RE: ph, gravel, and filters

["Douglas Dunlop" <ddunlop@nortelnetworks.com>]

Just to put distilled water in perspective.
To change the pH from 7 to 4 in a liter of distilled water requires less
than 1 drop of vinegar.  To change it back to 7 would require an equally
small quantity of base.
That said, in my recent testing (similar to the pie plate experiment) two
samples of gravel both brought the pH up to 7.6.  By adding vinegar by the
drop and watching my pH meter, I can safely say that only one of the gravel
samples added a significant quantity of hardness to the water. (this is more
or less how hardness test kits work).
If I was a betting man, I would say that the epoxy covered gravel is
slightly basic but adds insignificant hardness to the water.  A bit of acid
would probably bring the pH down without it bouncing back.
In my apisto tanks I use sandblasting sand.  I have never had a problem with
jaws getting stuck from sand.  I did, however have to do a "pebble-ectomy"
on a microgeophagus altispinosa who got a small rock lodged in her mouth for
a day.  She recovered and spawned recently.
Thought that I might also ask again if anyone has used vinegar instead of
phosphoric, hydrochloric, sulfuric and other acids.  I (impatient me) have
some Nijsseni that seem happy so far as I have experimentally lowered the pH
in their planted tank to 6 from 7 using vinegar.  Vinegar is easy to
control, cheap, wont lower the pH much lower than 4, cheap, safe for my
hands, cheap, I think you get the idea.  

Doug

	-----Original Message-----
	From:	IDMiamiBob@aol.com [SMTP:IDMiamiBob@aol.com]
	Sent:	January 28, 1999 8:17 PM
	To:	apisto@majordomo.pobox.com
	Subject:	Re: ph, gravel, and filters

	In a message dated 1/28/99 11:52:48 AM Mountain Standard Time,
	pm_evans@yahoo.com writes:

	> Lastly, the last test 
	>  I did with the epoxy coated gravel was in a 
	>  porcilin dish and the ph rose from around 6.0 to
	>  7.2 in 24 hours.
	


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