Ok this is really geeky but ...

[trennamw]

I was reading this blog post about making your own mineral water, and it mentions that the water is cloudy at first because the minerals won't dissolve without the carbonation.

Would it go to follow that CO2 in an aquarium makes the minerals more available, either to plants or animals?

Or, at the very least, that adding something like Seachem equilibrium after Excel would reduce the cloudiness that equilibrium brings on?

http://blog.khymos.org/2012/01/04/mineral-waters-a-la-carte/

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[PerfectDepth]

I don't think that's quite accurate. I think the minerals should eventually dissolve whether or not it's carbonated. What's actually happening is the pressure increases, more gas molecules are dissolved, thus it reaches equilibrium faster. It has the same effect as stirring it, it's just much quicker.

In an aquarium, even with injected CO2, the solubility of CO2 doesn't change, so it will always move toward equilibrium with the atmospheric pressure. The effect on the dissolution rate would be negligible. Excel is not CO2, so it definitely would have no effect.

Running a powerhead until the Seachem Equilibrium dissolves would help speed it up.

 

[Mebbid]

Im betting the carbonation dissolving the salts is more of an effect of ph changes rather than pressure.

 

[PerfectDepth]

Im betting the carbonation dissolving the salts is more of an effect of ph changes rather than pressure.

If I recall correctly, it would have to be the specific pH range (isoelectric point) at which the surface charge is neutral making the molecule insoluble. I think the solubility at any other pH would be about the same. I'm thinking the kinetic action of the dissolved gas speeds things up.

 

[trennamw]

Im betting the carbonation dissolving the salts is more of an effect of ph changes rather than pressure.

I asked a chemical engineer and his initial thought was the same: the appearance of carbonic acid, however brief it may be in a well buffered aquarium, helps things dissolve.

But in the soda bottle that is heavily carbonated with a lid on, there'd be the pressure effect.


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[Mebbid]

*shrug* I've never taken a chemistry class so any comments I make on this are a guess at best Next august I'll be starting with it tho!

 

[trennamw]

*shrug* I've never taken a chemistry class so any comments I make on this are a guess at best Next august I'll be starting with it tho!

Yeah I've forgotten most of the chemistry I've taken.

You'll be quite the asset around here, adding the chemistry to your already prolific aquarium knowledge!


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[Mebbid]

Yeah I've forgotten most of the chemistry I've taken.

You'll be quite the asset around here, adding the chemistry to your already prolific aquarium knowledge!


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

Hehe yeah, gonna try to nose in on Aqua_Chem's territory