money saver

[boxxmann]

looking for a cheap alternative to put in my tank to maintain ph. any ideas?

 

[Flake]

My aragonite sand seems to buffer my tanks pretty well. I've only had to worry about it when I first started the tank.

 

[boxxmann]

my ro/di water has a ph of 6.6 coming out of the unit....trying to maintain 8.2 when adding 6.6 to the tank is tough.....looking to buffer the incoming water

 

[Zer0]

Chemicals?

 

[boxxmann]

yes

 

[Zer0]

Yeah.. that's what i would be using if i couldn't get the pH up any other way. Just go to petsmart.. they have those pH uppers or downers from Tetra. Safe for both fresh and saltwater. I have them both lol..

 

[Flake]

I have a ph buffer from kent. I don't remember how much it was.

 

[Zer0]

Mine from tetra was 3$.. lol. And that was the one the size of those regular coke bottles. Not the 1 litre ones.. the smaller ones.

 

[neilanh]

Your pH is 6.6 out of your RO/DI unit, but what is it after you mix the salt and let it stir for 24 hours? This is the pH number you need to be concerned about.

 

[Satrix]

Yeah, I have an issue with pH too, but mine is opposite. I just went and picked up some chemicals from Petco (it was cheapest there). Just look for API. The most I have ever paid is $5. And I think it does up to 300 U.S. gallons or something quite high.

 

[neilanh]

I would encourage you all to try to determine better means for buffering your pH rather than those additives.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Yup... adding fresh top off water shouldn't effect your pH at all. If you have low pH, it's most likely not due to your top off water, but for another reason.

 

[melosu58]

I would encourage you all to try to determine better means for buffering your pH rather than those additives.

Very well put. What is your PH at now Matt? What is it right before the lights go out?

 

[MarineFlake]

Cheapest PH solution I've found...pickling lime a plastic coke bottle (Liter) and a 1/4" airline hose.

 

[boxxmann]

Yup... adding fresh top off water shouldn't effect your pH at all. If you have low pH, it's most likely not due to your top off water, but for another reason.

Why wouldn't it affect the tank water? I am adding 6.6 ph water to a tank that is suppossed to be 8.2. Without buffering the incoming water, the main tank will eventually start to fall. In my case, it did. My salt water is 8.3 when I mix it. I use Oceanic mix. No problem there. My tank's ph is around 7.6. Everything else is fine. I am still looking for a reason as to why I am battling w/ the hair and cyano algae. PO4 is zero coming from the ro unit. Tank water is also zero. NO2 and NO3 are almost undetectable. CA was 430. MG was 1410. SG was 1.025. All of these results were 3 days ago. I am scheduled for a pwc on Thur. I regularly do a 15 gallon pwc one a week.

 

[neilanh]

What is your kH/Alk? This measures your buffering capability and can help diagnose the problem.

 

[thincat]

You should answer neilanh's question first. That is the ph that you add to the tank not the ph coming out of the RO....if you are talking about makeup water...remember that only pure water evaporates and that has a ph of 0...

 

[newfound77951]

Thanks thincat I was just going to mention that RO water essentially has no pH because there are no (or should be no) ions left which is what pH is a measure of.

Also, if you are battling algae, adding any sort of "pH up" is probably going to make things worse as many of those products are loaded with phosphate. I agree that you need to check your alkalinity and kH.

 

[boxxmann]

My alk was 9.5dkh when I tested the others. I have been adding the Seachem Marine Buffer (1 tsp per gallon of ro top off water) and the Seachem Reef Builders for the alk...........

 

[CaptainAhab]

You should answer neilanh's question first. That is the ph that you add to the tank not the ph coming out of the RO....if you are talking about makeup water...remember that only pure water evaporates and that has a ph of 0...

That's odd. I was always of the understanding that the PH of pure water was 7.0, by definition.