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Air Stoned Nutes, no ph up?

rizraz

rizraz

Well-known member
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Buddy was airstoning nute with an unexpected results. Post edited to remove names that I shouldn't have used.


Let me know if so,
J
 
Last edited:
J

JackTheGrower

??

In total learning mode here and that's cool..

pH rise to me is moving towards alkali and down is towards acid.

Thus 7 is neutral and 6 is acidic, and 8 is alkali.

If that is true that bubbling reduces acidity then i can just go test mine..


One sec.. Gonna do the baking soda test.

Got a foam head but it wasn't as strong as before. I also added a heaping teaspoon of baking soda which is way more than usual.

I am using oyster shell also in the brew. Huh.. Can't really say I have to remain "on the fence" with this..

So is it really true that liquids will move towards neutral with just bubbling?

Anyone else have input on bubbling lowers pH or is it just on that product?

I would be very interested in knowing more.

Jack
 
J

JackTheGrower

Okay.. And would you know I saw bore water pumping today when i went for my walk.

So it seems to be true in at least bore water situations. In my bubbling-bucket it could be true as well.

I was happy with the baking soda test this time.. It had been highly reactive when first tested weeks ago.. Today was very mild.

That's good news if it can extend to brewing what i call "Compost Coffee."

Compost Coffee is essentially any biologically processed materials in liquid to me.. In my case the leachate from the compost bin with more materials added and more microorganisms added.

So maybe then once we brew our liquid fertilizers ( compost coffee ) and bubble it well and long we can shift the acid of decompositional processes to neutral pH with air!

Not a bad way to deal with low pH in feeding liquids.

I do like oyster shell in the garden but why use more than is needed?
 
habeeb

habeeb

follow your heart
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I have heard about this before, and thought what a waste. well considering I was bored, and like knowing myself what is and what isn't I tried this.

I found R/O water was at 4.5 with 5ml, after 12 hours 5.2 , not sure if I bubble longer
I found tap was at 5.1 with 5ml, after 12 hours it went to 7.1

will I ever use this? not sure, as it is alot more work, but interesting none the less . i wonder how it works with air stones, as I didn't have any on me at the time..
 
J

JackTheGrower

It's pure genius..

I was wishing to raise pH in my compost coffee and now all I have to do is wait with an air stone naturally..
 
M

maryjohn

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Veteran
Reposted from gardenweb. Jack, if I read this right you can stop bubbling. All you are doing is removing ammonia you create. Dilute instead and make sure your herd is buffering:

I came across the info below, which strongly suggests that greystoke was right and aeration should remove all the bicarbonate from solution in time, and addition of acid finish off any residual bicarbonate ions.
Certainly, I've only been aerating my tap water for around four hours now, and the pH has already increased from an initial 7.98 to 8.39:

************************

H2O + CO2 « » H+ + HCO3-

Carbon dioxide, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia are soluble in water under certain conditions to the extent of 1,700, 3,900, and 531,000 ppm, respectively. Rarely are these concentrations encountered except in certain process condensates. In a normal atmosphere, the partial pressure of each of these gases is practically zero. Consequently, the establishment of a state of equilibrium between water and air by means of aeration results in saturation of the water with nitrogen and oxygen and nearly complete removal of other gases.

As the equations above show, ionization of the gases in water is a reversible reaction. The common ion effect may be used to obtain almost complete removal of these gases by aeration. If the concentration of one of the ions on the right side of the equation is increased, the reaction is driven to the left, forming the gas. In the case of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide, hydrogen ion concentration may be increased by the addition of an acid. Bicarbonate and carbonate ions in the water will form carbon dioxide, which can be removed by aeration.

In a similar manner, an increase in hydroxyl ion concentration through the addition of caustic soda aids in the removal of ammonia.

Gas removal by aeration is achieved as the level of gas in the water approaches equilibrium with the level of the gas in the surrounding atmosphere. The process is improved by an increase in temperature, aeration time, the volume of air in contact with the water, and the surface area of water exposed to the air. As previously indicated, pH is an important consideration. The efficiency of aeration is greater where the concentration of the gas to be removed is high in the water and low in the atmosphere.
Click to expand...
 
J

JackTheGrower

Yes I am ready to bottle.. I am still getting a lot of Co2 out of it but It's fine to stop any time now, I believe. Going for 4, 2 liter soda bottles full.

Thanks everyone I am learning new things.
 
J

JackTheGrower

maryjohn said:
Jack you should try to ferment it to achieve stability rather than bubbling IMHO.
Click to expand...

One goal has been to reduce volume. I have processed 8 gallons into three.

I'm open to the idea but the BSF thread would be a better place to discuss that.
 
M

maryjohn

Active member
Veteran
To reduce volume, reduce the water by removing from the food. Adds a stage, but even bokashi would do that for you.

And it might make the end result smell better.

Or you could partially dehydrate stuff, bit then you get the other flies. Also freezing things then thawing and putting the runoff elsewhere...
 
rizraz

rizraz

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I have all my supplies now. I posted this same fourm on others cultivation fourms and it seems like it works well. I will be posting my own photos soon.

My r/o filtered water has a ph of 6.2 - 6.5 with my bio bizz nutes it ends at about 5.6 - 5.8 so an airstone should get me back to 6.5ish pretty easy but only time will tell now.

Thanks for all the posts.

Vince great link, thanks.

Jack glad things worked out.

I'll be back with photos soon.

thanks,
J
 
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