I finally got around to switching out the Oynx sand in my 40G for the Amazonia I got in the ADA group order. Right now, this stuff is keeping my PH down to about 6.4 (normally around 7.2-7.4), with only a little Yeast CO2 system going. Previously, the yeast bottle never really made a huge dent on the pH since 40G is a little too big for 1 bottle to do too much good.
So, for those folks who have tried Amazonia, does the buffering that this stuff does, completely screw up the KH/PH -> CO2 ratio that we commonly use?
I forgot to mention that your old Onyx substrate was probably buffering the pH to keep it so high as well so your water is most likely somewhere in between out of the tap.
Yeah... If I remember correctly, the Oynx sand upped the KH about 1 degree, and the PH 0.2. It's been awhile since I did those measurements, so I could be completely off...
Hmm... okay.. So, I just got home and measured my PH and KH. The PH is still 6.4, but the KH is only 3 degrees. That would mean that I have a CO2 level of 36ppm, according to Chuck Gadd's chart. This can't be possible tho. It's a 40G tank with one DIY bottle of Yeast solution with a Hagen bubble ladder. None of the fish are showing ill signs. Infact, my apistos are displaying some of the best colors I've seen from them. Plus, I have decent water/surface circulation from a powerhead and the spraybar from the Eheim canister. I'll probably end up just doing nothing unless I see the fish starting to suffer, but I'm curious as to the explanation of this. Could it be that the Amazonia is actually invalidating the PH/KH->CO2 chart? btw. My GH is around 7-8 degrees.
Well, from what I've experienced and read around the net it seems that Amazonia does indeed alter the CO2/KH relationship. This would explain why Amano simply measures his CO2 induction by counting bubbles.
