"RedForeman ©®" wrote in message
...

"coelacanth" wrote in message
. com...

I just finished testing the water.

KH is at 0 (is that good) pH is lower than 6.0 (so it would seem) as
the
sample turned a dark yellow. I decided to test my GH while I was at
it
and
that turned out to be 3-4.

I havent had time to check out Chucks chart but I will do that ASAP.

~Mort


According to Chuck's page, CO2 is calculated like this:

CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * KH * 10^(pH-7)

if your KH is really 0, then you have no buffering capacity
and your CO2 will be very low (I doubt it's actually 0).
Anyway, you may want to increase your buffering capacity.

-coelacanth

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if you are running without a buffer, and a
low
CO2, you run the risk of having a pH crash do you not??? meaning, without
the buffer, the pH will drop even lower when the lights are off, and
photosynthesis takes place, (that is if the testing was done with lights
on,
while pH was at it's highest) otherwise at night, the pH will drop after
photosynthesis takes place...

My only experience in a pH crash was after I did a 40-50% water change
after
a new planting when water was dirty.... After adding the water, I forgot
to
add buffer(salts) and when it was all said and done, the tank had crashed
and I lost 5 fish that morning.... after looking at it, I realized I
hadn't
buffered it to help pull the pH back up after the waterchange, and add CO2
to it, after lights off, pH dropped so fast, they didn't have a chance....
made me very sad....

Please correct me if I'm wrong or just misguided....




I dont know man! I am used to Cichlids and sal****er. This stuff is all
new to me.

All I can tell you is that in the past, I have not been able to keep neons
or cardinals alive. I have 5 cards and one neon in there and they are doing
fine.

I am however, overdue for a water change. I will get to it this weekend for
sure.

Is buffering the RO/DI water enough or do I need to do something else to it?

TIA

~Mort