because of the low ph of our RO water i do a 50/50 treated tap water mix
but our tap water is fairly hard alkaline, so even though 50/50 gives a decent ph of around 6.4 in the tank, my KH is 70 mg/l which is ok but my GH is still 200 mg/l (moderately hard).
The RO water is under 20 mg/l for GH and under 10 mg/l for KH.
The Tap water is 200 mg/l for GH and 140 mg/l for KH.
i can understand how 50/50 would half the KH value in my tank to 70, but why doesn't the GH do the same?
I'd really like to drop the hardness to make the tank water more suitable for my Plecs.
i've read a lot of conflicting reports about the use of Peat granules in the filter and the long term effects of using Almond leaves to add humic acids, give the blackwater effect. and wondered if anybody had some long term experience in either methods and the benefits/downside to these methods.
i think the best way to go is conditioning the water used for water changes so i can always be sure the water i'm adding will maintain the conditions preferred. so was thinking of either mixing the 50/50 into 1 butt and adding a filter bag of peat granules until the parameters are right. or conditioning a barrel of tap water to be used 50/50 with fresh RO :dk:
i'm fairly happy with the PH/KH readings but would ideally like to soften the water to below 60 mg/l :dk:
i'm assuming there will be some drop in ph with the use of Peat as well but as long as it stays just above 6.0 i think that will be fine.
i have considered changing the ratio of Tap to RO but am not sure this will sufficiently lower the GH and may also adversely lower the KH which would reduce its buffering capabilities, not good.
adding new bogwood would release more tannins but only for as long as it takes to leach out, i need a long term solution to stabilise my parameters.
Would love to hear your views and experiences.
Thanks T
but our tap water is fairly hard alkaline, so even though 50/50 gives a decent ph of around 6.4 in the tank, my KH is 70 mg/l which is ok but my GH is still 200 mg/l (moderately hard).
The RO water is under 20 mg/l for GH and under 10 mg/l for KH.
The Tap water is 200 mg/l for GH and 140 mg/l for KH.
i can understand how 50/50 would half the KH value in my tank to 70, but why doesn't the GH do the same?
I'd really like to drop the hardness to make the tank water more suitable for my Plecs.
i've read a lot of conflicting reports about the use of Peat granules in the filter and the long term effects of using Almond leaves to add humic acids, give the blackwater effect. and wondered if anybody had some long term experience in either methods and the benefits/downside to these methods.
i think the best way to go is conditioning the water used for water changes so i can always be sure the water i'm adding will maintain the conditions preferred. so was thinking of either mixing the 50/50 into 1 butt and adding a filter bag of peat granules until the parameters are right. or conditioning a barrel of tap water to be used 50/50 with fresh RO :dk:
i'm fairly happy with the PH/KH readings but would ideally like to soften the water to below 60 mg/l :dk:
i'm assuming there will be some drop in ph with the use of Peat as well but as long as it stays just above 6.0 i think that will be fine.
i have considered changing the ratio of Tap to RO but am not sure this will sufficiently lower the GH and may also adversely lower the KH which would reduce its buffering capabilities, not good.
adding new bogwood would release more tannins but only for as long as it takes to leach out, i need a long term solution to stabilise my parameters.
Would love to hear your views and experiences.
Thanks T
