Found the Fountain of Youth

2671 Views 45 Replies 13 Participants Last post by livingword26, Jul 24, 2012

Overgrowth

Discussion Starter · Jul 22, 2012 (Edited)

I was playing with my tap water earlier today, and I decided to run an air pump into the bucket to see if the pH would change. After a few hours I was super happy at my discovery. I guess Juan Ponce de León searched a bit too far south for the elusive fountain :biggrin:. Before my experiment, my pH was around 7.4-7.6. Now, it's perfectly at 7.0. I even had to get my mom to check the API test chart just in case I was going crazy. Nope! Almost perfect for CRS~! Maybe it'll drop even more, to 6.8-6.9, preferably, if I keep running the airline overnight.

Here are the parameters of the bucket water:
pH: 7.0, maybe lower
GH: 3-6, but I just guesstimate that it's at 4-5 (API's kit isn't the easiest to read

.
KH: 0-1 (Turned yellow after the 1st drop :bounce

Lucky for me, I've got a spare 10G with my name on it! But I won't buy the first SSS PRL shrimp I can find, LOL. I guess I'll just start with A grade CBS/CRS, just in case something goes wrong

. I'm practicing the water change routine on my OEBT tank too, by buying walmart distilled water for topoffs. In a few months I guess I'll start looking at stocking

I feel like celebrating :hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi::hihi:

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randyl

· #2 · Jul 22, 2012

Lucky you with low KH, once some gas exchange occurs your PH drops. For my high KH water, it doesn't matter how long I pump it. I totally understand how happy you are now.

Overgrowth

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 22, 2012

randyl said:
Lucky you with low KH, once some gas exchange occurs your PH drops. For my high KH water, it doesn't matter how long I pump it. I totally understand how happy you are now.

Thanks :icon_bigg I haven't forgotten about your nice LFS's with shrimp soil though

randyl

· #4 · Jul 22, 2012

Overgrowth said:
Thanks :icon_bigg I haven't forgotten about your nice LFS's with shrimp soil though

LOL, they just got the new type of Netlea and Lambo, also will be restocking ADA too in a week or two. A new batch of shrimps are coming and I can't wait ;-)

Overgrowth

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 22, 2012

randyl said:
LOL, they just got the new type of Netlea and Lambo, also will be restocking ADA too in a week or two. A new batch of shrimps are coming and I can't wait ;-)

And here I am sitting in front of my computer, staring at the ADA website, waiting for Amazonia to restock

Xforce

· #6 · Jul 22, 2012

Personally I would not count on this water unless you getting your tap water from a desalination facility..
all the values can be changed in short period of time and there are many variables in the equation that effect this values ..
If from nature ( heat cold and act) or human cause changing the amount of minerals or the other materials they adding to our water ..

nalu86

· #7 · Jul 22, 2012

Jip, that's what it does.

I wouldn't use it straight out of the tap, have you read the water report and what crap they put in the water? I would use RO and remineralize it for CRS. RO systems are cheap

rrastro

· #8 · Jul 22, 2012

If the supply doesn't have chloramine it might be alright. Chlorine and fluoride will bubble off but chloramine is more difficult to disperse. If you want to use tap and your supply has chloramine you still need to use Prime or something like it.

Hmoobthor

· #9 · Jul 22, 2012

once u put that water into your tank , everything changes!! all your perfect parameter will be off and is that of the tank

Soothing Shrimp

· #10 · Jul 22, 2012

It also depends on how much CO2 is in the water coming out of the tap. The airstone tends to gas it off.

xenxes

· #11 · Jul 22, 2012

What's the tds?

And the real fountain of youth smells like rotten eggs. Too much sulfur.

livingword26

· #12 · Jul 22, 2012

nalu86 said:
Jip, that's what it does.

I wouldn't use it straight out of the tap, have you read the water report and what crap they put in the water? I would use RO and remineralize it for CRS. RO systems are cheap

Here's what they put in my tap water. Some of this stuff is scary:

Ozone for taste and odor control from surface water at Cheney Reservoir

Polyelectrolyte - coagulant aid

Ferric Sulfate - coagulant

Lime - softens by removing minerals

Carbon Dioxide - reduces the pH after softening and stabilizes the pH

Phosphate - stabilizes the water & reduces corrosion

Chlorine - disinfects the water

Anhydrous Ammonia - combines with chlorine to make chloramine which allows the water to be disinfected longer

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Overgrowth

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 22, 2012

I just read online that Atlanta pH was supposed to be 6.9-7.0 naturally from a lot of places and that sometimes the pH is raised with something (don't remember the name) to not corrode the pipes. It's supposed to degas pretty easily after coming out of the tap so I just stuck an airline in the bucket. I always use Prime for my tap water too. And why would the parameters change after the water goes into the tank? Isn't the tank also like a bucket; won't it still be in contact with air and degas anyway? I use this water for my OEBTs too because I thought the pH was originally 7.4. There haven't been any deaths and they have been molting fine. I've only had them for a month though so I haven't seen any breeding yet.

