Re: [GSAS-Member] CO2 day 2

[Algae Magnet <algaemagnet@gmail.com>]

I mix my water 30 gallons at a time.  Starting from Seattle tap water with a
pH of 7.0, KH of <1 dKH, and GH of ~2, I add 3/4 teaspon of baking soda and
3 tablespoons of Grumpy's GH booster aiming to get both the KH and GH to
around 4 degrees and a pH of around 7.2.  This gives me enough alkalinity to
support the CO2 tanks without radically increasing the pH of the non-CO2
tanks.  I don't worry too much about the GH but I do like the mineral
supplementation (magnesium, calcium, potasium, iron, & manganese) and the
fish think the water tastes better if it costs more...

-John
On Fri, Jan 8, 2010 at 2:28 PM, Matt Staroscik <matt@wrongcrowd.com> wrote:

> I went home at lunch today to check the tank. I picked up new pH and
> hardness test kits on the way. Per the new kit pH is somewhere between 6.8
> and 7.0--it's just hard to tell. (It was more clearly 6.8 on the old kit.)
>
> The pH probe was stable around 7.0x and since I think the calibration went
> OK, I am going to believe it for now.
>
> The old KH kit was toast. It reported 3 dKH. The new one reported less than
> 1 dKH, from the tank AND the tap. I was expecting more like 3 from the tap
> based on what some others said but we probably have different water
> companies.
>
> Does anyone routinely add sodium bicarbonate to boost KH? If I really have
> less than a degree it seems prudent to try and keep it around 3-4 dKH.
>
> I increased the bubble rate to about 3 and we'll see what it looks like in
> a
> couple of hours. The increased rate dropped the pH by about .07 while I was
> eating lunch.
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