Reverse Osmosis water system
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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
Tim
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
Interesting. I will be interested to hear what your friends say.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.
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.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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
Tim
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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.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?
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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
Tim
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
One tsp per how many gallons?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.
Julie
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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
Tim
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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.
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.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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.
I think they were all called Buffers as well but have been renamed to Regulators for some reason.
Sincerely,
Tim
Tim
Re: Reverse Osmosis water system
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.
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.
37g planted, 11g planted, and three 5.2g planted shrimp tanks.
