Active Substrate - post period

[cbaum86]

I was asked a question I wasn't entirely sure of the answer to.

When using an active substrate that has the ability to lower the pH and KH what's the best course of action once this initial period starts to die off?

Assuming the tap water is fairly hard would it then be advised to cut with RO and maintain the softer water parameters or just let it be and everything will adapt to the hardening parameters over the course of the substrates life time.

I take it there is also no point trying to keep the harder water parameters with more frequent water changes as this is just going to be stripped by the substrate.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Zeus.]

The trouble with hard water is that it can lead to the active sites on the Aqua Soil (AS) getting blocked by the abundance for minerals in hard water. Hard water also increases the pH so their are less free H+ ions in water which help free up the active sites in the AS. So having softer water will extend the life of the AS and make growing the plants easier, but unless you have soft tap water there's the cost and increased carbon foot print OFC

Wish my tap water was soft

Edit. Welcome to the forum