The problem people are having using Alkaline Buffer with Acid Buffer is pH drift. After adding enough Acid Buffer to the water and getting the pH desired, within a a day or so the pH drifts back up to 8. Explain how to deal with that please.
Hi loved your video. About the cutting teqnique. How much is the ratio roi water / tap water that you mix? Just for me to get an idea. Thanks in advance!
Glad you found the video useful! I do not cut my water, mine is completely remineralised (due to Nitrate levels in my tap). Best way to work it out what works for you would be to mix up a few buckets and see what one gives you the TDS, Hardness and pH that you are looking for :)
Thank you for the simple but very effective way to get the right type of water I need. I've got 8 arowanas and 3 diamond stingrays in a huge tank (4000 liters)
I typically "cut" my R/O 60/40 with tap water. My tap is 300 tds and its all calcium, magnesium, and iron. The catch is that my tap water has almost no carbonate....even my tap water barely tests 2dKH.
If you do not have enough current in the container/bucket that you are dissolving the solution it can 'clump' together, I just fix the powerhead to blow onto any bits that clump up
Hi! I recently got my rodi water system setup. What's your process for remineralising the water? This is my first time using it and I currently filled up a 5 gallon bucket and dosed my equilibrium/alkaline/acid buffers and put a powerhead in to stir it to get it ready for my water change tomorrow. Do you see any issues with this? How long should I let it sit before I put it in my tank? I could've swore you mentioned 30m to an hour but I couldn't find it again. Should I put my heater in now or do it right before tomorrow to avoid any evaportation? Any suggestions would be great thanks!
Hello! I have a different approach to some of my aquariums, some are planted some are not, the main difference being for non-planted aquariums I use Replenish instead of Equilibrium. I find that when using a powerhead the minerals are nicely mixed in within an hour, my RO water sits at c. 18-20 C and on some aquariums I need to heat it up to 28 C, I pop a heater in at the same time as mixing and I find I am at temperature after 3 hours, I check my TDS, but not yet had any evaporation issues in this time period (Just remember when heating the water that you'll need to have some cool water aside to turn off and pop your heater in once finished to allow your heater to cool) Once it is at temperature and the TDS is what I expect (based on the amount of minerals etc. I have added) I add to the aquarium. On cool tanks this is done in a hour, on my hotter aquariums this is done within 3 hours. Another thing I do is pre-heat my RO containers when I know I am tackling multiple hot tanks and those then get done within an hour :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics That sounds good, thank you for the input! I had one more question... So I'm trying to get the parameters you mentioned, 4dGH and 4dKH with 7.0 pH and in a 5 gallon jug. I came up with the measurements of 5.6g of equilibrium, 2.4g of alkaline buffer, and 1.2g of acid buffer... My TDS ended up being 252ppm and my pH was around 7.6.. I'm not sure what I did wrong :/ Do you have any suggestions? I made my RO water yesterday and let it mix overnight.
@@cody000125 Equilibrium does include additional minerals that will effect your TDS level (making it higher). The measurements that you have used, should give you the desired output, however Seachem also recommend that you use your mix within the first few hours, and this is where the science gets a little crazy... the solutions are carbonate buffers, if they are left in an isolated state for a prolonged period of time with no incoming acids sources, the pH will start to shift back up (why and how, is unfortunately beyond my understanding) So, if you are heating your water overnight I would suggest adding your Acid & Alkaline Buffer 30 minutes before you do your water change :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics Ohhhh wow ty! I'll give that a try! Just out of curiosity what prevents the pH from going up after you put it in the tank as well? What acid sources stabilize it?
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics Oh wow! I didn't know that, thank you! I'll give that a try on my next water change. And just out of curiosity what prevents the water pH from shifting back up when put in the tank? Which acid sources are there to stabilize it?
Hi Im pretty new to the whole RO water setup. I just recently started using equilibrium with the RO water I get from my local hippy store, in my 10 gallon swordtail tank. As you said it makes the water extremely hard. You said not to worry about that? But I do need to lower it yes? Should I purchase the acid and alkaline products to then balance it? Thanks
Hello, Equilibrium is a product that boosts your General Hardness (GH), this is mainly made up of salts, Magnesium & Calcium. When using RO, you also need to consider your buffering capacity to help keep your pH stable. There are many ways of maintaining pH, one of those is Carbonate Hardness (KH), products for this are Alkaline buffer, which adds KH to your aquarium (alkalinity), the acid buffer is recommended for use alongside the Alkaline buffer when using RO, to target a specific pH - follow the instructions on their website/side of the bottles for accurate dosing. I have done a video on GH, KH & pH here: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html and a maintenance one here: th-cam.com/video/Y_KnuCHxwdQ/w-d-xo.html Also, Swordtails are lovely fish - I would be remised if I didn't take this time to advise you that in the long term a 10 Gallon is a small aquarium for Swordtails, reaching c. 8-10cm in length and the fact that they reproduce like rabbits, you may find they outgrow the space very fast. (swimming space & capacity once they breed) - I would recommend a 20 Gallon as a minimum for long term health. Thanks for watching, I hope my video has been able to help you with your new journey with RO.
