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You guys wont believe this. Controsoil continued


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Love the chart....seems to follow a similar upward trend as the OP. pH started low and moved up to 7.0 by the 4th day.

Agree that pH drops as c02 rises. Similarly, when aerated, oxygen will increase pH...that's why I don't personally use any air stones in my tanks.

OP...try letting it sit a while and see what happens in this new tank

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wow that chart is super neat.. I need whatever you have that made it.   I have to say though... the latest is 6.6.  I would not call that buffering where it should.  Did it ever go lower?  I was under the impression that controsoil should buffer right down to about 6

 

 

 

I will stay the course and see if anything changes  but dont forget, This is my second go round with a second bag from the same batch. the other tank had been up since the beginning of october till last weekend and the PH never did drop it stayed in the 7s.  

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wow that chart is super neat.. I need whatever you have that made it.   I have to say though... the latest is 6.6.  I would not call that buffering where it should.  Did it ever go lower?  I was under the impression that controsoil should buffer right down to about 6

 

 

 

I will stay the course and see if anything changes  but dont forget, This is my second go round with a second bag from the same batch. the other tank had been up since the beginning of october till last weekend and the PH never did drop it stayed in the 7s.  

every package may be different.

People reported 5.5 pH when controsoil hit US market.

I tried it and buffered 4.7-5.3

 

I tried Ada As as well and buffered to 5.0 pH

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  Did it ever go lower?  I was under the impression that controsoil should buffer right down to about 6

 

Yes, look at the graph, it buffered lower and has held steady how at 5.85 for some time.

 

The one severe dip you see when it is below 5.5 is just when I had a low battery in my pH monitor........once I changed it out my pH measurements were where they should be.

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Love the chart....seems to follow a similar upward trend as the OP. pH started low and moved up to 7.0 by the 4th day.

Agree that pH drops as c02 rises. Similarly, when aerated, oxygen will increase pH...that's why I don't personally use any air stones in my tanks.

OP...try letting it sit a while and see what happens in this new tank

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Just curious why oxygen causes high pH? Also, since there's more carbon dioxide in air, wouldn't aeration cause more carbon dioxide to dissolve in water? I'm sure some chemist can explain this. I'm just confused.

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It's the conversion of carbonic acid back to carbon dioxide that raises pH.  Think of it as the agitation releasing gasses "trapped" in the water, moreso than "adding" something.

 

http://ion.chem.usu.edu/~sbialkow/Classes/3650/Carbonate/Carbonic%20Acid.html

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Just curious why oxygen causes high pH? Also, since there's more carbon dioxide in air, wouldn't aeration cause more carbon dioxide to dissolve in water than oxygen? I'm sure some chemist can explain this. I'm just confused.

Like Shrimple minded said, surface agitation is what increases the PH.

I am no Chemist but this video from youtube may shed some light about the topic:

 

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Why does agitation cause CO2 to be released from the water to the atmosphere and not from the atmosphere to the water? I guess it depends on how much carbon dioxide concentration in the water you started with, but there's no reason this level is higher than equilibrium value unless someone purposefully injected CO2?

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So something to add to this conversation. The company that makes controsoil and brightwell rio are the same correct? Just marketed differently? If not then disregard this haha.

I just redid one of my tanks. I had brightwell rio cafe, Ph before was below 6, using RODI (starting ph below 6) and remin with SS GH+. After redoing the tank with brightwell rio escuro and remin RODI with SS GH+ (and I kept a lot of the previous water) I tested the water right after and it read below 6, good. I decided to check my ph two days later and now it is 6.4, bad... The KH is still 0 so idk what's up with that.

Why would the ph increase? I was reading the previous post about surface agitation increasing ph but I had two sponge filters going and that wasn't too much different than the HMF I have now. In terms of surface agitation. Is it the soil? It is still fairly new but I figure it wouldn't increase the ph of the tank...

Again if the two aren't made by the same company my bad.

-Duffy

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Get some Royal blue tiger orange eyes. Problem solved. Ph7 is what you have work with ph 7.

Lol...said like a BOSS!

On another note, I've never been a fan of trying to control pH as it can be finicky, especially when dealing with acidic conditions. That said, I find that most fish/shrimp can adapt as long as the conditions are stable. Meaning, it's usually best not to add compounds to control pH as that could cause swings.

