

Thanks!!!

-- Pat
 
I have borrowed this chart from TheKrib.com to show the relationship that wetmanNY mentioned between KH, pH, and CO2. I hope that this attribution is enough to keep me out of jail. A couple of observations: 5 mg/l of C02 is generally thought to be the minimum required for photosynthesis, and 35-40 mg/l is acceptable for decent plant growth.

"The relationship of CO2 , pH and KH
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
\ pH | 6.0 6.2 6.4 6.6 6.8 7.0 7.2 7.4 8.0
KH\ |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
0.5 | 15 9.3 5.9 3.7 2.4 1.5 0.9 0.6 0.2
1.0 | 30 19 12 7 5 3 1.9 1.2 0.3
1.5 | 44 28 18 11 7 4 2.8 1.8 0.4
2.0 | 59 37 24 15 9 6 4 2.4 0.6
2.5 | 73 46 30 19 12 7 5 3 0.7
3.0 | 87 56 35 22 14 9 6 4 0.9
3.5 | 103 65 41 26 16 10 7 4 1.0
4.0 | 118 75 47 30 19 12 6 5 1.2
5.0 | 147 93 59 37 23 15 9 6 1.5
6.0 | 177 112 71 45 28 18 11 7 1.8
8.0 | 240 149 94 59 37 24 15 9 2.4
10 | 300 186 118 74 47 30 19 12 3
15 | 440 280 176 111 70 44 28 18 4
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
| CO2 milligrams/liter"

Your KH of 18 out of the tap would make it virtually impossible to achieve a reasonable pH and C02 concentration (that's my guess as to why your fizzy tablets get used up so fast). Thus you really need to consider a combination of R/O water and C02 injection to get your numbers into balance. Without going into the technical details, here's my recommendation:

01. Get an R/O unit from one of the reputable on-line retailers. Big Al's or Drs. Foster & Smith come to mind. The low-capacity units are "only" about $60.00. It'll be a lot cheaper and less work than schlepping gallons of distilled water home from the store. Set it up in the garage, and run it into a Rubbermaid trash bin. This will give you a long-term supply of water that is very close to 0 KH to use to dilute your tap supply. Make (3) 20% water changes using this R/O water only, and then use a 50/50 mix of this water and your tapwater whenever you are doing water changes in your tank. This will reduce your KH to close to 9.

02. Then use the Fizz Factory at 4 tablets per week. After a month, test the KH and pH, and it should show a reduction in pH (and probably KH as well). I'm not going to guess where you'll end up, but I'd love to see the results at the end of this experiment.

Good luck.
 
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Arrrggghhhh!!!! That's what I was afraid of ...

Oh crud, Harry, I think you're right.

... okay, I'm all right now (sigh).

Are we saying the low-capacity (cheap) CO2 pressurized setup won't handle it connected directly to my tank, because my tank's too large? And there'd be so much hardware on there it would be a lot more ugly than the Fizz Factory thingie, wouldn't it?

I'm amazed my plants are making it at all.

Argghhh.

-- Pat
 
No, I just didn't think you'd want to use a pressurized C02 system because of the cost and potential inconvenience. I actually have three such systems, all of which are currently non-operational because of various problems with valves, solenoids, and regulators, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

If you're willing to spend the $$$, however, and want to try an alternative (one that I myself am considering), look at the Carbo-Plus system (available on-line, of course).

Lest I prejudice you against all technology, however, let me say that R/O systems have never given me any problems (I used them constantly when I lived in Los Angeles). I just don't need 'em now, because there is almost no hardness in the water that comes through my tap (my challenge is buffering it, not softening it).
 
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