Hi I’m looking at switching over to RO water for my freshwater tropical tank. Is there any danger when introducing it to an existing tank? My concern is how the fish adapt to the suddenly (better) different water conditions
There can be a danger to your existing inhabitants if you change too much and create too much of a shift in parameters that they are used to. My recommendation is to adjust slowly through water changes :) (c. 20% at a time)
Thank you! Glad you found the video useful. - ah Thanks for letting me know, I have now sorted the link in the video! If you still want to watch the spoon review, here is the link too: th-cam.com/video/HFqC9z08D90/w-d-xo.html All the best from the UK :)
I use Alkaline buffer with Acid buffer and go for a KH of 5 which is 14g in 20 gallons of water. So to get a 7PH I add 7g of acid buffer. When I do this, my PH rises to 8 every time. I have tested the water separately to make sure it was not something in my aquarium. After 24 hours of addition, it rises. My RO water after 24 hours goes from a 6 to 6.4PH and stays there. Not sure why alkaline buffer does this. I saw that the Sodium Bicarbonate will do this as that is what this buffer is.
Hello, These products require continual dosing over days (will be different for each person) to lock your pH - I belive it says this on the packaging (but don't have to hand to verify... if you already have a set pH in the water your aquarium will naturally balance back to whatever that is if you haven't locked it down. Without a source of Acid in your aquarium too, the pH can sometimes fluctuate.
I’ve been using tap water to cycle my new planted tank but am going to change to remineralised ro water now everything seems to have settled. My question is what affect will the aqua soil have? Do I still use both buffers? Thanks👍
@@r8please Use both buffers, but keep an eye on your pH for the first few weeks during the transition to make sure you understand what impact the soil may have, you might need to change your dosing :)
Hi, I recently got an RO device and I am wondering if I can remineralize the water using only acid buffer and alkaline buffer, or do I need something else?
Depends on what fish you are keeping... typically you will need something for GH, but for pure softwater fish, this may not be needed and you could just add in trace minerals
Hello, When topping off, just use pure RODI, when your aquarium water evaporates the solids are left behind, adding pure RO brings your water back to desirable TDS.
Hello, Depends on what sort of set-up you are going for. There are many products on the market and some have been designed for specific species, planted tanks, non-planted tanks. Companies that I have used are Seachem, Tropic Marin, Salty Shrimp & DiscusFoods. If you share what you are wanting to do, I am happy to provide a recommendation
So I’m trying to set up a blue dream tank but my kh is so high doesn’t read on the chart it took 16 drops for it to turn from blue to yellow. An my ph is 8.3 an my gh test took three drops to turn green . Do I just use acid buffer to lower kh an ph? The tank will be planted also
I’m so confused. Does TDS tell you, or give you an idea of gh/kh? I need softer water and lower ph for my angels. But am unsure of gh and kh since I see complaints about results with ada products (i ordered anyway cause that’s all I can get). I also ordered a TDS test thing. Since my tap has ph of 7.6 I would “guess” my water is hard. I want ro system but the holding tank I wouldn’t know where to put. Where to house 40-60 gals is difficult.
Hello! TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids, and is made up of GH,KH and other minerals that are in your water. Your pH being at 7.6 means that you have alkaline water. I would suggest testing your source water for GH, KH & pH separately To help you understand the difference between GH, KH & pH I have a GH, KH & pH beginners guide here: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html I also talk about GH, KH & pH on my website here: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/gh-kh-ph How big is your tank? I store my RO in 30L containers, and these are used for my water changes... I go through around 100-120L (26-30usgals) per week at the moment.
Hi there.I’m keeping discus a now doing water changes with ro unit.my gh is 25 and kh is 11 in my tap water so what mix would I need to be doing if make 20ltr of ro water.
Hello Glynn, Are you saying that your GH is 25 degrees and KH is 11 degrees? 25dGH? and KH 11dKH? if so, I do not think cutting with tap water will be your best solution and may as well go with pure RO and re-mineralise :) There are loads of Discus specific re mineralising products available - Take a look at Discus Foods or Tropic Marin
If your source water is as close to 0ppm as possible then yes you can. You might struggle with tap however as there is typically lots of buffering content within it :)
I would suggest you need to replace the filters, 70ppm after going through an RO Unit is quite high. Also consider installing DI Unit to help bring to 0ppm
I am trying to use ro water for a planted tank. I get a 5 gallon container filled at my local fish store. I want a kh of 6- a gh of 6 and a ph of 7 as well. The seachem calculator gives me extremely high grams to add of each product. I actually just ruined a 5 gallon batch by putting the product in. How much material should I add? I am about to give up trying to use ro water.
Hello Scott, Yes, I have heard many people come across the issue where equilibrium dosed by the seachem directions raise the GH higher than expected. For Pure RO 0TDS, you will be aiming for a meq/l of 2.14, Seachems calculator recommends that you should add 8.6 grams or 1/2 a table spoon to reach your desired 6dGH or 107ppm GH. If this is what you have put in and your readings have come out higher than 6dGH, can you tell me what readings you are getting? KH, you would dose 3.7 grams or 1/2 a tea spoon of Alkaline Buffer and then 1.8 grams or 1/3 a tea spoon of Acid Buffer to reach pH 7. Likewise, if you are adding the KH ammount as suggested above and your figures are off, let me know.