I'm sure it's frustrating to have spent good money on an active, organic substrate that doesn't work as intended. However, maybe Jimko was on to something. As for shrimp, I tend to think that as long as the water is clean and well-filtered and has the correct params in terms of gH/kH/TDS, they should do fine IMHO.

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Why does agitation cause CO2 to be released from the water to the atmosphere and not from the atmosphere to the water? I guess it depends on how much carbon dioxide concentration in the water you started with, but there's no reason this level is higher than equilibrium value unless someone purposefully injected CO2?

It is not in equilibrium...plants respirate at night and release C02, which in turn forms carbonic acid. Fish, shrimp, micro organisms, and bacteria all respirate and release C02 further increasing the concentration of carbonic acid. When there is too much surface agitation, or oxygen, it off gasses the C02 and hinders your tanks ability to to maintain low pH. Therefore, it indirectly causes pH to go up.

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It sounds like the buffering capacity of the soil has been exhausted. With surface agitation and brand new soil there should not be this much swing. I had issue with bad batches of soil in the past so I know the headache. It will be a losing battle if you try to control the ph in the tank with chemicals, co2, peat. If you are dead set on keeping tb I suggest getting some Amazonia and starting over. You should be getting 2 yrs from brand new soil. May be the nutrients are there so leaving the tank the way it is for tigers or neos is a viable option.

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I have 2 other 7 + tanks though... this one was specifically set up for the TB and I even made an entire fish room just for this tank so that next summer it can be air conditioned  :(      I did put in a claim for both bags with  amazon though.. 

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I have 2 other 7 + tanks though... this one was specifically set up for the TB and I even made an entire fish room just for this tank so that next summer it can be air conditioned   :(      I did put in a claim for both bags with  amazon though.. 

I feel your frustration. These specialized soils are very expensive and need to work, that is what we are paying for.

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from amazon.   They are really good.  But their customer service needs spelling lessons hehe 

 

logo.png Your Account Amazon.com Message From Customer Service Hello, 

As disused I have contacted my team for A to Z claim they will get back to you shortly. 

You will receive compensation for the order number #106-9058943-2313060, item: 
2 X Controsoil Normal Grain Black (Black, Fine ~3mm) 
Total $90.00 
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from amazon.   They are really good.  But their customer service needs spelling lessons hehe 

 

logo.png Your Account Amazon.com Message From Customer Service Hello, 

As disused I have contacted my team for A to Z claim they will get back to you shortly. 

You will receive compensation for the order number #106-9058943-2313060, item: 

2 X Controsoil Normal Grain Black (Black, Fine ~3mm) 

Total $90.00 

 

Sadly their customer service is based in India.

 

As for what they said, it's completely wrong.

 

Looks like they are going to open an A-Z claim for you and the claim is not yet completed and the rep is saying you "will" receive compensation. 

You can't know that till the claim is completed.

 

Customer service is untrained and only know how to open A-Z claims for everything as an answer to your problem... 

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So my choices now...

 

Order Ada and do a THIRD tank tear down. 

 

Order more peat and try that (finished off the fluval peat I had on the first attempt )  FIrst attempt  peat in the canister filter didnt seem to have any effect.  

 

Keep waiting to see if the PH goes down on its own...  it is still  7.0 today .. tank went up saturday.  

 

 

 

 By the way..  The  water sitting in the experiment cup is still reading 6.7  too.   Hasnt budged and it is a much smaller amount of water.

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Here's my two cents......

I've received a refund before from Marfied, for a damaged shipment. No problems at all.

Assuming you get your money back and decide to try another substrate, I would still continue to cycle the Controsoil. I really want to see where pH is after a month......it is in good pH now to grow beneficial bacteria, and might slowly drift down to preferred acidity in time.

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So my choices now...

 

Order Ada and do a THIRD tank tear down. 

 

Order more peat and try that (finished off the fluval peat I had on the first attempt )  FIrst attempt  peat in the canister filter didnt seem to have any effect.  

 

Keep waiting to see if the PH goes down on its own...  it is still  7.0 today .. tank went up saturday.  

 

 

 

 By the way..  The  water sitting in the experiment cup is still reading 6.7  too.   Hasnt budged and it is a much smaller amount of water.

Is your tank water circulation? Canister filter on or no?

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