AverageWhiteBloke
Member
I can also see in the link you provided that Carbonate is a lot further up the scale than "KHCO3 potassium hydrogen carbonate" which I'm assuming is Bicarbonate?
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Questions regarding soft water areas and 'Walstad Method'.
- Thread starter MrHammonds
- Start date
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Potassium carbonate, it has two potassium ions,. Potassium bicarbonate ("potassium hydrogen carbonate") has a potassium ion (a base) and a hydrogen ion (an acid).
That would do, it will all end up below the gravel over time.
cheers Darrel
AverageWhiteBloke
Member
Much appreciated Darrel, I ordered some Bicarbonate so thought I'd got that wrong. Obviously it was the page I linked that was out. Just panicked when I saw James's recipe and he was using carbonate. Sorry to @MrHammonds for jumping all over your post, I actually popped in to help but I think the information within this post is going to help you and I a great deal as I feel it's something that will rear its head for you at some point also. Now we both know 
MrHammonds
Seedling
Much appreciated Darrel, I ordered some Bicarbonate so thought I'd got that wrong. Obviously it was the page I linked that was out. Just panicked when I saw James's recipe and he was using carbonate. Sorry to @MrHammonds for jumping all over your post, I actually popped in to help but I think the information within this post is going to help you and I a great deal as I feel it's something that will rear its head for you at some point also. Now we both know
Ha yeh, not a problem! No doubt it'll come in handy!
Hi all,
The <"earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago"> and all the elements, heavier than helium, were already present and had been formed billions of years before that in the nuclear furnace of a massive Yellow Giant star. As the temperature and pressure rose heavier and heavier elements were forged before it imploded in a supernovae explosion and spewed them all out into interstellar space. All the ions, compounds and elements (and all living things) are made of that star-dust.
A reactive element, like oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, potassium etc., has been combined in millions of compounds over the years. Carbon atoms can be found in various elemental solids (diamond, graphite, graphene, charcoal etc.), gases, rocks, all living organisms, dissolved in water as HCO3- etc. but they are all the same C12 atoms, and constantly cycled from one state to the next.
You can even burn ("oxidise") a diamond and convert it into CO2.
cheers Darrel
It doesn't really matter where you get the ions from. It is worth learning a little bit of inorganic chemistry, it helps with decision making.
The <"earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago"> and all the elements, heavier than helium, were already present and had been formed billions of years before that in the nuclear furnace of a massive Yellow Giant star. As the temperature and pressure rose heavier and heavier elements were forged before it imploded in a supernovae explosion and spewed them all out into interstellar space. All the ions, compounds and elements (and all living things) are made of that star-dust.
A reactive element, like oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, potassium etc., has been combined in millions of compounds over the years. Carbon atoms can be found in various elemental solids (diamond, graphite, graphene, charcoal etc.), gases, rocks, all living organisms, dissolved in water as HCO3- etc. but they are all the same C12 atoms, and constantly cycled from one state to the next.
You can even burn ("oxidise") a diamond and convert it into CO2.
cheers Darrel
sparkyweasel
Member
- Joined
- 30 Jun 2011
- Messages
- 2,870
Hmm, burning diamonds? And I thought bottled CO2 was expensive. Lol.
Another interesting thing to do with carbon is to have your ashes turned into a diamond when you die.
Another interesting thing to do with carbon is to have your ashes turned into a diamond when you die.
Hi all,
cheers Darrel
Might be a business opportunity for some-one. I can see the blurb: "diamond ash CO2, you can't have a successful planted tank without it", and a celebrity endorsement, it's a pity Zsa Zsa Gabor has died, Bobby George maybe? maybe not.
Yes that is it, any form of carbon can be converted to another form of carbon under the right conditions.
from the Wikipedia <"Synthetic (Industrial) Diamond"> article.
cheers Darrel
AverageWhiteBloke
Member
Racking my Brain now, I remember watching a movie once where there was a massive diamond involved and when they got to it it was a piece of coal. The guy said "it will be a diamond...in about a million years time"
I know, I'm being a bit random, it was just something that stuck in my mind for a very long time, obviously more than the movie or stars of it did. Help me out here!
Coming back to the carbonate thing. I quite like the idea of the soft acid water and the tannins. Anything that prevents large swings but allows me keep some acidity is good with me. First time I've run a blackwater style tank but keeping that tea colour without crashing out with water this soft is going to be a struggle without something buffering. Also it's not a tank I can spend a lot of time on, it's been getting some tlc with being mainly office based but there's going to be times when I might not be able to get to it for a while and I'd like to know it's stable until I get back.
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