Well 10x for the info digger....
Not me nor my plants nor my fish suffer from PH of 7.2-7.4.
I also compete the hardness issue by mixing R.O water with tap water - I get
medium soft water which I m happy of.
Yes I do take care of my plants with daily fertilizers as well with aquatic
plants compounds in the gravel in order to feed the roots...
Yes I do use CO2 system (maybe not enough of it but I have 2 Naturafin
systems + 4 light tubes which provide 144watts of light.
Yes I might have a buffering problem, no I don't know what my KH is but what
bothers me most is that PH rises just after a short while.
But I try to maintain partial water change mixed with tap water to insure
buffering.
I did my homework (most of them) and did some reading....But I just can't
figure out why my PH rises and then stays stable (plants and fish do seem
happy)
Another problem I have is my Amazon sword plant - not growing and maybe
start showing symptoms of chlorosis..... I might get some jobe spikes for
it.
I m still open for further suggestions.

Gizmo

"digger" wrote in message
om...
"gizmo" wrote in message
.. .
Well after learning a bit more about RO systems....
When I do change water in my tanks I use 75% RO water to get a PH rate
of
about 6.8 and GH of 6-7.
But after a while (about a week) the PH value is going up a bit....
What are the factors of a PH raise it raises up to 7.2 (The hardness
stays
the same ,though these too parameters as I understand are not influenced
by
one another) ???
10x

gizmo

well giz i was just wandering through this thread and i read that you
were having some problems understanding the ph in an aquarium. i
didn't see what type of fish and plants you were trying to keep other
then the mention of South american and the use of R O water.. the
climbing ph after a week is probably the result of the buffering
capacity of the water your useing to achive gh of 7.
i kept discus and a lot of other south americans for a long time our
source water was gh 20 and ph of 7.8 not good.. so i would use bufferd
compounds to bring the ph down and the use of R O to help with the
hardness..many companies make buffers look for them at your local
retailer. if they don't carry them look to a store that has a better
inventory of esoteric supplies. your plants will look more vibrant and
do better with the addition of plant nutrients from the store as well
in most cases fish poop and it's derivatives do not supply enough of
what the plants need most.. buy some good books start your own library
and read alot, often the info that comes from the net is from well
meaning but not always the most knowledgeable people....so get some
books...