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Ph down buffer.

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Kelvin12

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NSW Australia
Hello all,
I have been reading a lot of previous posts about Ph fluctuations and not chasing it with water thats on the acidic side. However I have been using ' Ph down' a few times and that reduces it but then its crept up again to well above my desired / recommended levels 5.8 , 6.0 quite quickly. I have been using this product, ' Ph down ' where the active constitute is Biphosphate. In addition so far I have been using quite a lot of peat and numerous IAL. Everything seems to stabilize for a bit but soon creeps up to around 6.8, 7.0 mark. I am using remineralized RO and thats keeping the TDS quite well within recommended levels .
I have PRL and CRS shrimp.
 
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Darrel, I found this C6H807. (numbers are all small my computer isn't geared up for that). This is advertised as food grade and quite reasonable.
Zues has been teaching me about how the numbers are placed in the chemical and what they mean. Huge learning curve good teacher.

Dirk
 
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Thanks Michael I have that chart. Very interesting. Trouble is those trees are very rare here and damn hard to find. Probably oak is easier out of all of them.

Dirk
 
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Hi all,
Kelvin12 said:
I found this C6H807. (numbers are all small my computer isn't geared up for that). This is advertised as food grade and quite reasonable.
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Perfect, it is "E330" for food use.

You buy it as a crystal and I think in some places (USA) it has been used as an adulterant for other, less legal, crystals and isn't freely available.

cheers Darrel
 
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What would be the effect of Purigen (or similar adsorbent) in these botanicals? Would it significantly interfere with their acidification capabilities or would Purigen just bind to the substance colouring the water?
 
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Hi all,
arcturus said:
I already have a task for the the summer and autumn hikes. Plenty of Oak, Beech and Hornbeam around here.
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The dead leaves can stay on all three of these species in the winter in certain contexts (young tree, hedges).
arcturus said:
or would Purigen just bind to the substance colouring the water?
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It will bind to the larger molecules and foul really quickly.

cheers Darrel
 
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arcturus said:
What would be the effect of Purigen (or similar adsorbent) in these botanicals? Would it significantly interfere with their acidification capabilities or would Purigen just bind to the substance colouring the water?
Click to expand...
dw1305 said:
It will bind to the larger molecules and foul really quickly.
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If by foul you mean that the Purigen gets dirty really quickly and will have to be regenerated (soaked in a bleach solution), I can confirm that. I had a period of time after I started with botanicals in my shrimp tank where I kept Purigen in one of my HOBs and it got dirty in a week. After a couple of weeks I essentially gave up on the Purigen in that tank and embraced the tannins. I do think, but not 100% sure, that the acidifying properties of the botanicals remained unaffected by the Purigen. But the medicinal / antifungal properties are likely affected.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Kelvin12 said:
Thanks Michael I have that chart. Very interesting. Trouble is those trees are very rare here and damn hard to find. Probably oak is easier out of all of them.

Dirk
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arcturus said:
Catappa is also native to Australia. I have no idea if it is available in NSW though.
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Dried Almond (Catappa) leaves are readily available to buy online, at least here in the US. Of course, its ideal if you can go find substitutes in nature... If I would do that, I would have to do it in the fall and stock up for the winter.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Hi all,
MichaelJ said:
If by foul you mean that the Purigen gets dirty really quickly and will have to be regenerated
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I do. It is to do with the size of the molecule, there is some comment from Seachem in @Craig Matthews <"FeEDDHA - Pink Tint"> thread.
MichaelJ said:
I do think, but not 100% sure, that the acidifying properties of the botanicals remained unaffected by the Purigen. But the medicinal / antifungal properties are likely affected.
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That would be my guess.

Here is one of the Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) hedges at work, photographed today, and showing how well they hold "last years" leaves.

Hornbeam_Feb2022 (2).jpg

dw1305 said:
The dead leaves can stay on all three of these species in the winter in certain contexts (young tree, hedges).
Click to expand...

cheers Darrel
 
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Hi all,
MichaelJ said:
We actually have Blue beech (Carpinus caroliniana) American Hornbeam here in Minnesota.. I wonder if those leaves would offer the same benefits.
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You could try PYO "dead wood" from it as well. Hornbeam wood is incredibly hard and dense (the heartwood sinks) and I'd guess it is rot resistant as well. We've got a few plants, but people always take any dead wood or prunings because it burns really well, even when it is green.

cheers Darrel
 
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dw1305 said:
I would have thought so, all Alder (Alnus cordata, A. rubra, A. glutinosa, A. incana etc) cones do the same job so I'd guess different species of Carpinus will.
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Well, I guess I'll be off to the woods and see if I can find some hornbeam with dried leaves still on over the next few days.

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Arcturus, yes IAL are native here in AU but still hard to find. I have been chasing them for a while now but with no luck same with elder cones. Its hard to get someone familiar with what they look like. They are forsale via various dealers dealers but they are expensive and not always up to scratch. Likewise on ebay from Asian dealers but their feedbacks aren't the greatest.

I like Darrels suggestion of the citric acid. I remembered hearing about that ages ago when I was looking into cherry shrimps but forgot all about it. One again Darrel to the rescue.

Dirk
 
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Kelvin12 said:
no luck same with elder cones.
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You won't have much luck with Elder cones, Elder doesn't have cones. You need Alder cones. :)
Technically Alder doesn't have cones either, they are actually dead, dried up catkins. They look like cones, so the name stuck. Quite different to actual cones from coniferous trees like pines and firs.
 
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sparkyweasel said:
You won't have much luck with Elder cones, Elder doesn't have cones. You need Alder cones. :)
Technically Alder doesn't have cones either, they are actually dead, dried up catkins. They look like cones, so the name stuck. Quite different to actual cones from coniferous trees like pines and firs.
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Wow @sparkyweasel You really know your cones! :)

Cheers,
Michael
 
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