RO/DI and aragonite substrate, a possible formula for top-off water ?

2139 Views 32 Replies 16 Participants Last post by VWD, 3 mo ago

jph

Discussion Starter · Jan 25, 2008

okay, i was in a particularly creative mood tonight

so, excuse me for playing the mad scientist for a minute

i just set up an experiment.

- one glass of freshly made RO/DI water
- PH of the RO/DI water tested at 4.5 (test kit range is 4.5 - 9.0) so i'm not sure how accurate this is.
- added a few spoons of caribsea oolitic aragamax to the glass of RO/DI water, stirred it with a plastic spoon.

tomorrow evening (approx. 24 hours later i will test for:

- Ca levels
- Alk levels
- Mg levels

if i have reasonable reading on any of these, i think that i have found my new formula for top-off water

if not, well, then i amused myself for a day

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21 - 33 of 33 Posts

jph

Discussion Starter · #21 · Feb 5, 2008

my new filter housing has arrived also.

and i'll be mixing some fresh new ASW using IO (1.025 SG), and the ro/di water that went through a aragonite filled cannister.

i'll post results when i have them. (need to use up the water i have currently mixed first

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fish.freak

· #22 · Feb 9, 2008

Hmm does the aragonite totally dissolve with vinegar?

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sasquatch

· #23 · Feb 9, 2008

jph, ro/di water is very aggressive, it will strip off some useful elements, as your noticing with the vinager much increased, you might think about combining the effluent with kalkwasser, it will greatly increase the saturation of kalk while raising the ph that the vinager is dropping, lol while your at the lab (get the stick) try this experiment with miracle mud. Steve

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jph

Discussion Starter · #24 · Feb 9, 2008

first bucket of ASW (IO) and RO/DI that went through an aragonite cannister.

results are a little disappointing though...

SG : 1.025
ALK : 7.5 dKH
Ca : 340 ppm
Mg : lost my instructions... but i had 0.24 left in the dropper.

i've got some aragonite dissolving in ~20ml of vinegar. i will be adding that to the bucket of freshly mixed water, and measure again.

J.

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Mizer67

· #25 · Mar 2, 2008

It's been a while. Any news?

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Notturnia

· #26 · Mar 10, 2008

jph.. you have a problem with tyour pH test.. of your RO/DI sys is damaged..

RO/DI water should ha pH = 7.0 as it's w/o ion inside.. if you have a 4.5pH or even lower you have a so acid water you will have trouble.. so i think the pH probe isnt calibrated..

and.. if you have DI.. DE IONIZATION media.. you should not have ION inside.. so cant have 4.5 pH ..

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kwjones

· #27 · Mar 10, 2008

Measuring pH on DI water can be difficult.

http://www.coleparmer.com/techinfo/techinfo.asp?htmlfile=pHPureWater.htm

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Notturnia

· #28 · Mar 10, 2008

never thought -.-' lol..

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jph

Discussion Starter · #29 · Mar 11, 2008

Mizer67 said:
It's been a while. Any news?

not really any news, i've got the aragonite cannister hooked up, and i've been using that for my top-off and mixing water now.

everything is still alive

and growing nicely.

J.

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kshukla

· #30 · 3 mo ago

Hey following up - has it worked long term for you ?

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jerryclunsford

· #31 · 3 mo ago

This is from 2008. None of the people on it have been around since I have been here.
Welcome and have fun.

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Doug1

· #32 · 3 mo ago

RO/Di water should be fairly neutral. Think about how calcium reators work, CO2 which drops Ph flows through a calcium carbonate base and after neutralises alkalinity disolves the calcium, RO/DI is not going to dissolve aragonite quickly. Do a search for Randy Holmes Farley or TD Wyatt explanation

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