DanS180
Aquarium Advice Addict
Great point. There is a difference and it's usually with alkalinity lowering. I used to always aerate the RO water before adding salt. This gasses off co2 and raises the pH a bit and believe it or not it keeps the alkalinity a bit higher. Straight RO water is really acidic so it consumes some of the bicarbonates in the salt mix. Giving it some air (I just use a powerhead that has a spot to attach an airline) helps keep the dKH level higher. Non oxygenated RO water can actually drop both pH and alkalinity.
A few hours, around four, is all I wait.
Okay bc the only reason I ask is, I just retested BEFORE doing my WC and my numbers were different lol
Mag 1360ppm
Calc 440ppm
Phos 0ppm
kH 10°
Maybe I just retested too soon last time?? I did the water change anyways so I'll test it this afternoon or tonight sometime