Hi All,
been reading all sorts of threads & I'm getting confused
:iamwithst :iamwithst :iamwithst
Tapwater here in Melbourne is very soft. Typical KH is .8 degrees (13ppm?) and GH is less than 1 degree.
I am currently adding the following
NaHCO3 (baking soda) to raise the KH to around 2.5
CaCl2 to for Ca
K2SO4 for K
MgSO4 for Mg
Trace Mix
All the products above are cheap and readily available locally, but I was hoping to cut down on unecessary addition of Na Cl and So4 by using one or more of the following
K2CO3 (Potassium Bicarbonate) to add both K and increase KH
CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate) for both Calcium & increase KH
CaSO4 (Calcium Sulfate) Calcium without Cl
I can order K2CO3 fairly easily although a little pricey due to freight, CaSO4 I should be able to get cheaply as gypsum from the local gardening supplies. I can also get it from a brewing supplies place but it's very pricey (about 50x dearer than gypsum), CaCO3 is I beleive available as supplement tablets (pricey), or from gardening supplies (Lime?).
Now where I'm mainly confused is around CaCO3 it seems there is differing opinions about its solubility and how controllable the KH rise is?
I'm leaning towards K2CO3, K2SO4 and CaSO4, as Sulfates seem to be the least concerning overall.
However if a combination of K2CO3 and CaCO3 will work then I can cut out a lot of unecessary SO4... I will of course still be adding SO4 with MgSO4 and possibly K2SO4 for extra K
been reading all sorts of threads & I'm getting confused
:iamwithst :iamwithst :iamwithst
Tapwater here in Melbourne is very soft. Typical KH is .8 degrees (13ppm?) and GH is less than 1 degree.
I am currently adding the following
NaHCO3 (baking soda) to raise the KH to around 2.5
CaCl2 to for Ca
K2SO4 for K
MgSO4 for Mg
Trace Mix
All the products above are cheap and readily available locally, but I was hoping to cut down on unecessary addition of Na Cl and So4 by using one or more of the following
K2CO3 (Potassium Bicarbonate) to add both K and increase KH
CaCO3 (Calcium Carbonate) for both Calcium & increase KH
CaSO4 (Calcium Sulfate) Calcium without Cl
I can order K2CO3 fairly easily although a little pricey due to freight, CaSO4 I should be able to get cheaply as gypsum from the local gardening supplies. I can also get it from a brewing supplies place but it's very pricey (about 50x dearer than gypsum), CaCO3 is I beleive available as supplement tablets (pricey), or from gardening supplies (Lime?).
Now where I'm mainly confused is around CaCO3 it seems there is differing opinions about its solubility and how controllable the KH rise is?
I'm leaning towards K2CO3, K2SO4 and CaSO4, as Sulfates seem to be the least concerning overall.
However if a combination of K2CO3 and CaCO3 will work then I can cut out a lot of unecessary SO4... I will of course still be adding SO4 with MgSO4 and possibly K2SO4 for extra K