I still have to get that TDS pen

rrastro

· #14 · Jul 22, 2012

You should contact your water supplier and ask for a water quality report. It should be free and will tell you what they intentionally add to the supply.
Water parameters may change once its in the tank because of substrate interaction.

rrastro

· #15 · Jul 22, 2012

livingword26 said:
Here's what they put in my tap water. Some of this stuff is scary:

Ozone for taste and odor control from surface water at Cheney Reservoir

Polyelectrolyte - coagulant aid

Ferric Sulfate - coagulant

Lime - softens by removing minerals

Carbon Dioxide - reduces the pH after softening and stabilizes the pH

Phosphate - stabilizes the water & reduces corrosion

Chlorine - disinfects the water

Anhydrous Ammonia - combines with chlorine to make chloramine which allows the water to be disinfected longer

The only thing that is troubling on that list is chloramine, because it is so difficult to remove, unless the concentrations of the other additives is unreasonably high. Water suppliers usually add things that are either only a fraction of a ppm or well within 10-30 ppm. Also CO2 and O3 will off-gas very quickly from the point of introduction. What were the average readings for the other additives?

Overgrowth

Discussion Starter · #16 · Jul 22, 2012

rrastro said:
You should contact your water supplier and ask for a water quality report. It should be free and will tell you what they intentionally add to the supply.
Water parameters may change once its in the tank because of substrate interaction.

I found a 2010 report online, but I don't know how accurate it is. It says:
Fluoride 4ppm
Nitrate 10ppm (No problem since I'm using prime)
Chlorine 4ppm
Copper 1.3ppm
Lead 15 ppb(billion)

These are the Maximum contaminant levels.

I plan on using ADA Amazonia for this tank, will that harm anything besides releasing ammonia?

rrastro

· #17 · Jul 22, 2012

You are right to be skeptical of a report with such limited data. You should still contact your water supplier tomorrow and try to get a more detailed report. However it does give you a baseline idea of your possible parameters.
4+10+4+1.3=19.3 ppm
Find out what your average TDS is and subtract this from it to get an idea of how much more unknown stuff is in your water.
With that said you still are working with a lot of unknowns because this data is only a maximum contaminant list from an unknown number of sample points.
ADA Amazonia won't hurt anything but it may lower your pH some more.

Overgrowth said:
I found a 2010 report online, but I don't know how accurate it is. It says:
Fluoride 4ppm
Nitrate 10ppm (No problem since I'm using prime)
Chlorine 4ppm
Copper 1.3ppm
Lead 15 ppb(billion)

These are the Maximum contaminant levels.

I plan on using ADA Amazonia for this tank, will that harm anything besides releasing ammonia?

livingword26

· #18 · Jul 22, 2012

rrastro said:
The only thing that is troubling on that list is chloramine, because it is so difficult to remove, unless the concentrations of the other additives is unreasonably high. Water suppliers usually add things that are either only a fraction of a ppm or well within 10-30 ppm. Also CO2 and O3 will off-gas very quickly from the point of introduction. What were the average readings for the other additives?

I'm getting 2ppm ammonia right now, but if fluctuates in the summer.

Public Works and Utilities
2010 Average Chemical Analysis of Treated Water
Constituents Wichita Level Units
Aluminum <0.01 mg/L
Ammonia-N 0.49 mg/L
Antimony 0.2 µg/L
Arsenic 2.44 µg/L
Barium 0.046 mg/L
Beryllium <1 µg/L
Bromate <0.005 mg/L
Bromide 0.02 mg/L
Cadmium <1 µg/L
Calcium 28.1 mg/L
Calcium Hardness 70 mg/L
Chloride 102 mg/L
Chlorine Residual, Combined 2.1 mg/L
Chromium <10 µg/L
Copper 2.2 μg/L
Cyanide <5 µg/L
Fluoride 0.37 mg/L
Haloacetic Acid 9.2 µg/L
Iron <0.005 mg/L
Langlier Corrosivity Index 0.25 LCI
Lead 0.66 µg/L
Magnesium 13.2 mg/L
Manganese <0.001 mg/L
Mercury <0.1 µg/L
Nickel <5 µg/L
Nitrate-N 1.18 mg/L
Nitrite/Nitrate-N 1.2 mg/L
Nitrite-N 0.01 mg/L
Ortho Phosphate-P 0.04 mg/L
Partial Alkalinity (as CaCO3) <1 mg/L
pH 8.5 pH UNITS
Potassium 5.3 mg/L
Selenium 3.93 µg/L
Silica 16.4 mg/L
Silver <0.01 mg/L
Sodium 84 mg/L
Specific Conductance 638 µmhos/cm 2
Strontium 0.254 mg/L
Sulfate 65 mg/L
Temperature 16.7 ° C
Thallium 0.44 µg/L
Total Alkalinity (as CaCO3) 88 mg/L
Total Dissolved Solids 368 mg/L
Total Hardness (as CaCO3) 124 mg/L
Total Organic Carbon 2.2 mg/L
Total Phosphorus-P 0.07 mg/L
Total Solids 383 mg/L
Total Trihalomethanes 23.5 µg/L
Turbidity <0.1 NTU
Vanadium <0.002 mg/L
Zinc <0.005 mg/L

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wicca27

· #19 · Jul 22, 2012

all i use is tap water no ro water for me. if they wont make it in my water i dont keep them, with that said i have FSS in 2 tanks and it keeps the ph pretty low around 6. i know my tap come out at 7.5-8 ph wise

rrastro

· #20 · Jul 22, 2012 (Edited)

livingword26, to be fair, your water supplier is not adding all those different things. Those are just the average readings after it goes through treatment. You have some funky ish in your water, my friend. Got a nuclear facility nearby? Only sorta kidding about that.
Some of those elements are more concerning than others. Really it is the concentration that needs to be looked at more than the named content. Considering that there are so many concerning elements, even in very dilute amounts, I fully understand why you advocate RO filtration. I wouldn't use anything less in your situation. What's your base ppm, out of the tap?

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