[Jeffww]

Has anyone else attempted this before? I fitted a 10mL syringe with a long this plastic tube with a luer lock. Sampled water from deep inside my aquasoil, filtered out the mud using filter paper (still had some color afterward) and tested the pH. Tank pH was 7 and soil water pH was lower than the API kit could measure. Unfortunately my pH meter isn't working properly right now (need to buy a new probe and calibration solutions) otherwise I'd give you a better sense of the values.

I've been having some thoughts about how important soil pH is for plant health especially in our aquarium environment where it tends to accumulate a lot of organic waste over time. Additionally, the complex soil chemistry that occurs in the inundated soils of our tanks seem to make for a good argument that this would be important to learn about.

For anyone interested: Fertilizers and Soil Acidity

 

[Anon]

Has anyone else attempted this before? I fitted a 10mL syringe with a long this plastic tube with a luer lock. Sampled water from deep inside my aquasoil, filtered out the mud using filter paper (still had some color afterward) and tested the pH. Tank pH was 7 and soil water pH was lower than the API kit could measure. Unfortunately my pH meter isn't working properly right now (need to buy a new probe and calibration solutions) otherwise I'd give you a better sense of the values.

I've been having some thoughts about how important soil pH is for plant health especially in our aquarium environment where it tends to accumulate a lot of organic waste over time. Additionally, the complex soil chemistry that occurs in the inundated soils of our tanks seem to make for a good argument that this would be important to learn about.

For anyone interested: Fertilizers and Soil Acidity

Hi @Jeffww,

Very interesting indeed.

Did you re-measure with your calibrated pH probe? I really like what you're doing here. Please update us when you get a free moment.

Anon

 

[Jeffww]

Have not had a chance to repair the pH probe (it's a home built arduino one I built using a kit from atlas scientific, something is screwy with it) . I may end up taking some water samples to work and using the meter there.

 

[GrampsGrunge]

Aquarium plants back in the 1990's, when this started there was this system for nutrient transport from the water column to the root hairs using warmth from resistive wires coated in silicone, buried deep in the substrate and high CEC areas of ion exchange from clay or Laterite. The Iron and Ammonia/Nitrate exchange part was hastened by raising the heat a couple degrees in the sand or gravel which helped with catalyzing the nutrients so the plants could uptake them using less energy.

I had a 29 gallon tank back in 1994 that was set up with this Dupla method and I was using very little CO2, probably 9 ppm on average. I was growing plants that were considered difficult: R. Macrandra. The heating was considered to set up the "soil" to have a lower pH (reducing) environment that was better for the ionic exchange points in the Laterite. My tank back in '93..