Can a UV Sterilizer removed kH?

Can a UV Sterilizer removed kH?

I added a 13w sterilizer to my 140g to battle some green water and GDA issues I was having

The water is usually after a few days of EI dosing is 110ppm on the test kit results.. (not calibrated tho). The tap water is close to the same after sitting for an hour.

I dose 3x per week

CaNO3 1tsp
KNO3 2 tsp
K2SO4 2tsp
KH2PO4 1/3 tsp
CSM+B 2 tsp


When I run the UV for a while the kH on the test kit results drops completely to nothing after around 5 days. I know it's kind of working as my pH also plummets with the same CO2 injection.

The only other change was I added some Miracle grow (osmocote) granules under the substrate and added some new stem plants. The GH is consistent still.

Anyone heard of this before?

(the green water just left so I haven't tried not running the UV for a week, that's the next step once I feel confident the green wont be back)

 

I did read something on that. Getting pretty technical but I'm trying to keep up. I just am surprised it happens within a few days having relatively hard water out of the tap.

I added another in tank ceramic diffuser in addition to the inline reactor im running, so we will see If that helps.

There are no fish or inverts in the tank right now so I can play with the levels a bit.

I also added about 200$ worth of new stem plants, changing out the amazon sword and some Anubis and crypts.

Think I should try upping the cano3 and mgso4?

 

Some more info: none of my hard scape has changed or filter media. I do have some large driftwood and some sandstone like rocks and slate like rocks.


My kH reading was 11 drops to turn the solution from blue to yellow out of the 1hr sitting tap water. As following the conversion with the kit instructions. Then I multiplied that by 10 to get my kH # then multiply by 0.056 to get degrees which would be 6.16*

After a few days in the tank it seem something is soaking up only the kH as it drops to 5 drops to change the solution color or 2.8* but by that time I'm due for another 50% water change.

On a side note all the plants are doing very well and growing quite rapidly. Water is very clear and no algae.

Its tough to control my making quick and too many changes and not waiting for the results before trying new changes. Patience is a tough thing to master.

I hope this info helps. I did a 50% water change yesterday and after an hour or so I tested the kH and it was 10 drops to change the solution, or 5.6*. Tonight I'll do some more tests to see if there is any change in the kH.

 

Yes it is!

I have changed a few things since then: I raised the lighting to 48" from the substrate, added some activated carbon into the 305 canister to help clean up the water, I gave away all the fish (cichlids are just too destructive) and removed the larger plants and added this list of plants:


Ammania gracilis x2
"Didiplis diandra (Peplis diandra)"x1
"Glossostigma elatinoides" x3
"Heteranthera zosterifolia Star Grass" x1
Pogostemon helferi Downoi x1
Rotala rotundifolia x2
Rotala ssp. 'Colourata' x2
Rotala sp. Green x2
Lilaeopsis mauritiana x2
Ludwigia brevipes x3
Ludwigia glandulosa x1

As stated above I also added some miracle grow shake n' feed 19-6-12 under the flourite black substrate when I did a tear down after the fish were gone. I added maybe about 10 balls per square inch, probably too much..

Tested the tank water tonight:

NH3, NH4 = 0mg/L
NO2 = 0.1mg/L
NO3 = 10-20mg/L
pH = ~6.5 on both the pH monitor and the liquid test kit
PO4= ~2.5mg/L
KH = 50mg/L (2.8KdH) Seems the alkalinity is dropping again.
GH= 160mg/L (8.96KdH)

I have a dual drop checker (with reference fluid below) and to me it looked more yellow than the bottom after the day of CO2 injection. Due to a leaky manifold I have also switched from the inline reactor to only the ceramic diffuser I picked up recently.

I will perform the other tests you recommended tomorrow and post my results.

Thanks for your help and time, it is very much appreciated.


-Mike-

 

Well that stinks that the miracle grow was no good. I suppose I should not have figured it was the same as the osmocote+. I knew I didn't have the trace but I was hoping to get by while still adding the CSM+B.

The only data on the water I found was that of what I posted in the mishmash thread (with the TDS readings and such). I live in grande prairie AB, Canada. Our tap water comes out of our local river which flows down through the rocky mountains. I'll dig up the link and post in a bit.

I was planning on adding 2 50mm ceramic atomic diffusers from GLA, one on each side of the tank, to get better dispersal of the CO2.

 

The water test results:

Immediate: ph 7.4 kH 70mg/L

1hr: ph 7.2 kH 70mg/L

24hr: ph 7.4 kH 70mg/L

 

I'm due for a water change tomorrow so I'll test some after it has been in the tank for 1hr, 4hrs, 12hrs, 24hrs, 48hrs and so on and will post back.

 

Note: the UV is not running

Test before WC: pH 6.5 KH 30mg/L 1.68 deg

After WC: pH 6.8, KH 50mg/L 2.8 deg

4hrs After WC: pH 6.7 KH 50mg/L 2.8deg

12hrs After WC (overnight no CO2): pH 6.8 KH 40mg/L 2.24deg



I decided to test for NH3/NH4, NO2 and NO3 as well and the results were quite alarming

I did the 50% WC and added my 2tsp KNO3, 1/4tsp KH2PO4, Seachem Prime and some Stability

Tested 1hr after the tank had settled

NO2 ~0.1ppm
NO3 ~10-20ppm
NH3/NH4 0ppm
PO4 ~2ppm

This morning I tested

NO2 ~1-3ppm (hard to tell it's so purple)
NO3 ~20-50ppm
NH3/NH4 0ppm
PO4 ~2ppm

All I did was remove water, no gravel vacuuming, no filter cleaning (cleaned them about 2 weeks ago in only tank water). Could that miracle grow be causing the NO2 to spike after a WC,? all was fine until last night. I'm also seeing some melting on a few of the stem plants, looks to be starting near the base and moving it's way up.

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I also tested the tap water for NO2 and the reading is 0ppm