First Oil Dri tank...

[Trickerie]

Hey guys,

I set up my first tank today using Oil Dri, and after massive rinsing got it as clean as possible. Set up the tank, and have checked PH 3 times... all showing 6.0(or below). What do I do to stabilize it? Im trying to cycle it with seeded filter media as fast as possible to get my frog tank up and running. I've done massive water changes to try and up the buffer but it keeps dropping to 6 in a matter of an hour :|

 

[fort384]

Never personally used oildri as a substrate, but have heard of it. It is basically just bentonite clay, which should be inert... but it also could cause some pH issues for a few weeks as it reaches its absorbency capacity.

 

[Trickerie]

Yeah, its been stripping the KH out of the water like crazy. Ive added some baking soda every water change to combat the effects until it settles. I was wondering if soaking it in fertilizer if for planted or a baking soda solution for a few days before hand would be a feasible work around.

 

[fort384]

Yes that would help - especially fert if going planted. It has a limited absorption capacity.

 

[jetajockey]

That might work, from what I've heard most dose baking soda to restore kh. Consistent fert dosing should eventually reduce the substrate's ability to strip buffers.

On the surface this issue kinda makes these fired clay substrates look bad, but further research shows that the problem arises because of how GOOD they work. Go figure.

 

[awilson133]

Water changes should bring em up and crushed coral is what i use to buffer my Ph. Helps me out

 

[Trickerie]

I dosed baking soda up to 7.0 ph last night. I woke up this morning, and it was back down to 6.0 or below. Obviously I can't house anything in this environment...

 

[awilson133]

Trust me. Get some panty hose and crushed coral. Most Lfs have it. It will help buffer your ph

 

[jetajockey]

I dosed baking soda up to 7.0 ph last night. I woke up this morning, and it was back down to 6.0 or below. Obviously I can't house anything in this environment...

I have kept everything from discus to angelfish to native sunfish, shiners, bn plecos, tetras, a BGK, yellow convicts, SAE's, dwarf shrimp, guppies, and corys on oil dri. The untreated pH has tested at or below 6 on the API kit.

Not saying it's an ideal thing for some fish but it has worked out fine for me over a year in multiple tanks.

I don't know how CEC and GH works exactly, I need to research a little more, but from the stuff I've seen the issue is with KH specifically. I'd test the GH before buffering with calcium. The issue is that the substrate is sucking the buffer right out of the water, but is it taking both gh and kh? Or kh alone?

 

[Trickerie]

Trust me. Get some panty hose and crushed coral. Most Lfs have it. It will help buffer your ph

My mom is a salty, and happened to have a giant bag of Crushed Coral. I grabbed a handful, made a ball out of it in a hairnet and plopped it in my tank. I guess I'll see how how the readings are tonight.

 

[awilson133]

My mom is a salty, and happened to have a giant bag of Crushed Coral. I grabbed a handful, made a ball out of it in a hairnet and plopped it in my tank. I guess I'll see how how the readings are tonight.

Good deal. I'm assuming the tank is being cycled? When I fishless cycle I always use cc cause what happens is that the bacteria eats through the buffers . So cc helps keep my Ph stabile. In other word I'm preventing my Ph from crashing.

 

[Trickerie]

Good deal. I'm assuming the tank is being cycled? When I fishless cycle I always use cc cause what happens is that the bacteria eats through the buffers . So cc helps keep my Ph stabile. In other word I'm preventing my Ph from crashing.

Yeah its being cycled, but I've seeded it with some filter squeezings. Cycled or not, I need to get the thing stable enough to do a fish-in cycle, because my ACF needs a place to live.

 

[awilson133]

Yeah its being cycled, but I've seeded it with some filter squeezings. Cycled or not, I need to get the thing stable enough to do a fish-in cycle, because my ACF needs a place to live.

Yes you do! Cc should do the trick. good luck