Question on PH-DWC

[ElkyBoy]

Hi,
I have a problem with the PH of my water in my buckets..it’s always go up !. I explain: every time I set it up at 5.8, I check it 2 days later and it’s now 8.4 ...I really don’t understand, someone have an answer ?

i add my nutrient before fixing my ph.

thank you

 

[Kampbe1l]

dissolved CO2 may be one reason for pH to change in standing water over time. temperature also would affect the pH reading. Not sure about hard water and its minerals/metals/etc. perhaps evaporation causes changes in composition of reservoir...but I will leave it to the scientists here to explain in layman's terms.

going off tangent, just an example - rain water, because it's carbonated by falling through atmosphere, it's more acidic, which explains also why many plants after rain has yellowing leaves, etc...

anyway, nutrients added to straight tap water, then this tap water de-chlorinates and other minerals reacts, and evaporation - all would change your pH reading over days.

 

[BigCube]

Hi,
I have a problem with the PH of my water in my buckets..it’s always go up !. I explain: every time I set it up at 5.8, I check it 2 days later and it’s now 8.4 ...I really don’t understand, someone have an answer ?

i add my nutrient before fixing my ph.

thank you

I always fix my ph first. If you fix the ph of just your water, and it bounces back..
Your water has something in it messing with the buffering, or your ph down solution isnt very good.

 

[Smoking Gun]

Are you using tap water or filtered water? If you are using tap water have you checked the ppm before you add any nutrients? Again if you are using tap water, do you let it sit out for a day or two before using it? You should be checking the pH of your water every day, you will catch the swings sooner.

If you are using filtered water try getting your water ready a day ahead of when you plant to fill your reservoir(s). By that I mean add some calcium (cal/mag will do) to the water 24 hours before adding any of the other nutrients. This will give the calcium time to impart itself into the water which will ultimately provide a buffer for when you do add nutrient.

 

[ElkyBoy]

dissolved CO2 may be one reason for pH to change in standing water over time. temperature also would affect the pH reading. Not sure about hard water and its minerals/metals/etc. perhaps evaporation causes changes in composition of reservoir...but I will leave it to the scientists here to explain in layman's terms.

going off tangent, just an example - rain water, because it's carbonated by falling through atmosphere, it's more acidic, which explains also why many plants after rain has yellowing leaves, etc...

anyway, nutrients added to straight tap water, then this tap water de-chlorinates and other minerals reacts, and evaporation - all would change your pH reading over days.

thanks for you answer. I think my is I don’t let sit for 24 hours my tap water before fixing ph...

 

[ElkyBoy]

I always fix my ph first. If you fix the ph of just your water, and it bounces back..
Your water has something in it messing with the buffering, or your ph down solution isnt very good.

thanks for your answer..I will try that,

 

[ElkyBoy]

Are you using tap water or filtered water? If you are using tap water have you checked the ppm before you add any nutrients? Again if you are using tap water, do you let it sit out for a day or two before using it? You should be checking the pH of your water every day, you will catch the swings sooner.

If you are using filtered water try getting your water ready a day ahead of when you plant to fill your reservoir(s). By that I mean add some calcium (cal/mag will do) to the water 24 hours before adding any of the other nutrients. This will give the calcium time to impart itself into the water which will ultimately provide a buffer for when you do add nutrient.

thank you for your answer, that was my problem I think ! I never let my tap water site for 24h before fixing the PH...I will try that and give you some news !

 

[BubbleBucketz]

Your new bible.

 

[Nugg]

I use well water,but if mine keeps jumping up it because the water is gone bad...to many bad bugs and no good...that's for me every time..hydro guard stops that for me....that chart above is the chart to go by..

 

[MHOGSMI]

You should be checking ph and ppm atleast daily. I check mine when I wake up, at lunch if I'm home and before I crash. Create good habits. It will help you avoid the many struggles of hydro... I have a separate rez that I fill and aerate for 24hrs will air stones... This helps drastically with my swings in ph after a water change. Befire that. Yeah. It would take about 2 days before my buckets were dialed in and not needing any buffers... many factors to think about. Plenty listed above. Temp, water source, nutrients. Write everything down. It will help you until you get the swing if things.

 

[JadedMarxist]

If you can look closely at roots my ph swang wildly like that just before I discovered what I think was brown alge. Looked like slimy clear snot on my roots..

H202 after that with enzyme komplete. Canadian hydroguard like solution.

Got my temps dialed in and haven't used ph up or down or enzyme stuff since.

 

[SmokerBwah]

You don’t have to wait 24 hours. Make sure you have an buncha air stones. To keep the water freshly oxygenated. Don’t let light get into the system because algae can grow which can mess up your ph as well