Dendrobatez Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 So I have an R/O filter and it does pretty well - from 340tds down to about10-15 which is 96-98% removal. It doesn't however affect my ph too much, takes it from 8 to about 7.7. My question; is adding a D.I. stage to the filter going to cause the water to come out at an even 7? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 What kind of shrimp are you keeping or intend to keep? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 Once you remineralize and aerate, it'll probably go back up close to 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted December 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 Right now I have a couple different kinds of neos but I want to move into Taiwan bees soon. For my chili rasboras I have a good amount of driftwood and peat in there but I would rather not go that route with the shrimp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted December 14, 2014 Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 Have you checked the gH and kH of the RO water? And if you are trying to get the pH down for TB as long as the kH is 0-2 you can easily lower the pH with natural products or buffering substrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted December 14, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2014 I have not checked in a while and can't remember off the top of my head, I will do that as soon as I get back home in a little bit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted December 15, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 Kh is 0 Gh is about 5 coming out of the unit, I have up aqua shrimp sand in a 20g long and it doesn't seem to buffer it too much but it is in the middle of cycling For the next one I want to set up with amazonia so I figure starting with a phase closer to what it'll buffer to will extend the life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted December 15, 2014 Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 I use up aqua shrimp sand in my tank. It is a non buffering substrate. The bag says approximate pH of 6.5 but that is just the granules themselves they will not effect the pH of the RO water. I remineralize RO water with a pH of about 6.6 after adding to the tank overnight the pH rose to about 7.2. I added some peat granules some IAL and some Borneo wild humic and the ph is rock solid at 6.4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 That's weird. Mine continually buffers down to 5ish ph. I have to add baking soda to bring it up to 6's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 That's weird. Mine continually buffers down to 5ish ph. I have to add baking soda to bring it up to 6's. Up aqua shrimp sand? Really it buffers for you? That is weird I overfilled my tank with about three inches of substrate used RO water with driftwood and nothing else and after aerating the pH was just about 7-7.2. I even tested it, about half of a large cup I use with substrate 50/50 substrate and water no buffering at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soothing Shrimp Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 yeah. This batch was even the same used batch that I dried in the oven and stored for awhile before reusing again. Crazy, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyeGuy411 Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 That is really strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 I like the look of the sand and it was all I could find locally, but it doesn't seem to do much right now. Might be best to use Blackwater powder in this tank and try another substrate in my next Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted December 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Was just reading about borneowild humid, seems a lot easier than using Blackwater powder every time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hieprock Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 I use RO/DI 4stages of Bulk Reef Supply and always use its membrance ! From the tap water has PH of 7.6-7.8 ;TDS 178-180; GH of 11-12 and KH of 6-7 , it reverse to the PH of 5.2 - 5.3 , tds : 0 ; GH of 0 and KH of 0 ! You can try it if you really want to! I dont think aerate your RO water could raise up coz the RO system takes much (H+) and thats y your ph gets lower ! More stages,lower ph I had same problem at the begining and tried many many ways to raise up my ph ,by mosura ,borneo wild or even putting corals into my filters but I found out no way really works! All you have to do is taking the soil that can really makes your PH level as you want it to be EricM 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Just wanted to say the cycle is over in my up aqua sand tank and it has finally been actually buffering. been holding around 6-6.3 Doubt it's the soil in the tank because there aren't any tannins being bleached into the water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puddles Posted January 3, 2015 Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 I don't believe UP sand is suppose to leach into the water column but is still supposed to buffer. I have read only good things about this buffering soil until this thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dendrobatez Posted January 3, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2015 Sorry, this tank has a base of miracle grow organic soil with the up aqua sand on top but I'm guessing the soil doesn't get a lot of flow through as there isn't really any tannins in the water collum. So it seems like it's the sand doing the work. During the cycle I would assume the ammonia is raising the ph and once its ove the sand has an easier time buffering especially now that I'm using ro water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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