Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Had me confused for a moment there DD....

what you are measuring is your waters ability to "buffer" pH

i.e its "hardness"....

pH is in itself a measure of acidicy, or of alkalinity....

Many references here to buffering pH either through shells/grit (calcium based substances) to raise acidic pH or by addition of cut lemons/limes (acidic compunds) to lower alkalinity pH

Did see mentioned Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) mentioned by AA in a thread somewhere in reference to fish health... may also have a buffering capacity.

Think I've got it right...Steve will correct if need be

DD, yes i would expect the "alkilinity" to drop as the nitrogen cycle hums along. The coversion from ammonia to nitrate releases acids hence the downward shift in ph. As the buffers do their "buffering" they will be "consumed".

Make sense? I've used easy to get you head around terms, it is a VERY complicated process.

Rupe, i hear you, but alkalinity is not the same as alkaline, it is very easy to make the mistake. And also, alkilinity and hardness, although used interchangeably (and for our purposes that will do) are not strictly speaking the same! Sorry, blame it on having tried to keep a marine aquarium!

Watch this post in the next half hour, i will post some links that explain it in depth for anyone that would like a headache tonight LOL

LOL... I even went and re-read the posts to check... still got it wrong...

alkalinty's not alkaline... oils aint oils.... errrrrr

please explain, please explain, I just don't like it.... lol

DD,
With the influx of fish, I have seen a drop in pH, too. I'm running at about 6.8 now instead of 7.2. I'm hoping it will drift back up when the crushed coral catches up, but I'm not going to attempt to adjust it.

probably a good idea, i got caught out playing mad chemist earlier on................and i should have known better.

Rupe, stay tuned..............i'll get to the links, next two days are going to be HECTIC with wedding planning..................

My general hardness GH is like 150, my KH (says total alkalinity on the bottle) is between 0 and 40. What would make the general hardness high despite the carbonate hardness being low?

No extra stress Steve... re-read your "Water Hardness & Fish Health" post again...

Don't think I was that far out in my understanding, but maybe a bit lose with more choice of words...

Assumed that as a descriptive measure of acidic content could be referred to as "acidicity" that a descriptive measure of alkaline content (both in a pH context) could be referred to as "alkalinity"....

forgot that "alkalinity" is (as you say) usually (loosely) associated with KH & GH...

still not completely clear to me but I'm in process of re-researching every post here as I've got most everything I need and I'm about to actually/finally start putting together my system.

DD, Welcome to Pennsylvania Water!

My water does a similar thing:
pH 6.8
Total Hardness 250
Alkalinity 80 (it was lower)

Do take a look at Steve's water info. I can't explain it all. The important thing is to provide a stable environment for the fish, even if the numbers are out of the 'perfect' range.

Well, it looks like I am almost cycled already. Nitrites are 1 this morning! The pee really worked!

Drop one of your goldfish in there to test the water. Just in case the ammonia had anything nasty in it.

Ohh great a possible sacraficial goldfish. Make em flip a coin for the honor.
Two Ap'ers were peeing in the pond, the one stated " gee the waters cold "
The other says " yes it is and deep as well"

Better than a sacrificial 63 tilapia.

Yep, I think it might be Twitchy, as I am thinking Dirts is very handsome now. He started out one of those greenish ones, but now he looks a lot like Bobby Two-Tone did - pale orange and black.

Since they aren't used to the warmer water I am thinking of combining this into a temperature loss test - unplug the heaters and see how fast I lose say 5 degrees of heat. Then put Twitchy in the sump to see how well he likes it. I can't put him in the main tub because I wouldn't be able to retrieve him then!

p.s. The wife wants to go to That Fish Place on Saturday and get a new aquarium, she likes the saltwater fish. How much of a PITA would starting a saltwater aquarium be? Should I just go for warmer freshwater fish instead?

Talk her in to African cichlids. Oh wait, that's what Tilapia is!

I've never done salt. Sounded like too much of a PITA. My father did salt for a short while. He gave it up pretty quickly, but I think he was trying to cycle too fast. Somehow I think salt takes longer to cycle, but I could be totally off on that.

Actually, there are a lot of very nice colorful cichlids -- African or Central/South American. They are very animated and personable. My personal favorites were gold severums and firemouths. Both American and in the 6-8 inch range. (Americans run lower pH, softer water, African Rift Lakes are higher pH, harder water. Match your fish to the water you have, or get ones that don't care.)

Of all the freshwaters, African Rift Lake cichlids are the most colorful with nice blues and yellow-oranges, for example. Tropheus are cool looking, but I have never kept them. I have kept Neolamprologus (Orange Julies) and Aulonocara (blue peacocks). Also some way funny Shell Dwellers that I think were a neolamprologus, too.

All cichlids are fun to watch because they have wonderful mating dances and bluff tactics. They have to have contests to see which fish is dominant. That often involves making waves at each other or little chases. Firemouths puff out their gill plates and open their mouths wide and move in and out at each other. Sometimes a whole circle will form, all with gill plates extended, bluffing each other.

That Fish Place has an awesome fish room. Sensory overload.