Jadenlea Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 So for those who have been following my controsoil water having a PH of 7+ .... To catch you up... we thought perhaps it was the baking soda that I cycled with. (even though I feel I did not use to much) For the past few weeks Ive been trying to doctor the tank. Ive taken apart the canister filter twice and washed all the media in RO water. I even changed some media wondering if it could be the eheim media. Ive done several water changes. I have also added 2 large bags of Peat to the canister filter. Each time I did any kind of maintenance the PH went higher instead of lower topping out at 7.2. I had bought 2 bags of the controsoil so today I decided I was just going to start over. Went.. bought a new tank. Added the controsoil and RO water. Filter is NOT hooked up yet .. All that is in the tank now is Controsoil and Remin RO water and some plants that I washed in RO water. The tank is half full.... I thought to myself... Hmmmm let me test PH before I keep filling. RO water tests 5.8. (its been sitting a while) Water in tank. PH 7!!!!!!!!! I walked out in disgust and came to post this. I did not oxygenate the water first... I am hoping it has to do with that... but Im not very optomistic. Still no response to my emails from the company btw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted November 21, 2015 Report Share Posted November 21, 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I just setup a 10gal this week with controsoil purchased a few weeks ago and my RO is 5.8 and the tank is 6.1. Not going through a cycle because I'm using a sponge that was pre-seeded. All of my controsoil tanks are 6.1-6.2. Not sure what is going on with your tank ???????? Vpier 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 I would fill up the tank, turn on the filter or circulation pump for few hours, do 50% or more water change fill up the tank again and let the pump run for couple days then check the PH. what kind of PH tester are you using by the way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Pen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Okay, dumb question- when was the last time you calibrated the pen? miwu 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Okay, dumb question- when was the last time you calibrated the pen? I was thinking the same thing. I use the more expensive Hanna pen and always have 7.0 buffer, storage and cleaning solutions. I check my pen with the 7.0 buffer every two weeks just to make sure its calibrated. Clean it it once a month and always use fresh storage solution after every use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 couple weeks ago.. but the pen is testing the RO water all the same and the tank water the same . by that I mean.. in the jug of ro water it is one reading and in the tank it is 7+ Doing some experiments... I dont think its the controsoil after all... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 couple weeks ago.. but the pen is testing the RO water all the same and the tank water the same . by that I mean.. in the jug of ro water it is one reading and in the tank it is 7+ Doing some experiments... I dont think its the controsoil after all... So what is it??? Been following your saga. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Testing Ro by itself will get you weird results, unfortunately. Shrimpo and ChadO 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenteam Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Do you have liquid PH test that you can double check with? Shrimpo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Yes Greenteam. Ive been double testing all through this process but since the results were the same yesterday as they have been, I did not do the Liquid test kit ontop of it. I will do it this am.. Water this am after running through the night with canister and sponge filter is 6.9. Will be checking GH and KH after breakfast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 KH 0 Gh 5. Liquid test kit confirms the PH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Did you add minerals to the RO water? what is the TDS of RO water before and after introducing to the new tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 The TDS of my RO is 1 . Yes it is remineralized. after experimenting last night I found that it is the remin that bumped up the PH which is why I said it isnt the controsoil buffering it UP. BUT it doesnt seem to be buffering it down either. right now it is MK blue diamond remineralizing it. I feel like I must be missing some huge part of the puzzle about how to do this even though I have researched and googled a million times. Let me post exactly what I did and see if I missed something. Started with new tank. Washed all filter media and plants in RO water. Shrimp Daddy Vita and Sinewy cereal under the controsoil. Controsoil. Filled tank about 1/3 of the way with pure RO water just because I had a couple big containers of it. Added reminerilzer to a gallon jug of RO and and filled the tank to half. Added wood and plants .. Added a bit more water and thought to myself I should test the water. PH 7 What? Then I started experimenting. I took out all the plants, and wood. Put them in a bunch of buckets. Added Plain RO water and waited. Then tested. All kept the same PH Put plain RO water in a cup and added a couple handfuls of new controsoil. PH stayed the same. Put RO water in a cup. Added a bit of remin. PH shot up to 8. Then I emptied the tank again and figured Id try a different remineralizer. YES I EMPTIED IT AGAIN. By this time I was almost out of RO water so I started filling again .. had to wait a few hours to refill all that water. So now almost all the water is newly made. has not been sitting. Started filling.. Nothing in tank.. no plants or wood . Tested after about 1/3 full. Mixed MK Blue Diamond. A DIFFERENT Remin than the first time. Added it to tank and fille to half way.. Tested again. PH shot up to 7.2. So now I figure.... Maybe this is supposed to happen and the controsoil will buffer it back down overnight. Finished filling the tank and fell into bed. You have to think I just carried 18 gallons of water up 2 flights of stairs TWICE and spent the entire day. I was exhausted, sad, frustrated and feeling beaten and wanting to give up. Is there something I should be doing to my water before adding it so it doesnt shoot up the PH? I have heard people mentioning putting an air stone in... but the second time the water was all fresh made. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 At this point I have no idea. I have used SS GH+ with contro and no ph problems and recently have been using MK Blue Diamond and contro and no issues. Did you say the RO water has 0GH and 0KH? Are you making the RO water or buying it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Some things to consider: -The depth of the soil needs to be at least 1.1/2" to buffer properly. - RO water PH will climb as it ages. If you want to figure the cause of the problem you are having do this: get 2 small jars with nothing but 1.12" controsoil, add your original RO (without minerals) water to one of the jars and distilled water to the other one, add air stone to each jar and let them set overnight. then test the PH using the pen that you mentioned and unexpired liquid test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 curious shrimpo.. Why Ro and distilled? arnt the the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuthatch Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 My LFS told me that distilled was like absolutely "nothing" water, and different than RO (which I guess would be 'mostly' clean water?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vpier Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Distilled water is water that has been steamed and the vapors condensed back into liquid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrimpo Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 curious shrimpo.. Why Ro and distilled? arnt the the same? Since we don't know either you make or buy the RO water, and either water softener used during the process we need to figure out if your RO water is the problem all this time. distilled water always has 0 TDS and no other substances while RO water quality will decrease as the filters and membrane wear out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 make it. Have a unit. fairly new. But ok. Ill get some distilled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 But even if it was my RO water.... should Controsoil be buffering it down? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OMG Aquatics Posted November 22, 2015 Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 But even if it was my RO water.... should Controsoil be buffering it down? Chances are you just got a bad batch. Your RO water is fine if it's coming out as 1 TDS. If they were purchased from Amazon and is within 90 day claim period, you can open an A-Z claim. If they were purchased via Paypal and is within the 180 day claim period, you can open a dispute. Chances are if a claim/dispute can be opened, you'll win as they are not replying to any emails. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jadenlea Posted November 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 22, 2015 Nah I ordered it this summer in anticipation of this tank. I don't care so much about the money .. I just want my tank to work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.