is there any kind of virus that effects ph?

[berbes]

i'm using hydro, and every day the ph rises to 7.5-8.0. i use ph down to get it back to 5.7-ish, but sure enough the next day it's back to 7.5+...what can be causing this??????

i'm only using a bubbler and i've taken every precaution, including extreme cleaning and flushing of the 10 gal tupperware.

can there be some other reason for this?

 

[MynameStitch]

your plants are taking nutrients out of the water, you wanna keep your ph at a cerftin way and keep ppms at a certin number the ph should be 5.5 to 6.3

the ppms depends on the size of the plant

you need ph down to keep the ph in check, never use more nutrients to keep ph in check and risk of nutrient burn

 

[sproutco]

Sounds like there are carbonates in the water. Sulfuric acid might be better choice for use in hard water. More of it disassociates (reacts). See the link on making your own ph down in my signature.

 

[Allusive]

Yes, and what are your water-temps? Root-rot can cause dramatic pH rise... confirmed by my own experience as well.

 

[Guest]

sounds like hard water. my tap water does that here so i use RO

 

[berbes]

i'm using rainwater caught in a barrel, so it's not hard water. good idea on the root rot, but no: clean and white roots, at least so far. tonight ph was 7.0, put in more earth juice ph down to get it to 5.5...i'm going to do this every night, as there's GOT to be a reason why it keeps coming back up...could it be the ph down not being as effective as it should?

these are bog sc99's, so please help me save these babies...3 weeks old and counting. i'll post pics including roots soon.

thanks again!

 

[Guest]

whats the PPM of the rainwater?

 

[berbes]

000 ppm, about 6.6-ish ph.

took the ph tonight, and it was 7.5 again! put more powder earthjuice 'ph down' in to get things back to 5.7.

hey, can my 'ph down' (earthjuice) be old/bad? i bought it on ebay, and it seemed to be open.

ideas????

 

[Allusive]

I know I'm throwing around an unverified opinion, but I've heard multiple times from multiple people (including my Ag. teacher) that EarchJuice pH up/down doesn't work very well, or is very unpredictable. If you're using hydro, you might consider picking up some GH up/down, it's worked very well for me with hard city water.

 

[Guest]

hmm, if it seemed to be open i wouldnt use it. I do use earth juice ph down and its the same bottle ive had for months and it does fine for me.. you actually tested the ppm and it said 000? and its calibrated properly? i just find it hard to believe it has absolutely 0 ppm. my RO water has 15 ppm.

try this.. get a small container, say a 1 gallon bucket or so.. and use RO water, but the same nutes otherwise as you're using.. and put an airstone in it.. and check the PH.. that will tell you if RO will fix your problem..

 

[guineapig]

Yes Berbes I feel confident that i can answer your question.....

When You super-oxygenate the water in your reservoir, the incoming Oxygen
very quickly "Kicks Out" the CO2 which is in your reservoir and causes the pH to shift
into the alkaline region.....the exact chemical reaction is very complex, but i have
read this in an Ecology of Lakes and Ponds textbook and have seen it online....

You can get some mineral water from the store and test its pH. Find the brand that says pH 5.9 on the bottle. Test it and it'll be 5.9. Then, put your aquarium bubbler in the glass of water and turn it on. Almost instantaneously the glass of water's pH will shift from 5.9 to around 8.0 or so......

I should make a thread about this because i see this question come up so often....

Not that i am a guinea-pig-know-it-all, but i think this is the solution and i hope i have helped you and not confused you.....

kind regards from a guineapig

 

[MynameStitch]

make the thread guinea, cause there are other reasons why and im very curious about the ph up and down thing

 

[sproutco]

im very curious about the ph up and down thing

Carbon dioxide disolved in water will decrease ph. Guinea is saying this is removed and the ph rises when alot of oxygen is bubbled in the water. I was always under the impression that bubbling would add more carbon dioxide and lower the ph. Interesting Guinea.

Carbonic acid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Other names Carbon dioxide solution
Molecular formula H2CO3
Solubility (water) exists only in solution

Carbonic acid (ancient name acid of air or aerial acid) has the formula H2CO3. It is also a name sometimes given to solutions of carbon dioxide in water, which contain small amounts of H2CO3. The salts of carbonic acids are called bicarbonates (or hydrogencarbonates) and carbonates.

Carbon dioxide dissolved in water is in equilibrium with carbonic acid:

CO2 + H2O ⇌ H2CO3
The equilibrium constant at 25°C is Kh= 1.70×10−3: hence, the majority of the carbon dioxide is not converted into carbonic acid and stays as CO2 molecules. In the absence of a catalyst, the equilibrium is reached quite slowly. The rate constants are 0.039 s−1 for the forward reaction (CO2 + H2O → H2CO3) and 23 s−1 for the reverse reaction (H2CO3 → CO2 + H2O).

The equilibrium between carbon dioxide and carbonic acid is very important for controlling the acidity of body fluids, and almost all living organisms have an enzyme, carbonic anhydrase, which catalyzes the conversion between the two compounds, increasing the reaction rate by a factor of nearly a billion...

 

[migraineur]

I've noticed before that after bubbling tap water to let the chlorine evap, the ph would go way up.

 

[Guest]

Yes Berbes I feel confident that i can answer your question.....

When You super-oxygenate the water in your reservoir, the incoming Oxygen
very quickly "Kicks Out" the CO2 which is in your reservoir and causes the pH to shift
into the alkaline region.....the exact chemical reaction is very complex, but i have
read this in an Ecology of Lakes and Ponds textbook and have seen it online....

You can get some mineral water from the store and test its pH. Find the brand that says pH 5.9 on the bottle. Test it and it'll be 5.9. Then, put your aquarium bubbler in the glass of water and turn it on. Almost instantaneously the glass of water's pH will shift from 5.9 to around 8.0 or so......

I should make a thread about this because i see this question come up so often....

Not that i am a guinea-pig-know-it-all, but i think this is the solution and i hope i have helped you and not confused you.....

kind regards from a guineapig

he is so right, stick your hanna pen next to your airstone and watch the ppms dance like flames,,,,,,bd

 

[berbes]

BEST forum out there...so how do you smooth out the ph bumps.. i don't want to find my leaves twisting up to indicate ph swings...what do you do?

thanks!!!!

 

[Blunt_69]

hmm, if it seemed to be open i wouldnt use it. I do use earth juice ph down and its the same bottle ive had for months and it does fine for me.. you actually tested the ppm and it said 000? and its calibrated properly? i just find it hard to believe it has absolutely 0 ppm. my RO water has 15 ppm.

Lorax - rainwater is extreamly balanced, as good, if not better then RO both ppm wise and PH. I highly doubt his water is the problem. My rainwater reads 8 ppm.

However I do think that berbes is going a bit light on the nutrients profile or Rez size to plants is way to small. Nutrients act as a PH down when added to water(salts).Diffrent ratios is your nutreints cause PH to change. As plants use them, your PH will ALWAYS drift upwards. So one way to combat this is give your plants a higher dose mixture, without burning them. The goal is to keep your PPM value as constant as possible.This is why recirculating systems work so much better.Bigger universal rez = less effect on overall mixture as plants use it Which is a much better way of combating PH swing.

Also, trying to constantly bring things under control with ph up or down, will do more harm then good, eventually your water will becomed poisened.

You need to watch PPM more closley and adjust it everyday(if neccesary) Your rez is probley to small and causing drastic swings.