nextlevel808 March 23, 2015 Share March 23, 2015 Ok so I just installed a new BSR stage 6 RoDi and purchessed 2 Rubbermaid 50g trashcans. After cleaning both with vinegar and water and rinsing out with bottled water I had bought and always fill my tanks with in the past. I had 30g of water in bottles left over so I put that in one Rubbermaid and mixed my salt in it. Now I've usually not always check the ph before putting in my tank after getting salinity right I tested ph and found it was 8.4 which is high I was wondering if it might be the cleaning of the can with the vinegar. Now I also had made some fresh water using the RoDi in the other Rubbermaid and when testing that it's reading it's super low which might just be my water. Can I get anyone's thoughts here as I'm completely lost on what I should do next. Will I always have to bring my ph of my water up every time I use my RoDi unit? Please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime March 23, 2015 Share March 23, 2015 I never test for anything other than salinity. Sometimes temp if I feel like there is a huge difference. If you're doing anything less than 25%, I wouldn't be concerned. Just my 2 cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom39 March 23, 2015 Share March 23, 2015 +1 for never testing anything but salinity. IMO, even with a PH of 8.4, the volume of water in the average WC is not going to make much of a change to the tank PH and any change should self regulate itself within a few hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmerek2 March 24, 2015 Share March 24, 2015 Dont worry about RODI PH. The only thing people worry about with RODI is TDS. Now water change (fresh saltwater) PH should only be a concern when doing a super large water change (emergency situations) most people won't do more than 25%. the people doing 5-10% but more often water changes are the people with higher end SPS sticks since they are more sensitive to swings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Origami March 24, 2015 Share March 24, 2015 Newly mixed salt normally has a higher than normal pH. Either aerate it, or stir it with a pump for a few hours (or overnight) before using it and it should equalize to a lower number. It's not the RO/DI, but the carbonate salts that are used in the salt mix that set that initial pH level. If they bias it with a little more sodium carbonate versus bicarbonate, the initial pH starts higher. Eventually, any mix should settle down after it's had a little time to breathe and age. BTW, vinegar is acidic and acids have a pH below 7, not above. The pH of store-bought vinegar should be close to 5.5, I think. As noted, the pH of RO/DI or distilled water is highly variable to the point of being meaningless for our purposes. (But I don't think that you were measuring the pH of your freshwater.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nextlevel808 March 24, 2015 Author Share March 24, 2015 Thanks everyone. I also tend to do a 10% water change every week as my coral and fish both like it so far. This all makes since and I really think I was looking to far into all of this. There I guess could have been a few things that could have caused this as well now looking back. I had just opened a fresh bucket of reef salt for mixing, I don't normally or ever remember testing fresh water before so all these things mentioned have helped me realize I over think things a lot of the time. Thanks again for all the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishgate March 24, 2015 Share March 24, 2015 Bottled water is not RO/DI. I would not have used that for your tank water. It is the same as your tap water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaknott March 25, 2015 Share March 25, 2015 I have a similar setup, using too rubbermaid trash cans for my system. 1 can is used to have the RODI fill then I pump it into the second tank where I mix my salt. I keep both tanks heatd to a desired temp that way the water is always similar to the tanks I would use the water in. I also keep up with Salinity in my salt tank of course. In addition I also keep a pump in the salt tank to keep the water circulatign adn help with the mixing. I do check my tds in my first tank to make sure I know what its coming out of my RODI system. Yes there is a meter on my output of my RODI i just like to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nextlevel808 March 26, 2015 Author Share March 26, 2015 I also don't mean regular bottled water I use to buy RoDi water in 5g bottles or jugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now