RO water and KH problem with new populated tank

I started an aquarium on Dec 14th. The water in my home is not
suitable for an aquarium so I decided to use RO water. I knew I had to
add a conditioner to the water so I put Kent Marine RO Right in the
water. What I didn't know is that I had to adjust the KH of the water
to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to
the water to increase the KH, but it seems to be stuck at 0. I have 10
neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank and can't just dump in alot of
chemicals or the fish will die. Now my ph is about 6.8 and
ammonia/nitrite zero, but I need to get the KH up.

Is there a way that I can increase the KH without driving up the ph
real fast ? I don't want the ph to increase more than about .2 per day,
and every time I add ph Stable the kh stays the same but the ph rises.
I have also tried about 2 tbsp of crushed coral, but that rose my ph
too fast so I took it out. The kh did get to about 1.0 after that, but
it has dropped again.

I owuld use a calcium based product to provide the needed buffering.
Reverse Osmosis takes a lot of the minerals etc out. Its used in
marine tanks, but the addition of salt adds in the required buffers
needed in conjunction with live rock. I use RODI water in all my
tanks and buffer it with calcium reef builder even in fresh water and
my ph holds steady. Calcium is not really considered a chemical like
other supplements are its more of a replacement element.


On Thu, 02 Mar 2006 03:55:54 -0000, FishMan wrote:
I started an aquarium on Dec 14th. The water in my home is not
suitable for an aquarium so I decided to use RO water. I knew I had to
add a conditioner to the water so I put Kent Marine RO Right in the
water. What I didn't know is that I had to adjust the KH of the water
to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to
the water to increase the KH, but it seems to be stuck at 0. I have 10
neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank and can't just dump in alot of
chemicals or the fish will die. Now my ph is about 6.8 and
ammonia/nitrite zero, but I need to get the KH up.

Is there a way that I can increase the KH without driving up the ph
real fast ? I don't want the ph to increase more than about .2 per day,
and every time I add ph Stable the kh stays the same but the ph rises.
I have also tried about 2 tbsp of crushed coral, but that rose my ph
too fast so I took it out. The kh did get to about 1.0 after that, but
it has dropped again.

--
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The original frugal ponder ! Koi-ahoi mates....

In article , says...

I started an aquarium on Dec 14th. The water in my home is not
suitable for an aquarium so I decided to use RO water. I knew I had to
add a conditioner to the water so I put Kent Marine RO Right in the
water. What I didn't know is that I had to adjust the KH of the water
to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to
the water to increase the KH, but it seems to be stuck at 0. I have 10
neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank and can't just dump in alot of
chemicals or the fish will die. Now my ph is about 6.8 and
ammonia/nitrite zero, but I need to get the KH up.

Is there a way that I can increase the KH without driving up the ph
real fast ? I don't want the ph to increase more than about .2 per day,
and every time I add ph Stable the kh stays the same but the ph rises.
I have also tried about 2 tbsp of crushed coral, but that rose my ph
too fast so I took it out. The kh did get to about 1.0 after that, but
it has dropped again.



I would add 1 gallon of tap water for every 10 gallons of RO. Cheaper
than all those chemicals.
But that was my water, don't know what the problems are with your water.

--
Jim Anderson
( 8(|) To eMail me, just pull "my_finger"

FishMan wrote:
I started an aquarium on Dec 14th. The water in my home is not
suitable for an aquarium so I decided to use RO water. I knew I had to
add a conditioner to the water so I put Kent Marine RO Right in the
water. What I didn't know is that I had to adjust the KH of the water
to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to
the water to increase the KH, but it seems to be stuck at 0. I have 10
neon tetras in a 20 gallon tank and can't just dump in alot of
chemicals or the fish will die. Now my ph is about 6.8 and
ammonia/nitrite zero, but I need to get the KH up.

Is there a way that I can increase the KH without driving up the ph
real fast ? I don't want the ph to increase more than about .2 per day,
and every time I add ph Stable the kh stays the same but the ph rises.
I have also tried about 2 tbsp of crushed coral, but that rose my ph
too fast so I took it out. The kh did get to about 1.0 after that, but
it has dropped again.

Increased KH = increased pH (to a point) unless you add CO2 or another
buffering system like phosphate. Lemme guess. The tank pH shoots up to
7.4. It's almost impossible to slow the rise, but fish don't mind as
long as there's no ammonia. The good news is once the water hits about
pH 7.4, the rise slows down.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
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FishMan wrote in :

to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to

How do you figure the low pH caused the ammonia problem? Chances are your
tank was just going through its cycle and your ammonia problem was caused
by excessive waste and an insufficiently developed nitrobacteria culture.
Most new tanks go through this cycle within the first two weeks of
introducing fish. I have seen a low pH caused by excessive nitrogenous
wastes (too much O2 being removed from the system, etc.) but never the
other way around.

How hard is your tap water source? Unless you have something like copper
or phosphate in your water source, chances are you can just mix small
amounts of tap water with your RO water to achieve a good GH, KH and pH
balance. I suggest you aim for 1 - 2 degrees KH if you want to maintain
slightly acidic water.

dc wrote:
FishMan wrote in :


to prevent ph crashes, and sure enough I had a low ph problem which
actually caused an ammonia problem. I have been adding ph Stable to


How do you figure the low pH caused the ammonia problem? Chances are your
tank was just going through its cycle and your ammonia problem was caused
by excessive waste and an insufficiently developed nitrobacteria culture.
Most new tanks go through this cycle within the first two weeks of
introducing fish. I have seen a low pH caused by excessive nitrogenous
wastes (too much O2 being removed from the system, etc.) but never the
other way around.

OP's tank was set up in mid-December so it shouldn't be cycling. OP
didn't mention how low the pH crashed, but pH below 5.5 inhibits
nitrification and will lead to an ammonia problem. It's quite possible
to crash pH well below 6.0 with RO water.

--
Put the word aquaria in the subject to reply.
Did you read the FAQ? http://faq.thekrib.com

FishMan wrote,
I have been adding ph Stable to
the water to increase the KH, but it seems to be stuck at 0.

You can raise kH by adding sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) - to keep
it there, add a garden size marble chip or two, to your filter. Marble
won't dissolve near as fast as crushed coral...
Instead of using RO water, a drop or two of hydrochloric (muriatic)
acid placed in a 5 gal. plastic bucket of water and let to stabilize
for 24 hours will drop the pH to 5.4. You can then bring pH back up to
what you want with the baking soda................ Frank