My little pH project

Ola guys

So yah, I've now decided to embark on a little project to see how low I can get our water in Cape Town to drop to. I would like to see if the process below will help us all in getting water parameters inline for breeding tetras, discus, etc etc.


For the 1st phase, I've filled a little cube with normal tap water and chucked a decent amount of Peatgro Pure Organic Peat on the water surface. This will remain as is for a period of 2 weeks so that all the peat would've sunk by then and formed the substrate in the cube. A pH reading will then be done and updated here.

Once phase 1 is completed, I will be placing a piece of dry indian almond leaf in the water and let it stand for about a week...maybe two. Another pH reading will be done then and updated here.

For phase 3, I'll add a teabag to the cube for about one week. A final pH reading will be done then and updated here.

Henk - Would you recommend I use an airstone from phase 2 onwards?

Here are some pics of the 1st phase










Cheers for now
Dale

 

How low do you want to take that PH? test it every 2nd day.... might drop VERY quickly

 

Going as low as what I can get it.
Will try to test tomorrow

 

so you want to drop it to say 3?

 

Then it'll be as if they are in the Rio Negro itself!

I'll aim for 3.0 - 3.5....that an ideal benchmark.

 

mmmmmmmmm.... ok as long as it is wild fish then its not a problem....

 

Would be interesting to see a daily update on ph drops etc to see where it stabilizes in each phase, if that makes any sense

 

Ps. with what are you testing ?

 

Going to borrow an electronic pH meter. Will also do test with the normal test strips from LFS and see what the differences are

 

Tetra strips ? i believe they only go down to a ph of 6.4 and not very accurate for the price, i still use them though but mainly for a quick NO3 check. Ph pens are relatively cheap, about R300-400 for a saga. pm and i can give you a link to where i got mine, only downside is the calibration

 

PH pens DO NOT work in soft water. they need conductivity in the water to be accurate. you need a science grade PH meter to get an acurate reading in soft water

 

doesnt it work at all ? do you get false readings ? i only tested it once on distilled water and got a reading of 7 the same reading we got at the uni lab, isnt distilled water also soft ?

 

you get false readings.... or thats what the Prof explained

 

I get a sample tested once in a while just for ph at the uni, next time i will take some pure RO along and test it at the same time, maybe the distilled water was just a fluke, but will make sure The test strips arent very reliable, but i know by now what they look like when everything is normal, i test further if there is something of, if that makes sense

 

I'll try and contact another friend of mine who has a proper scientific pH meter...will save me the trip to the Prof each week

 

ok been doing some quick reading and it seems that you would need a tds of atleast 160ppm for a reliable reading from a ph pen, does that seem right to you henk. they actually say 100microSiemens/cm but that is roughly 160ppm....

 

yea sounds about right....

 

ok and would i be right in saying that will be 3.3d GH minimum required ?

 

no idea - i will go do some research when i have a moment

 

please do, if that is the case it should be fine on my tank water