The problem with filling at your fish store is they could have dirty filters that need changed and that is why you are dosing higher. Try to test their water with a TDS pen before you purchase next time.
Hi I have a quick question.I like to keep my tank tds 100 and but I couldn’t.when I do my water change I will check my tank tds.it will comes tds 150.so when do water change I add little equilibrium balance it am not following the measurement adding equilibrium.is it ok with that?
Hello, Couple of questions... Do you have a planted aquarium? How often do you perform a water change? Do you top up your aquarium with pure RO from evaporation in between water changes?
a little late but I could use some help. .. so I have just recently been cutting my tap water with ro water to bring my kh,gh,tds down I have done that but my ph has not budged at all. am I doing something wrong?
Hello, pH can be quite hard to shift, especially when you have a good amount of buffer in your tap water. What % are you cutting? and what is your kH after you cut? It most likely sounds like you need to increase the % of RO vs tap :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics I'm currently cutting it 50:50 my kh drops from 15-9 & my gh drops from 19-11. My tds also drops from 350ppm to 180ppm. But ph doesn't budge. I then tried a 75% ro to 25% tap & it dropped my kh to 4 & my gh to 6 also my tds to 80ppm I left the water to sit for 24 hours with an airstone in checked the ph & it's was 8.2... I then left it 24 more hours with out the air stone & it dropped back down to 7.4... I'm so confused. Any help would be appreciated.
What pH are you aiming for, and also why are you targeting a specific pH? In terms of what's going on, your water remains with a relatively high buffering capacity, and is slowly adjusting back or as close to it's resting pH. There are other elements besides KH that buffers and raises pH, so this may be why your pH isn't shifting as much as you'd like. You mentioned on your 75/25 split that your GH is 6, with KH of 4 and overall TDS of 80 - I'm afraid that would be incorrect, GH of 6 = 107ppm, KH of 4 = 71ppm, so your TDS as a minimum would be 178ppm. You may want to make sure you have a calibrated TDS meter &/or Water Test Kits and test that scenario again.
I'm not trying to target a ph was just trying to understand why it wasn't dropping :) I'm positive my tds meter is correct as it reads the same as my built in controller on my ro unit. Could it be my api kh/gh test kit?? I literally just brought it brand new... I am reading results correctly by counting the amount of drops it takes to change colours right? Kh it was 4 drops to change from blue to yellow & gh it was 6 drops from orange to green.
Hello, I have very soft water with 0 KH 1 or 2 degree GH and pH between 6.4 to 6.8 depending on the season. I use Aquilibrium to rase the KH If I use alkaline buffer do I have to use acid buffer. I read on the label that it's to sofen water. The tank I want to use it on add a pH of 6 today. (well my test kid doesn't read below that so I don't realy know). Also would RO water put my pH at 7?
I'm sure it was a typo, but just to clarify, Equilibrium is used to raise your GH, not KH. :) RO water, typically can come out between 6-7 pH, You'll need to test your RO to see what value is given. Mine is always between 6.8-7. So, when you use an alkaline buffer to give your RO a KH reading, this is known to boost your pH level too, so to allow you to target a specific pH, acid buffer is used to lower the pH to your desired level. I use the acid buffer to bring my pH to neutral (7.0). In answer to your question, if you are comfortable with the pH level following the introduction of the alkaline buffer, then no, no need to use acid buffer.
I added equilibrium wiith alkaline buffer and acid buffer as described, my ph is now 6.5 which Im really happy about and the TDS is 20ppm. Is this correct
@@peterdanes2335 120 ppm seems like a reasonable TDS level for a soft-medium water aquarium. I'm assuming you have done a 50/50 split of GH & KH? Aiming for 3dGH/KH?
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics so basically im trying for a 6.5 ph and GH around 4, I poured 30 litres of RO into a container last night thenI added 9g equilibrium using the measuring spoon with 3.9 Alkaline buffer along with 1.7 acid buffer, I left it overnight and tested this morning but found 6.9ph, 56 TDS, KH1 and GH2. What am I doing wrong?
@@peterdanes2335 For what you are aiming for the calculations add up. but for the TDS to drop overnight to 56 that seems very odd! Solids do not leave water unless filtered out or absorbed by resin's or life forms. When you add the product to your water how are you mixing? do you leave it to sit or are you adding a power head/ wavemaker / airstone? With equilibrium, I find that if you use a airstone it doesn't mix well (clumps up and doesn't dissolve) and instead I use a powerhead.
Hello, depends on what hardness you are aiming for as the great thing about these products is it allows you to reach a hardness level and then lock your pH in at a desired level. I will give an example of 5dKH in 5 US Gallons (19 L), starting with 0ppm TDS: 3.1 Grams of Alkaline Buffer & 1.5 Grams of Acid Buffer This will give you a carbonate hardness of 5, with your pH locked at 7.
