Path: utzoo!hoptoad!ihnp4!homxb!mtuxo!mtune!rutgers!husc6!encore!corbin
From: corbin@encore.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.aquaria
Subject: potash & PH
Message-ID: <2610@encore.UUCP>
Date: 3 Feb 88 17:56:45 GMT
Sender: news@husc6.harvard.edu
Distribution: alt
Organization: Encore Computer, Marlboro, MA
Lines: 35

I am a novice with fish and need some help.  I have a 20 gallon tank
with basic tropical fish: angels, swords, tetras, zebras, algae eaters
and a catfish.

The problem is with maintaining the PH levels.  We have a private well
with pretty awful water: ph 5.6 and 18-20ppm iron (basically mud).  Our
filter system pushes the PH to 8.5+ to remove the iron.  The PH is raised
by injecting potash into the incoming water before it reaches the filter.
The potash is so strong that the PH adjustment chemicals I get from the
local fish store have little effect.  I use a whole container of sodium
biophosphate to get only a couple of gallons of water to 7.0.  At $2.00
a can this is not very cost effective.  I tried another type of chemical
I believe was called PH Plus.  It was a liquid and it claims to set the PH
to 7.0 and maintain it there for some period of time.  The owner of the
fish store I go to said that this was the best stuff available.  Well,
I was only supposed to need a couple of drops per gallon of water to have
an effect.  After 2 days of adding the required amount the PH did not move.
I finally dumped the whole bottle in and it had no effect.  The PH stayed
at 8.5.

I can continue to use the sodium biosphate but each time I clean the tank
I use two containers fo the stuff.  This really is a little too expensive
for me.

Any suggestions?  Maybe a source for an industrial size container of sodium
biosphate or equivalent?

Steve Corbin
{ihnp4, allegra, linus, decvax} ! encore ! corbin


-- 

Stephen Corbin
{ihnp4, allegra, linus} ! encore ! corbin