really low ph

brad

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Aug 2, 2005
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I was wondering how long ph can go before being too acidic for plants. I have apistos and a few of them should be kept at a ph of 5.5-6, straight ro/di with peat filtration. Is this acceptable for plants?

I imagine easier plants like anubias, java ferns, crypt would be fine (correct me if I`m wrong) It`s a low light tank anyhow.

Thanks
 

colonel

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Nov 25, 2005
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Re: really low ph

I think you should be alright in that range.... I have low KH out of the tap, about 2.5-3 and add a lot of CO2. when the lights come on my PH is generally 5.9-6 and when they go out im down to 5.5, having south american fish in the tank they love it, and it really doesnt seem to have any affect on the plants. I have been having issues with plant growth lately, but I am pretty confindant in saying it has nothing to do with the PH, as I have been working for some time now on getting things in shape and my plants look a lot better now than they have in a while.
 

Tom Barr

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Jan 23, 2005
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Re: really low ph

You can measure the CO2 prior to adding the soft water, you can even use no KH at all if you want, but most that keep Apistos keep their KH about 1-2, GH 3-5 with plants. If you want to bred them for max production, try bare bottomed tanks.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
P

paludarium

Guest
Re: really low ph

hmm, I was wondering if pH will affect the nutrients uptake of the aquatic plants. I observed a better plant growth if I turned the CO2 off at night, while other factors remained unchanged. Or would CO2 also be toxic to the plants when they were sleeping?
 

brad

Prolific Poster
Aug 2, 2005
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Re: really low ph

Tom Barr said:
You can measure the CO2 prior to adding the soft water, you can even use no KH at all if you want, but most that keep Apistos keep their KH about 1-2, GH 3-5 with plants. If you want to bred them for max production, try bare bottomed tanks.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I guesstimate my co2 by fish response anyway. I test from time to time just for the heck of it but don`t really expect it to tell me much.

Bare bottom tanks? Now what fun would that be? ;) I read an article that many of the rivers apistos come from are so acidic that plants can`t survive. Just wondering how acidic that would be. (4-5?)The apistos I keep aren`t that fussy anyway, so I don`t need to drop it that low. It would be nice to know where the bottom range is though.