Hello Uday Das, I wouldn't suggest using egg shells on pure RO water alone, it is not very accurate and will not get all of the minerals that you need to support your fish. Egg shells and crushed coral are good where you have source water that is lacking in terms of pH and you want to raise that and buffer your pH to a more alkaline level
@@leo2o915 Is that what you are aiming for, with pure RO? 150 TDS would be a breakdown of all of the dissolved solids (GH,KH etc.) depending on the species of fish, I would aim for 4dGH (71.4ppm) with 4dKH (71.4ppm) that would bring the TDS to 140-150 (GH & KH) ppm - with a few extra minerals adding to the TDS due to the equilibrium, so you'd be looking closer to 170ish tds. Use this dose calculator to figure out how much you should use: www.seachem.com/calculators.php If you need to understand the measurement conversions of some of the values, I have a conversion chart on my website here: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/measurement-conversion-1
I just don’t get it. When i bring the pH down to pH6 and I add seachem alkaline to buffer my water, I only get KH 2.5 and my pH goes all the way to 8.00. I am trying to keep guppies (sunrise guppy) with a KH of 10 or even 15 but i find this impossible because as I add the buffer pH goes way higher. :( this is way i just want to quit. Or just have my guppies with filtered water with out KH. (So boring water) does anyone knows how to get a KH of 10-30 with a 7-8pH. Is this even possible?
Hello, I am not sure why you want a KH level of 10-30 dKH as KH or carbonate hardness is your buffering capacity, for guppies a KH with degree around 4+ should help you to lock in your pH. The trick with guppies is your water hardness which is your GH measure (general hardness) being around 10dGH, this has no affect on your pH. I have done a video on GH, KH & pH here is a link: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html it might help you with understanding the water chemistry.
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics thank you for trying to help me: the reason I am trying to acquire el high KH measure is because on the how to take care or guppies on Liveaquaria website, it says that they can stand a KH from 10 to 30 -if I remember correctly-. So anyways I am rather new to this and I just want my guppies to have the best water environment for them. Thank you so much for answering me. My Original water if Neutral with out any KH so I use Seachem Alkaline buffer.
Hello, I am not sure why their website says 10-30dKH, that would be higher than most Marine aquariums, where a KH level is used by corals to consume carbonates. If I was a betting man I would assume they mean dGH or total hardness (both GH & KH ... and other minerals in the water). I would test your source waters KH, if you are 4+ I wouldn't worry about touching it as you will maintain a healthy pH level when you replenish the KH on your water changes. Guppies love hard water (GH) so also test your source water for GH, and if you are anywhere between 9-17dGH (160-303ppm) I'd also recommend to leave well alone. I am happy to advise on what I would do if you can confirm your source starting GH, KH & pH... but it is just my opinion, there are many ways to successfully keep Guppies.
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics that makes sense now. Thanks for the help. I think i get it now. 3 to 4 on KH so that it stays stable. And at least 9GH so that there is enough minerals for the fishies (for this i use, seachem fresh Trace:) thank you so much.
Glad I have been able to help! I have not used Fresh Trace before so cannot confirm, but if that increases your General Hardness then it should be right :)
gosh these are so confusing! can someone just tell me how to measure per 10 us gallons? how much equilibrium? how much kh/gh to make it suitable for fresh water with a ph of 7
Hello, it can be frustrating when at first you do not understand the water chemistry for aquariums, however it completely depends on what parameter you are trying to reach, there isn't a silver bullet for all fish I'm afraid :) I would suggest going onto Seachem website and using their calculator to give you the desired measurements you are after. If you need help with converting between ppm, degrees & MEQ/L, use my conversion chart: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/measurement-conversion-1
!["สนธิ" ห่วงมีขบวนการปกป้อง "ทนายตั้ม" : [THE MESSAGE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/2GQNp3EoMc0/mqdefault.jpg)
I finally understood the use of buffers. Thanks!
Glad this video helped you :)
This is the most helpful video, thank you.
thank you for your help on the ro water
No problem, thank you for watching
The problem people are having using Alkaline Buffer with Acid Buffer is pH drift. After adding enough Acid Buffer to the water and getting the pH desired, within a a day or so the pH drifts back up to 8. Explain how to deal with that please.
Hello, I explain in the video :) - You need to keep dosing to fix the pH.
Hi loved your video. About the cutting teqnique. How much is the ratio roi water / tap water that you mix? Just for me to get an idea. Thanks in advance!
Glad you found the video useful! I do not cut my water, mine is completely remineralised (due to Nitrate levels in my tap). Best way to work it out what works for you would be to mix up a few buckets and see what one gives you the TDS, Hardness and pH that you are looking for :)
Thank you for the simple but very effective way to get the right type of water I need. I've got 8 arowanas and 3 diamond stingrays in a huge tank (4000 liters)
@@RoasMetten Wow! That sounds like a lovely group of fish!
I typically "cut" my R/O 60/40 with tap water. My tap is 300 tds and its all calcium, magnesium, and iron. The catch is that my tap water has almost no carbonate....even my tap water barely tests 2dKH.
Excellent video thankyou.
Thank you! Glad you found the video useful
Have you had any issues with some of the equilibrium not dissolving ?
