# Seachem Acid Buffer



## Mookka (Aug 29, 2005)

Hey everyone,

I'm restarting my 55 gallon attempt after a very very serious algae problem. I am trying to get my pH down to around 6.6 as it is now at about 7.6. I have used DIY Co2 and am restarting that today. This time around I will be using 2x 2 liters bottles. Before i used only 1 and could get my ph to about 7.3-7.4. Anyway does anyone have experience with the Seachem Acid Buffer? I saw it on Big Als' this morning and am ordering a filstar xp2. Does it work? i used seachem Ferts for a while and loved them. Is the same true for the Acid Buffer.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

What is your KH? You can get your PH down to that level pretty easily with CO2 if you have the right KH.


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

Seachem Acid buffer is not really a buffer. It's primarily sodium bisulfate - NaHSO4. This converts carbonate ions to carbon dioxide. It lowers kH by turning it into CO2. The CO2 of course doesn't provide buffering for long... it will outgas. It's effectively a "kH down" or kH lowering product; it lowers the pH by lowering the kH.


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## Mookka (Aug 29, 2005)

*Geez I Knew I Forgot Something*

ok, REALLY sorry

my kh is very high, I just tested it and it was at 185 mg/L!!!! Our water out here sucks (Gaithersburg, MD). Anyway, I guess this means that I have a rock solid buffer?


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## Mookka (Aug 29, 2005)

*thanks for the replies*

So, what your saying is that it makes my pH more "maleable" or "workable"? If so it sounds good to me just gotta be careful about ph swings. Does anyone else have final thoughts before I put in my order?


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

It is sounding to me like you really don't understand what KH (also called carbonate hardness or alkalinity) is, and how it affects pH along with CO2. I don't have a lot of time right now to type up a full explanation, but you could probably find out all you need and more using Google.


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/

Check out this site. Chuck does a good job of explaining the CO2/PH/KH relationship.
If I am converting right, your KH is roughly 10.5 dKH. That's close to what mine is. You could inject CO2 to drive your ph from 7.6 to 6.9 while adding around 40 ppm of CO2. Sounds pretty good to me. I've struggled with high GH/KH and learnd that lots of plants grow in hard water.

PM me if you have specific questions and I'll tryt to help.


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## Mookka (Aug 29, 2005)

*ok so hopefully somebody will check this thing*

So on my sick day here I have been reading a whole lot about the Kh Ph and CO2 thing. So first my water parameters

pH-7.3
Kh-185ppm
Gh-30ppm
Nitrates <5ppm
1 DIY CO2 2L

Ok so what the ultimate goal here is to breed Angels, but I think it might be tough in such high Kh. Is this a wrong assumption? also im confused as to why i can have such high Kh and such low Gh. please help me out!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I don't know about breeding angels. However, if you're trying to grow healthy plants, your nitrates are too low. Bump them up to 10-15ppm. 

The kh refers to carbonate amounts in your water. The gh refers to calcium and magnesium amounts. The two values don't have to go together.


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## jude_uc (Feb 7, 2006)

Also, strictly speaking, test kits for KH measure total buffering capacity, that is, the ability to resist a pH change. Carbonates and bicarbonates are often the biggest contributers, but you can't really sort out what's providing the buffer. As for why you can have high KH and low GH, if your water contains a lot of sodium bicarbonate, then you would get that situation. Sodium doesn't contribute to GH, but the bicarbonate contributes to the KH. I have the same situation with my water. If you want to lower your KH, I believe you have two options 1) acid buffer or 2) dilute your water with RO water. I'm pretty sure either is fine.

-Adam


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## Salt (Apr 5, 2005)

Mookka said:


> im confused as to why i can have such high Kh and such low Gh. please help me out!


Measured GH = measurement of calcium and magnesium positively charged ions (cations - Ca+ and Mg+)
Measured KH = measurement of carbonate negatively charged ions (anions - CO3-)

(Another thing to note about Acid Buffer is that while it will lower KH it will increase sulfate, which shouldn't be a problem unless you use it a whole lot.)


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