Hey there,
Okay this is some thoughts that I have with some questions about it. This is just theoretical questions because I try them on my own.
Where I live, not in the UK, I have very hard tap water. pH of 8.5 and kH of value more than 14.
The good thing that I like about our water is that it is very hard to achieve pH crash but without water changes I think it is possible.
Due to a talk I had with a friend who manages tropical fishes, he asked me how we could achieve water of ph value of 5.
Until now, the lowest I manage to achieve is 7. The only way I could achieve 5 was either a lot of co2 disolved into the water.
I would not like to use chemical to lower it further so I was wondering, in nature, how come there be water of ph 5.
and MOST IMPORTANTLY what really make me scratch my head is how they manage to have ph of 5 but STABLE.
Because the water is so soft that those levels, I expect to have huge flactuations UNLESS..... there is something like bicarbonate soda which works for keeping the ph stable at 5. But then again, if you have increased KH which will keep PH stable at acidic level, I dont know if that is possible.
I am probably missing something in my head causing me not to be able to understand that part.
Right now, I see that kH keeps a pH stable but at the same time a bit high in value.
Messing with water hardness...
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Manky Sanke
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Re: Messing with water hardness...
Dra,
Where water parameters are concerned, nothing is impossible if you put enough effort into it. For an easy life, the average hobbyist is advised to keep a KH of 5 to 6 (adding sodium bicarbonate if necessary) and accept whatever pH that brings because that is the surest way to ensure that a pH crash cannot happen.
Those who are persuaded that low values of pH and GH are beneficial prefer to run their ponds at low values of KH. This results in pH values marginally above 7 but is a perfectly acceptable way to manage their ponds as long as they understand how close to a pH crash they are and pay close attention to their pH and KH parameters.
I've no direct experience with marine aquaria but the chemistry that rules what they achieve is simple to understand (for those of us who should really get out more
) .
Carbon dioxide dissolved in water forms carbonic acid and the resultant pH of the solution depends on the partial pressure (sort of concentration) of the gas. A pH of 5 is easily achievable by controlling how much CO2 is dissolved.
Beyond that, as said, I have no direct experience and so, if you want any further details of how the value of dissolved CO2 can practically be controlled, you should ask questions on a reef aquarium board but I've seen CO2 generators outside of tanks with the gas introduced into the tank via a bubbler or airstone.
Where water parameters are concerned, nothing is impossible if you put enough effort into it. For an easy life, the average hobbyist is advised to keep a KH of 5 to 6 (adding sodium bicarbonate if necessary) and accept whatever pH that brings because that is the surest way to ensure that a pH crash cannot happen.
Those who are persuaded that low values of pH and GH are beneficial prefer to run their ponds at low values of KH. This results in pH values marginally above 7 but is a perfectly acceptable way to manage their ponds as long as they understand how close to a pH crash they are and pay close attention to their pH and KH parameters.
I've no direct experience with marine aquaria but the chemistry that rules what they achieve is simple to understand (for those of us who should really get out more
) .Carbon dioxide dissolved in water forms carbonic acid and the resultant pH of the solution depends on the partial pressure (sort of concentration) of the gas. A pH of 5 is easily achievable by controlling how much CO2 is dissolved.
Beyond that, as said, I have no direct experience and so, if you want any further details of how the value of dissolved CO2 can practically be controlled, you should ask questions on a reef aquarium board but I've seen CO2 generators outside of tanks with the gas introduced into the tank via a bubbler or airstone.