If you do not have enough current in the container/bucket that you are dissolving the solution it can 'clump' together, I just fix the powerhead to blow onto any bits that clump up
Hi! I recently got my rodi water system setup. What's your process for remineralising the water? This is my first time using it and I currently filled up a 5 gallon bucket and dosed my equilibrium/alkaline/acid buffers and put a powerhead in to stir it to get it ready for my water change tomorrow. Do you see any issues with this? How long should I let it sit before I put it in my tank? I could've swore you mentioned 30m to an hour but I couldn't find it again. Should I put my heater in now or do it right before tomorrow to avoid any evaportation? Any suggestions would be great thanks!
Hello!
I have a different approach to some of my aquariums, some are planted some are not, the main difference being for non-planted aquariums I use Replenish instead of Equilibrium.
I find that when using a powerhead the minerals are nicely mixed in within an hour, my RO water sits at c. 18-20 C and on some aquariums I need to heat it up to 28 C, I pop a heater in at the same time as mixing and I find I am at temperature after 3 hours, I check my TDS, but not yet had any evaporation issues in this time period (Just remember when heating the water that you'll need to have some cool water aside to turn off and pop your heater in once finished to allow your heater to cool)
Once it is at temperature and the TDS is what I expect (based on the amount of minerals etc. I have added) I add to the aquarium. On cool tanks this is done in a hour, on my hotter aquariums this is done within 3 hours.
Another thing I do is pre-heat my RO containers when I know I am tackling multiple hot tanks and those then get done within an hour :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics That sounds good, thank you for the input! I had one more question... So I'm trying to get the parameters you mentioned, 4dGH and 4dKH with 7.0 pH and in a 5 gallon jug. I came up with the measurements of 5.6g of equilibrium, 2.4g of alkaline buffer, and 1.2g of acid buffer... My TDS ended up being 252ppm and my pH was around 7.6.. I'm not sure what I did wrong :/ Do you have any suggestions? I made my RO water yesterday and let it mix overnight.
@@cody000125 Equilibrium does include additional minerals that will effect your TDS level (making it higher).
The measurements that you have used, should give you the desired output, however Seachem also recommend that you use your mix within the first few hours, and this is where the science gets a little crazy... the solutions are carbonate buffers, if they are left in an isolated state for a prolonged period of time with no incoming acids sources, the pH will start to shift back up (why and how, is unfortunately beyond my understanding) So, if you are heating your water overnight I would suggest adding your Acid & Alkaline Buffer 30 minutes before you do your water change :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics Ohhhh wow ty! I'll give that a try! Just out of curiosity what prevents the pH from going up after you put it in the tank as well? What acid sources stabilize it?
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics Oh wow! I didn't know that, thank you! I'll give that a try on my next water change. And just out of curiosity what prevents the water pH from shifting back up when put in the tank? Which acid sources are there to stabilize it?
Hi Im pretty new to the whole RO water setup. I just recently started using equilibrium with the RO water I get from my local hippy store, in my 10 gallon swordtail tank. As you said it makes the water extremely hard. You said not to worry about that? But I do need to lower it yes? Should I purchase the acid and alkaline products to then balance it? Thanks
Hello,
Equilibrium is a product that boosts your General Hardness (GH), this is mainly made up of salts, Magnesium & Calcium. When using RO, you also need to consider your buffering capacity to help keep your pH stable. There are many ways of maintaining pH, one of those is Carbonate Hardness (KH), products for this are Alkaline buffer, which adds KH to your aquarium (alkalinity), the acid buffer is recommended for use alongside the Alkaline buffer when using RO, to target a specific pH - follow the instructions on their website/side of the bottles for accurate dosing.
I have done a video on GH, KH & pH here: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html and a maintenance one here: th-cam.com/video/Y_KnuCHxwdQ/w-d-xo.html
Also, Swordtails are lovely fish - I would be remised if I didn't take this time to advise you that in the long term a 10 Gallon is a small aquarium for Swordtails, reaching c. 8-10cm in length and the fact that they reproduce like rabbits, you may find they outgrow the space very fast. (swimming space & capacity once they breed) - I would recommend a 20 Gallon as a minimum for long term health.
Thanks for watching, I hope my video has been able to help you with your new journey with RO.
Hi I’m looking at switching over to RO water for my freshwater tropical tank. Is there any danger when introducing it to an existing tank? My concern is how the fish adapt to the suddenly (better) different water conditions
There can be a danger to your existing inhabitants if you change too much and create too much of a shift in parameters that they are used to. My recommendation is to adjust slowly through water changes :) (c. 20% at a time)
Very well explained, thanks! BTW The link to the digital spoon review in the top right corner disappeared. Greetings from the Netherlands
Thank you! Glad you found the video useful. - ah Thanks for letting me know, I have now sorted the link in the video!
If you still want to watch the spoon review, here is the link too: th-cam.com/video/HFqC9z08D90/w-d-xo.html
All the best from the UK :)
I use Alkaline buffer with Acid buffer and go for a KH of 5 which is 14g in 20 gallons of water. So to get a 7PH I add 7g of acid buffer. When I do this, my PH rises to 8 every time. I have tested the water separately to make sure it was not something in my aquarium. After 24 hours of addition, it rises. My RO water after 24 hours goes from a 6 to 6.4PH and stays there. Not sure why alkaline buffer does this. I saw that the Sodium Bicarbonate will do this as that is what this buffer is.
