My tap water here in the city of Chicago has a very high pH and is very
hard. Eventually I want to keep discus in this tank. Also, I needed the
RO/DI unit for my reef tank so I figured I could use it on this tank as
well.

~Mort

"Happy'Cam'per" wrote in message
...
Stop using RO for your plant tank. Your normal tap water will contain
trace
elements that your plants could use. Just aerate it for a few hours b4 use
to rid the chlorine gasses.
--
**So long, and thanks for all the fish!**



"Mort" wrote in message
news

"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