ph problem

[feixjai]

today i did my top off with r/o water from safeway and then i tested my water. ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-8.0 calcium-500. everytime i add the ph buffer which brings my ph up to 8.3, the ph goes down in about 1 week. what can i do to stop this problem from happening again? :help: please

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by feixjai
today i did my top off with r/o water from safeway and then i tested my water. ammonia-0 nitrite-0 nitrate-0 ph-8.0 calcium-500. everytime i add the ph buffer which brings my ph up to 8.3, the ph goes down in about 1 week. what can i do to stop this problem from happening again? :help: please
Go to your local grocery store and get some "pickling Lime" Mix that with your RO water in a bucket, run it with a power head and heater over night. Once everything is settled, use the water that's on top to fill your tank with. Someone in another thread mentioned not to use buffer or anything during water top offs with RO water. They said that the PH would remain stable, but it goes down in my tank too. PH up is another thing you can use also if you feel better using that instead of pickling lime. Good Luck! :happyfish

 

[feixjai]

this might be a dumb questions but is pickling lime just a lime as in vegietable or a liquid? i have never heard of a pickling lime at my grocery stores just lemons and limes. thanks for the help ill see what i can find at the grocery store. oh btw when you add the lime to the r/o water, and the next day dose it create another layer like when you mix oil and water?

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by feixjai
this might be a dumb questions but is pickling lime just a lime as in vegietable or a liquid? i have never heard of a pickling lime at my grocery stores just lemons and limes. thanks for the help ill see what i can find at the grocery store. oh btw when you add the lime to the r/o water, and the next day dose it create another layer like when you mix oil and water?
It comes in a container. The bottom layer is just junk stuff you don't want in your tank. It provides good calcium. :happyfish

 

[barebucta]

Just wanted to add, if you are going to do kalkwasser or pickling lime, you should do so very very slowly. Better yet you should read about how to dose kalkwasser before attempting to do so; alot of people tend to rush and screw up the chemistry of their tank not to mention the live stock will suffer.