Hello,
These products require continual dosing over days (will be different for each person) to lock your pH - I belive it says this on the packaging (but don't have to hand to verify... if you already have a set pH in the water your aquarium will naturally balance back to whatever that is if you haven't locked it down.
Without a source of Acid in your aquarium too, the pH can sometimes fluctuate.
I’ve been using tap water to cycle my new planted tank but am going to change to remineralised ro water now everything seems to have settled. My question is what affect will the aqua soil have? Do I still use both buffers?
Thanks👍
Hello, can you confirm which product you are using? Aqua soil is a broad term for various aquarium substrate products :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics I'm using Tropica soi.
@@r8please Use both buffers, but keep an eye on your pH for the first few weeks during the transition to make sure you understand what impact the soil may have, you might need to change your dosing :)
Very helpful, thank you
You're welcome! Thanks CT94 t94
Hi . When alkaline buffer and acid buffer does it matter which one you would add to ro water first..
No, shouldn't have any effect... out of habit I always add alkaline first :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics brilliant... Thanks for the reply
Hi, I recently got an RO device and I am wondering if I can remineralize the water using only acid buffer and alkaline buffer, or do I need something else?
Depends on what fish you are keeping... typically you will need something for GH, but for pure softwater fish, this may not be needed and you could just add in trace minerals
I use equilibrium with RO/DI water when I top off the tank should I be using just RO/DI water or should I be using the remineralized water
Hello,
When topping off, just use pure RODI, when your aquarium water evaporates the solids are left behind, adding pure RO brings your water back to desirable TDS.
Equilibrium is hard to dissolve so boil a small batch of the water and mix it that way then add the the total batch
Thanks for sharing 👌
Thank you for watching :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics 🤘
Hi I see people use the 3 products equilibrium, alk and acid buffers together? Is this correct also?
Depends, the 3 products you have mentioned and have demonstrated in the video are designed for planted aquariums :)
Do I need all those products for fresh water tank?
I just bought my RODI setup
Hello,
Depends on what sort of set-up you are going for. There are many products on the market and some have been designed for specific species, planted tanks, non-planted tanks.
Companies that I have used are Seachem, Tropic Marin, Salty Shrimp & DiscusFoods.
If you share what you are wanting to do, I am happy to provide a recommendation
So I’m trying to set up a blue dream tank but my kh is so high doesn’t read on the chart it took 16 drops for it to turn from blue to yellow. An my ph is 8.3 an my gh test took three drops to turn green . Do I just use acid buffer to lower kh an ph? The tank will be planted also
That does sound like a lot of KH, what is the degrees of hardness you are getting?
I’m so confused. Does TDS tell you, or give you an idea of gh/kh? I need softer water and lower ph for my angels. But am unsure of gh and kh since I see complaints about results with ada products (i ordered anyway cause that’s all I can get). I also ordered a TDS test thing. Since my tap has ph of 7.6 I would “guess” my water is hard. I want ro system but the holding tank I wouldn’t know where to put. Where to house 40-60 gals is difficult.
Hello!
TDS stands for Total Dissolved Solids, and is made up of GH,KH and other minerals that are in your water.
Your pH being at 7.6 means that you have alkaline water. I would suggest testing your source water for GH, KH & pH separately
To help you understand the difference between GH, KH & pH I have a GH, KH & pH beginners guide here: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html
I also talk about GH, KH & pH on my website here: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/gh-kh-ph
How big is your tank? I store my RO in 30L containers, and these are used for my water changes... I go through around 100-120L (26-30usgals) per week at the moment.
Is replenish equilibrium safe for shrimp and fish in a planted aquarium?
Equilibrium is safe for shrimp & plants... Replenish is for non-planted aquariums, and is safe for shrimp
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics ok so which should I use if I have a planted aquarium with fish (bumblebee gobis)
@@matthewberry9648 Equilibrium is your friend in a planted aquarium :)
Hi there.I’m keeping discus a now doing water changes with ro unit.my gh is 25 and kh is 11 in my tap water so what mix would I need to be doing if make 20ltr of ro water.
Hello Glynn,
Are you saying that your GH is 25 degrees and KH is 11 degrees? 25dGH? and KH 11dKH? if so, I do not think cutting with tap water will be your best solution and may as well go with pure RO and re-mineralise :) There are loads of Discus specific re mineralising products available - Take a look at Discus Foods or Tropic Marin
Can I do this with tap water or distilled? I don't have a RO system
If your source water is as close to 0ppm as possible then yes you can. You might struggle with tap however as there is typically lots of buffering content within it :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics my tds in tap water is 107! GH 3 AND KH 1. I don't have the resources to use RO water
In my ro water tds is 30 ppm . How much equilibrium add in to water .i want tds between 120 to 140 fo plant tanks.
What is the volume of water you are trying to treat?
My ro water is at 70 ppm and 6ph , how can I lower the tds to 45 without my ph dropping so much
I would suggest you need to replace the filters, 70ppm after going through an RO Unit is quite high. Also consider installing DI Unit to help bring to 0ppm
I am trying to use ro water for a planted tank. I get a 5 gallon container filled at my local fish store. I want a kh of 6- a gh of 6 and a ph of 7 as well. The seachem calculator gives me extremely high grams to add of each product. I actually just ruined a 5 gallon batch by putting the product in. How much material should I add? I am about to give up trying to use ro water.
