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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 29, 2004 18:05:17 GMT -5
My tap water is 8.0, consequently my tanks' pH are ~7.8-8.0. I now have R/O water avaliable...the pH of that is ~6.2. What do I do to bring down the pH of my tanks to 7, using the R/O water...do I age the R/O water...mix it? what should my mixing ratio be? How much of a pH drop is too much/fast? Is there a good pH stablizer that I should use once I get my water closer to 7.0?
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Post by amanichen on Nov 29, 2004 18:25:15 GMT -5
/me digs up chemistry notes
what's the KH of both of the water samples?
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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 29, 2004 20:06:52 GMT -5
is KH hardness?
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Post by amanichen on Nov 29, 2004 20:12:01 GMT -5
It's the carbonate concentration =) aka alkalinity aka carbonate hardness aka carbonate level aka temporary hardness
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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 29, 2004 20:21:08 GMT -5
ok, crap that's about the only thing I don't have a test for LOL
When I first got my 29g tank and used the dip-strips, my water tested out hard-as-nails...but last Tuesday I got a water softener installed, so I have no clue what it is now. We use salt in the softener...and the R/O water is softened before it is R/O'd...so i'm sure the KH will be markedly different.
I'm planning a trip to Petsmart next Sunday...I'll pick up a KH test then. ah...the list gets longer... hehe
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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 29, 2004 22:17:04 GMT -5
what about pH stabilizer? Do I need to do that chemically? Or should I be able to keep it pretty stable with a decent water mix?
How fast/slow should the pH drop? Just with one water change I had a 0.2 drop (from 7.8 to 7.6)...is that ok, or too fast?
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Post by amanichen on Nov 29, 2004 22:23:33 GMT -5
When you get the KH for both samples tested I'll be able to determine:
1. ratio of water types to use to get an ending pH of 7.0 2. the KH of the resulting mixture 3. how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop.
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Post by twoluvcats on Nov 29, 2004 22:29:15 GMT -5
everyone knows that's 3
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Post by amanichen on Dec 4, 2004 15:34:54 GMT -5
Any word on the tests?
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Post by twoluvcats on Dec 6, 2004 14:30:35 GMT -5
i have it, just have to do the tests tonight.
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Post by amanichen on Dec 6, 2004 21:57:35 GMT -5
/me waits around tapping foot
/me goes to make a sandwich
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Post by twoluvcats on Dec 7, 2004 9:43:58 GMT -5
Sorry!!! I forgot I had fire training last night...and they worked us...so I got home at 10 and passed out. I'll get them when I get home from work today.
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Post by amanichen on Dec 7, 2004 10:01:58 GMT -5
Good, you better. My equation page is getting lonely.
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Post by twoluvcats on Dec 8, 2004 12:47:39 GMT -5
ok, i got some:
R/O water straight out of tap: KH: 25 GH: 20 pH: 7.0-7.1
You want the KH and GH of the tank, and the softened water too?
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Post by amanichen on Dec 8, 2004 14:24:24 GMT -5
I need the KH and pH of whatever water you intend to mix, so that's the tap water and R/O water?
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