Ph 6.9- 7.0

saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
I just bought 30 gallons of RO water from a place that sells bottled water and they said that their PH is 6.9 - 7.0. I am setting up a new 29G tank with about 40 LBS of Reef Sand (the dry one) not live. I just wanted to know if I need to raise the PH on the water before I start to add LR that should be here in the next day or two from SWF.com? I got some tank water from a friend that I have been soaking the sand in to get some good bacteria in to help the cycle process. Any advice would be great. Thank you!
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
Well, to start, you're pH will raise once you mix the salt in the water. There are natural buffers etc that will raise it, but it will fluctuate for about the first 1-2 months. Second, bacteria lives on the surface, not in the water column, so you are not really doing any good with the sand unless you happened to catch some organisms within the water.
Do you have the water mixed up yet? I would get the tank running water only until you get the rock so that it is up to temp and salinity. When I got rock from SWF, it came still wet and I had a very fast cycle with little die-off.
 
saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
I figured between the salt and the CarribSea reef sand that it would probably go up and make it better. I will be filling the tank and mixing the salt today and I just really added the sand to the old water just in case I get some benefit and as a pre-rinse instead of using tap water. I have bought live rock from this site twice before and had very fast cycles both times. So I am confident I will be able to get my CUC within the next three to four weeks.
 
saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
I have also purchased all of the necessary test kits as well as a refractometer instead of a hydrometer. Thanks for the hep!
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
Cool, so you know whats going on! Yeah, the RO should be a 7, it means its pure. Yeah, I love the rock that I got from swf, it got here so fast that there was hardly any die-off.
 
saltymarine

saltymarine

Member
Awesome the guy told me it tests between 6.9 and 7 so for 25 cents a gallon I couldn't resist instead of buying 30 gallons from Wal Mart that would cost me $40.
 
sickboy

sickboy

Active Member
Originally Posted by SaltyMarine
http:///forum/post/2940421
Awesome the guy told me it tests between 6.9 and 7 so for 25 cents a gallon I couldn't resist instead of buying 30 gallons from Wal Mart that would cost me $40.
Thats what I'm doing until I can afford an RO/DI unit.
 
valgae

valgae

Member
you could also put an air stone in your water, that could bring it up a little but not really much. mine goes to up 7.5.
 
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