Hello Scott,
Yes, I have heard many people come across the issue where equilibrium dosed by the seachem directions raise the GH higher than expected.
For Pure RO 0TDS, you will be aiming for a meq/l of 2.14, Seachems calculator recommends that you should add 8.6 grams or 1/2 a table spoon to reach your desired 6dGH or 107ppm GH. If this is what you have put in and your readings have come out higher than 6dGH, can you tell me what readings you are getting?
KH, you would dose 3.7 grams or 1/2 a tea spoon of Alkaline Buffer and then 1.8 grams or 1/3 a tea spoon of Acid Buffer to reach pH 7.
Likewise, if you are adding the KH ammount as suggested above and your figures are off, let me know.
Ok. Thanks. I think I see what I was doing wrong. I will try your numbers tomorrow with a new batch.
Hopefully you get the results or closer to them! Let me know how you get on.
The problem with filling at your fish store is they could have dirty filters that need changed and that is why you are dosing higher. Try to test their water with a TDS pen before you purchase next time.
Hi I have a quick question.I like to keep my tank tds 100 and but I couldn’t.when I do my water change I will check my tank tds.it will comes tds 150.so when do water change I add little equilibrium balance it am not following the measurement adding equilibrium.is it ok with that?
Hello,
Couple of questions...
Do you have a planted aquarium?
How often do you perform a water change?
Do you top up your aquarium with pure RO from evaporation in between water changes?
a little late but I could use some help.
.. so I have just recently been cutting my tap water with ro water to bring my kh,gh,tds down I have done that but my ph has not budged at all. am I doing something wrong?
Hello,
pH can be quite hard to shift, especially when you have a good amount of buffer in your tap water.
What % are you cutting? and what is your kH after you cut? It most likely sounds like you need to increase the % of RO vs tap :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics I'm currently cutting it 50:50 my kh drops from 15-9 & my gh drops from 19-11. My tds also drops from 350ppm to 180ppm. But ph doesn't budge. I then tried a 75% ro to 25% tap & it dropped my kh to 4 & my gh to 6 also my tds to 80ppm I left the water to sit for 24 hours with an airstone in checked the ph & it's was 8.2... I then left it 24 more hours with out the air stone & it dropped back down to 7.4... I'm so confused. Any help would be appreciated.
What pH are you aiming for, and also why are you targeting a specific pH?
In terms of what's going on, your water remains with a relatively high buffering capacity, and is slowly adjusting back or as close to it's resting pH. There are other elements besides KH that buffers and raises pH, so this may be why your pH isn't shifting as much as you'd like.
You mentioned on your 75/25 split that your GH is 6, with KH of 4 and overall TDS of 80 - I'm afraid that would be incorrect, GH of 6 = 107ppm, KH of 4 = 71ppm, so your TDS as a minimum would be 178ppm. You may want to make sure you have a calibrated TDS meter &/or Water Test Kits and test that scenario again.
I'm not trying to target a ph was just trying to understand why it wasn't dropping :)
I'm positive my tds meter is correct as it reads the same as my built in controller on my ro unit. Could it be my api kh/gh test kit?? I literally just brought it brand new... I am reading results correctly by counting the amount of drops it takes to change colours right? Kh it was 4 drops to change from blue to yellow & gh it was 6 drops from orange to green.
Hello, I have very soft water with 0 KH 1 or 2 degree GH and pH between 6.4 to 6.8 depending on the season. I use Aquilibrium to rase the KH If I use alkaline buffer do I have to use acid buffer. I read on the label that it's to sofen water. The tank I want to use it on add a pH of 6 today. (well my test kid doesn't read below that so I don't realy know). Also would RO water put my pH at 7?
I'm sure it was a typo, but just to clarify, Equilibrium is used to raise your GH, not KH. :)
RO water, typically can come out between 6-7 pH, You'll need to test your RO to see what value is given. Mine is always between 6.8-7.
So, when you use an alkaline buffer to give your RO a KH reading, this is known to boost your pH level too, so to allow you to target a specific pH, acid buffer is used to lower the pH to your desired level. I use the acid buffer to bring my pH to neutral (7.0). In answer to your question, if you are comfortable with the pH level following the introduction of the alkaline buffer, then no, no need to use acid buffer.
I added equilibrium wiith alkaline buffer and acid buffer as described, my ph is now 6.5 which Im really happy about and the TDS is 20ppm. Is this correct
How much water are you treating? 20ppm TDS seems low, but depends on the volume of water
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics was meant to say 120ppm sorry does that seem ok
@@peterdanes2335 120 ppm seems like a reasonable TDS level for a soft-medium water aquarium. I'm assuming you have done a 50/50 split of GH & KH? Aiming for 3dGH/KH?
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics so basically im trying for a 6.5 ph and GH around 4, I poured 30 litres of RO into a container last night thenI added 9g equilibrium using the measuring spoon with 3.9 Alkaline buffer along with 1.7 acid buffer, I left it overnight and tested this morning but found 6.9ph, 56 TDS, KH1 and GH2. What am I doing wrong?
