Reverse Osmosis water system

Lighting, filtration etc
User avatar
150EH
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:32 pm
Real Name: Tim Haut
Location: Churchton, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by 150EH »

I've read a lot of his articles and while he is very knowledgeable he is also a little old school, I use 7 teaspoons of Equilibrium with 1.5 teaspoons of alkaline buffer, my kH is 2 & gH is 5.5 which keep the pH at around 6.4 to 6.5 in the late afternoon but I don't use a pH controller. I did ask around in some of the other forums and pm'ed a couple of water guru's so I'll let you know what I find out.
Sincerely,
Tim
User avatar
jweis
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Ijamsville, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by jweis »

150EH wrote:I've read a lot of his articles and while he is very knowledgeable he is also a little old school, I use 7 teaspoons of Equilibrium with 1.5 teaspoons of alkaline buffer, my kH is 2 & gH is 5.5 which keep the pH at around 6.4 to 6.5 in the late afternoon but I don't use a pH controller. I did ask around in some of the other forums and pm'ed a couple of water guru's so I'll let you know what I find out.
Interesting. I will be interested to hear what your friends say.

Since I am already mineralizing my RO water using a product aimed at shrimp, I think that if I use SeaChem Alkaline Buffer along with SeaChem Acid Buffer it shoudl raise my KH & pH. I know there are other products out there as well, but the SeaChem stuff is easy to find locally. I will start slow and see if it helps.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
User avatar
150EH
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:32 pm
Real Name: Tim Haut
Location: Churchton, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by 150EH »

You really won't need the Acid Regulator because to raise the pH .5 it takes 5 to 1 ratio with Alkaline Regulator being the bulk of the treatment but you don't want to raise your kH too high. It could be the product your using to re-mineralize the water, it would be silly but it could contain something to buffer the pH, It's just a thought but your pH is almost whole point lower than mine and other than that our setups are very similar, what are you using?
Sincerely,
Tim
User avatar
jweis
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Ijamsville, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by jweis »

150EH wrote:You really won't need the Acid Regulator because to raise the pH .5 it takes 5 to 1 ratio with Alkaline Regulator being the bulk of the treatment but you don't want to raise your kH too high. It could be the product your using to re-mineralize the water, it would be silly but it could contain something to buffer the pH, It's just a thought but your pH is almost whole point lower than mine and other than that our setups are very similar, what are you using?
The Bee-Shrimp Mineral GH+ product makes a big point that it does not alter (i.e. raise) kH. From what I have read this is becuase the shrimp don't like a high kH. Equilibrium is suppose to also raise kH too.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
User avatar
150EH
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:32 pm
Real Name: Tim Haut
Location: Churchton, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by 150EH »

I've been using equilibrium as soon as the holding tank refills then I test, there has been no rise in kH so that is myth from my experience so far. Now I let the tank set all week with the heater on all week and add alkalinity regulator just before my water change and 1 teaspoon gives me 2 dkH. But I am the shrimp killer.
Sincerely,
Tim
User avatar
jweis
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Ijamsville, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by jweis »

150EH wrote:I've been using equilibrium as soon as the holding tank refills then I test, there has been no rise in kH so that is myth from my experience so far. Now I let the tank set all week with the heater on all week and add alkalinity regulator just before my water change and 1 teaspoon gives me 2 dkH. But I am the shrimp killer.
One tsp per how many gallons?
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
User avatar
150EH
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:32 pm
Real Name: Tim Haut
Location: Churchton, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by 150EH »

Sorry, 1 teaspoon per 55 gallon make a dkH of 2, I use the API test kit and confirm it with Mardel test strip.
Sincerely,
Tim
User avatar
jweis
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Ijamsville, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by jweis »

Tim,

Can you help me understand why you use the alkaline buffer but not the acid buffer? I've read a couple of places where it explains that a mixture of the two should be used. However, I don't understand why.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
User avatar
150EH
Posts: 983
Joined: Thu Jan 13, 2005 3:32 pm
Real Name: Tim Haut
Location: Churchton, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by 150EH »

My water is very acidic so I don't see any reason for an Acid regulator, I'm not sure why they want you to add it but it has all changed now and Seachem has added a Neutral Regulator as well and removed the Acid buffer from the chart.

I think they were all called Buffers as well but have been renamed to Regulators for some reason.
Sincerely,
Tim
User avatar
jweis
Posts: 1507
Joined: Thu Feb 10, 2011 11:11 pm
Location: Ijamsville, MD

Re: Reverse Osmosis water system

Post by jweis »

Tim, Shouldn't your RO water be ph neutral?

From what I read on the Seachem website, the neutral buffer has phosphates in it which can cause algae problems. I think the acid alkaline buffer mix helps keep the ph stable. I did find out that if you mix them together in a glass and add water they create quite a bubbly mess!

So far my fish are surviving my chemistry experiments and none seem stressed out.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Post Reply

Sponsors