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Got in a hurry and did a bad thing.

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  • Got in a hurry and did a bad thing.

    I use a lot of rain water and our city water is also soft ,from the Trinity River. So my pH is 6.6 to 7 which I like for Amazonia. But my new 125 kept going off the yellow end (< 6.4) of the scale ; no fish, just plants so far. I added aragonite/limestone to the filters; I crushed it and put it directly in the tank. I could not get the pH up.
    It is amazing how cheap lime ( CaO ) is if you buy it at the farm supply instead as a Kalkwasser. I put in a teaspoon- nothing . So I put in a quarter cup ,this brought the bromthymol indicator from very yellow to about navy blue, maybe pH 8. I did about a 50% water change but the pH was still 7.8+. Left it a couple days, the amazon sword leaves got clear, the crypt leaves sort of dissappeared.
    It is amazing how cheap hydrochloric acid is if you call it muriatic. I went slower this time , it took about 2 tablespoons to get the pH to 6.8. When I was younger I could have calculated how much lime I used.
    After a few weeks the plants are starting to look good again. And I have learned not to be in a hurry with pH.

  • #2
    Re: Got in a hurry and did a bad thing.

    And I have learned not to be in a hurry with pH.

    Good lesson! Stability's more important than exact pH values.  :)
    "Millennium hand and shrimp!"

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    • #3
      Re: Got in a hurry and did a bad thing.

      Drastically changing the pH would do that to the plants.
      700g Mini-Monster tank

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