@@peterdanes2335 For what you are aiming for the calculations add up. but for the TDS to drop overnight to 56 that seems very odd! Solids do not leave water unless filtered out or absorbed by resin's or life forms.
When you add the product to your water how are you mixing? do you leave it to sit or are you adding a power head/ wavemaker / airstone? With equilibrium, I find that if you use a airstone it doesn't mix well (clumps up and doesn't dissolve) and instead I use a powerhead.
using pure ro water / tds o , 5 gallon how much of alkaline buffer then acid buffer for 7 ph thanks
Hello, depends on what hardness you are aiming for as the great thing about these products is it allows you to reach a hardness level and then lock your pH in at a desired level.
I will give an example of 5dKH in 5 US Gallons (19 L), starting with 0ppm TDS:
3.1 Grams of Alkaline Buffer & 1.5 Grams of Acid Buffer
This will give you a carbonate hardness of 5, with your pH locked at 7.
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics when doing this exact example do you use replenish to set gh
@@doyleanderson5357 Equilibrium is my go to at the moment, but replenish will do the same :)
Egg shell can mineralize the Ro water?
Hello Uday Das, I wouldn't suggest using egg shells on pure RO water alone, it is not very accurate and will not get all of the minerals that you need to support your fish.
Egg shells and crushed coral are good where you have source water that is lacking in terms of pH and you want to raise that and buffer your pH to a more alkaline level
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics Ok Sir.. Thank you.
So for a 20 long how much would I need ?
Hello Leo, depends on your source water and what parameters you are aiming for my friend :)
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics 7ph around 150 tds
@@leo2o915 Is that what you are aiming for, with pure RO? 150 TDS would be a breakdown of all of the dissolved solids (GH,KH etc.) depending on the species of fish, I would aim for 4dGH (71.4ppm) with 4dKH (71.4ppm) that would bring the TDS to 140-150 (GH & KH) ppm - with a few extra minerals adding to the TDS due to the equilibrium, so you'd be looking closer to 170ish tds.
Use this dose calculator to figure out how much you should use: www.seachem.com/calculators.php
If you need to understand the measurement conversions of some of the values, I have a conversion chart on my website here: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/measurement-conversion-1
I just don’t get it. When i bring the pH down to pH6 and I add seachem alkaline to buffer my water, I only get KH 2.5 and my pH goes all the way to 8.00. I am trying to keep guppies (sunrise guppy) with a KH of 10 or even 15 but i find this impossible because as I add the buffer pH goes way higher. :( this is way i just want to quit. Or just have my guppies with filtered water with out KH. (So boring water) does anyone knows how to get a KH of 10-30 with a 7-8pH. Is this even possible?
Hello, I am not sure why you want a KH level of 10-30 dKH as KH or carbonate hardness is your buffering capacity, for guppies a KH with degree around 4+ should help you to lock in your pH.
The trick with guppies is your water hardness which is your GH measure (general hardness) being around 10dGH, this has no affect on your pH.
I have done a video on GH, KH & pH here is a link: th-cam.com/video/oXcxq6x9P8c/w-d-xo.html it might help you with understanding the water chemistry.
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics thank you for trying to help me: the reason I am trying to acquire el high KH measure is because on the how to take care or guppies on Liveaquaria website, it says that they can stand a KH from 10 to 30 -if I remember correctly-. So anyways I am rather new to this and I just want my guppies to have the best water environment for them. Thank you so much for answering me. My Original water if Neutral with out any KH so I use Seachem Alkaline buffer.
Hello,
I am not sure why their website says 10-30dKH, that would be higher than most Marine aquariums, where a KH level is used by corals to consume carbonates. If I was a betting man I would assume they mean dGH or total hardness (both GH & KH ... and other minerals in the water).
I would test your source waters KH, if you are 4+ I wouldn't worry about touching it as you will maintain a healthy pH level when you replenish the KH on your water changes.
Guppies love hard water (GH) so also test your source water for GH, and if you are anywhere between 9-17dGH (160-303ppm) I'd also recommend to leave well alone.
I am happy to advise on what I would do if you can confirm your source starting GH, KH & pH... but it is just my opinion, there are many ways to successfully keep Guppies.
@@BigFishLittleFishAquatics
that makes sense now. Thanks for the help. I think i get it now. 3 to 4 on KH so that it stays stable. And at least 9GH so that there is enough minerals for the fishies (for this i use, seachem fresh Trace:) thank you so much.
Glad I have been able to help! I have not used Fresh Trace before so cannot confirm, but if that increases your General Hardness then it should be right :)
gosh these are so confusing! can someone just tell me how to measure per 10 us gallons? how much equilibrium? how much kh/gh to make it suitable for fresh water with a ph of 7
Hello, it can be frustrating when at first you do not understand the water chemistry for aquariums, however it completely depends on what parameter you are trying to reach, there isn't a silver bullet for all fish I'm afraid :)
I would suggest going onto Seachem website and using their calculator to give you the desired measurements you are after.
If you need help with converting between ppm, degrees & MEQ/L, use my conversion chart: www.bigfishlittlefishaquatics.co.uk/measurement-conversion-1