Hi every one, this is my first question on this forum so go easy on me. I have just shut down my marine tank and I am converting the tank to a planted tank setup. I have just about all my equipment ready except co2 gear, but that won’t be too far off. In the past I have had African Cichlids, but these proved to be a pain because of all the aggression with them. So, it will be a nice peaceful tropical planted tank. First problem is my tap water. It would appear that I have high levels of silicate, and this has been proven with silicate testing. This causes and instant and severe brown algae(diatoms) bloom that recedes to a low, but still irritating low level that never completely goes away. Every water change adds more silicate, so there is always a small amount. To fix this problem I have been using an ro/di filter for some time, and this fixes the problem(although more work). Next problem is PH. My tap water comes out at 9!. After 24 hours this drops to 8.3, but still too high. So I will be using co2 with a ph controller to bring this down to a more normal level. So, here is my big question, when doing a water change, my make up water is going to be 8.3(ro/di with bicarb added for kh), can I just add this water, or do I need to adjust the ph first. I have been unable to find much information on the topic so far, so any help will be appreciated.
Lee.
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Lee.
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