Ph water

  • Thread starter MrGood
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Beachwalker

Beachwalker

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Was it aerated well before sealing it up? If using citric acid with a bicarbonate source the citric acid will react quickly and the ph will increase as a result of the acid being broken down. This is a big reason why it's not good for hydro and why phosphoric or sulfuric acid is better in hydro. In soil unless you need to bring the ph down to prevent precipitate then it's best to just ph right before feeding. But this also goes to my opinion that the soil will buffer ph so the only real time I feel you need to ph nutrients for soil is when using something like silica that can increase the ph drastically and cause precipitate, other than that it's not necassary but won't hurt.
I'm not sure on the time line but I think this happened with both the GH PH down product and the citric acid

I never aerate my water, if it's lucky I let it sit for 24 hours LOL

In The Jug it never changes from 6.5 until I put it in the bubble cloner then it goes up like a rocket overnight and I'm not sure why?

Edit: I have to pH my 8.9 tap water but I'm talking about using a bubble cloner only, it goes up dramatically overnight in my bubble cloner?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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To add to that it's hard to find a water source or buffer thats free of bicarbonate so this is why when we see ppl using citric acid in hydro there is almost always issues with ph swings.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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I'm not sure on the time line but I think this happened with both the GH PH down product and the citric acid

I never aerate my water, if it's lucky I let it sit for 24 hours LOL

In The Jug it never changes from 6.5 until I put it in the bubble cloner then it goes up like a rocket overnight and I'm not sure why?
That's because it of gassing CO2 when you aerate it. So if you take you water test the ph out of the tap. Then aerate it and test the ph 2-3 hrs later it will increase substantially depending on the buffering capacity maybe even a full point or more. Then mix your nutrients and ph down then put it in the cloner it should be a lot more stable if it contains an adequate buffer. If not adding some calcium carbonate, potassium bicarbonate, potassium silicate if using citric acid first should help create that buffer. But like I say citric acid in a bubble cloner can provide some wild swings.

I bet you find at least somewhat better if you aerate the water well before adding nutrients and finally bringing the ph down.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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@Beachwalker aerate the water and nutrients for a couple hours then re-adjust the ph and bottle when put in the cloner it should improve the swing issue. I can't say it will fix it because if using a low or high alkalinity water and citric acid that In itself can create a pretty significant jump in oh over night but it should be at lease somewhat better
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

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Citric acid is just not a stable acid to use for hydro. It breaks down to quickly but it sounds like you have more than one issue contributing
 
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