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pH fluctuations? GH drift?
Hi,
1. what would equate to a very diluted 7.6 color? is that considered 7.6? I would try re-doing the test. Make sure there are no bubbles in the drops when add them to your water sample. Also, make sure your test tube is clean, and don't cover the end of the tube with your finger. Use the cap. no bubbles, and I pre-wash the test tube prior to testing using the aquarium water (put some aquarium water in the tube, cap it, shake it up, dump it out in the drain, and then put the real testing sample in.)... I've done the test many times... now that I think about it, I can always make the color go darker by adding baking soda (then the test color becomes near what my tap would be.. darker blue), so I'm pretty certain it's not exactly 7.6, and probably lower... the tap is high in pH (about 8 when fresh out of tap, after overnight settling, it is about 7.8). since the KH is low, the current thought is that the water dept adds something in the tap to keep the pH high. 2. can a pH drift from 7.0 to 7.6 in two days when you dont' do anything? Yes. It may mean the plants are stripping all the Co2 out of the water. How much light do you have over this tank? wow. power of plants.. Tank is can be regarded "moderately low light". I have ~5400K 55W CF (37G) with the metallic reflector, sitting on top of a glass hood (Versatop). I guess glass hood cuts down on the transmission of the light by about 30% or so.. so the plants are getting about 1Wpg or slightly more. the tank does get some sunlight right before the sun sets, but I've been shading the window recently to prevent the direct light from hitting the tank (algae reduction effort). The room is quite bright even then, with ambient indirect light during daylight hours. the tank is about 8 ft away from the closest large window and is free-standing. (the room has lots of very large windows) As for the GH...it could be a fluke in the water supply, or it could be something dissolving in your tank. Gravel, rocks, shells, etc. hmm.. no shells that I know of unless lots of snails died without me knowing and fish ate the meat and thus didn't pollute water.. I have noticed some snail shells getting stuck in the filter intake that the fish obvoiusly ate the contents.. but I clean out the mechanical filter every week, so unless those few little ones add GH.. the gravel I use is supposed to be inert (50% epoxy coated, the other 50% is natural) If you're using Onyx sand or gravel for a substrate, it will definitely raise your GH. No Onyx. I have few cups of Flourite in there (my failed attempt to localize Flourite near the plant roots).. but that has been in there for months before this GH increase. It must be the fluke in the tap water supply... linda Leigh http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/ |
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