# Florabase



## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

Does anyone have any experience with this product? I have really high pH in my city tapwater and Florabase claims to lower pH to around 6.5 or 7. Would this be ok to use as a layer underneath eco complete?


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## doubleott05 (Jul 20, 2005)

i used florabase once.....

now im an aquasoil man


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Florabase is a great substrate, its got a nice texture and . I have noticed that it tends to absorb things out the water column. For example, if you dose medication (methylene blue) the flora base attracts all the medication out of the water column and you see a slightly blue substrate for a while. In the same way it absorbs ions and other compounds out the water column making it softer, so I believe the statement about lowering the pH.

Eco-complete and flora base don't have all the necessary nutrients in them. In fact, if you don't dose the full complement of fertilizers then you will get deficiencies.


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## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

I would love to get my hands on some Aquasoil but it is really hard to come by in Canada and I would have to pay a buttload for shipping. We have really hard water with a high pH here so I primarily want something that will lower my pH semi permanently. Even with an rO/Tapwater 50/50 mix I still have a pH higher then 7.6. The r/o fixes my hardness but still doesn't alter the pH very much.

Anyone have any suggestions for other substrates to semi permanently lower my pH?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Get a deionizer for your RO system. This brings the solutes in the water down to 0 ppm. Then reconstitute the RO water with calcium and magnesium. Don't mix with tap water. Or you could go with some peat moss in the filter (or oak leaves).


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## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

I am curious why you say not to mix r/o and tap water?


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Because pure water (RO water) has a low pH and no buffering capacity, so any acid or base you have in the water will change the pH of the water. 

When you mix the RO water with your tap water there is a base in the tap water so it raises the pH of the water. If you don't mix the two together then you have low pH RO water. 

If you decide you want a lower pH, then you can either add peat moss (which lowers the pH) or you can add more CO2 which makes carbonic acid and also lowers the pH.

The only reason you are adding tap water back to the RO water is so you add minerals like magnesium and calcium back. But along with these minerals your tap water has some kind of base in it, which raises the pH unnecessarily. So you can just add the magnesium and calcium back to the water in chemical form and your water will have the necessary minerals, but not the base in your water.


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