Soil ph limits

[Waterstrider]

Ok so what’s m looking into a more serious planted tank and I’m looking at aqualsoils that lower ph, this might be good since my ph is like 7.8 and there’s pretty hard water.
Here’s my question. At what point does aquasoil stop doing this?
Like is there a point where it becomes ineffective and the ph will raise again?
I’m guessing yes and am not sure what to do when that happens.

 

[Colin_T]

If your GH and KH is high (hard water usually has high GH & KH), no soil will drop the pH because the KH will stop it going down.

Peat moss is acidic and will lower the pH of water. But again it comes down to the actual GH and KH of the water supply. If the GH & KH are high, then peat might not drop it much at all. Peat moss will also stop affecting the pH after 6-12months, depending on the GH & KH.

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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Soil substrates are not all they are cracked up to be. Most release ammonia for 6-12 months and then offer little to no nutrients to the plants. In my opinion, they are not worth the money and you are better off just using gravel and aquarium plant fertilisers.

If you want to try an experiment, perhaps set up a tank and put a divider on the base, use soil on one side and plain gravel on the other. Grow the same plants in both halves and see what happens.

You can also grow plants in pots of trays and either have the trays buried in the gravel, or camouflaged with silicon and gravel or algae.
You can add peat, soil, clay, garden fertiliser, etc, to the trays and cover them with a thin layer of clay and gravel to stop the nutrients leaching into the water. The plants get planted in the gravel and when their roots grow down and get to the other things, the plants usually take off.

Most aquatic plants take the majority of their nutrients through their leaves. Sword plants, Cryptocorynes and Aponogetons will take some nutrients through their leaves but also like nutrients in the soil.

 

[Waterstrider]

If your GH and KH is high (hard water usually has high GH & KH), no soil will drop the pH because the KH will stop it going down.

Peat moss is acidic and will lower the pH of water. But again it comes down to the actual GH and KH of the water supply. If the GH & KH are high, then peat might not drop it much at all. Peat moss will also stop affecting the pH after 6-12months, depending on the GH & KH.

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

----------------------
Soil substrates are not all they are cracked up to be. Most release ammonia for 6-12 months and then offer little to no nutrients to the plants. In my opinion, they are not worth the money and you are better off just using gravel and aquarium plant fertilisers.

If you want to try an experiment, perhaps set up a tank and put a divider on the base, use soil on one side and plain gravel on the other. Grow the same plants in both halves and see what happens.

You can also grow plants in pots of trays and either have the trays buried in the gravel, or camouflaged with silicon and gravel or algae.
You can add peat, soil, clay, garden fertiliser, etc, to the trays and cover them with a thin layer of clay and soil to stop the nutrients leaching into the water. The plants get plants in the gravel and when their roots grow down and get to the other things, the plants usually take off.

Most aquatic plants take the majority of their nutrients through their leaves. Sword plants, Cryptocorynes and Aponogetons will take some nutrients through their leaves but also like nutrients in the soil.

I think it was Amazonia that made that claim. No the plant I was considering was bacopa. Possibly dwarf sag because they seem like harder water plants compared to swords.
I believe the soil has peat in it already.

 

[Waterstrider]

If your GH and KH is high (hard water usually has high GH & KH), no soil will drop the pH because the KH will stop it going down.

Peat moss is acidic and will lower the pH of water. But again it comes down to the actual GH and KH of the water supply. If the GH & KH are high, then peat might not drop it much at all. Peat moss will also stop affecting the pH after 6-12months, depending on the GH & KH.

The GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

----------------------
Soil substrates are not all they are cracked up to be. Most release ammonia for 6-12 months and then offer little to no nutrients to the plants. In my opinion, they are not worth the money and you are better off just using gravel and aquarium plant fertilisers.

If you want to try an experiment, perhaps set up a tank and put a divider on the base, use soil on one side and plain gravel on the other. Grow the same plants in both halves and see what happens.

You can also grow plants in pots of trays and either have the trays buried in the gravel, or camouflaged with silicon and gravel or algae.
You can add peat, soil, clay, garden fertiliser, etc, to the trays and cover them with a thin layer of clay and soil to stop the nutrients leaching into the water. The plants get plants in the gravel and when their roots grow down and get to the other things, the plants usually take off.

Most aquatic plants take the majority of their nutrients through their leaves. Sword plants, Cryptocorynes and Aponogetons will take some nutrients through their leaves but also like nutrients in the soil.

I’m familiar with ph and oh etc. I believe ph out of tap is 7.8.

 

[Byron]

I agree with Colin. Any product going into an aquarium that allegedly changes a parameter is more probably going to cause serious trouble by messing with the chemistry, and this will harm fish. It cannot be said too often--pH should never be targeted on its own without including the GH and KH (and sometimes other factors) in the consideration.

Plants will grow well in any substrate that is inert, provided the grain size is not large; pea gravel for example can be difficult for some plants, but all will grow well in fine gravel and sand.

 

[Waterstrider]

I agree with Colin. Any product going into an aquarium that allegedly changes a parameter is more probably going to cause serious trouble by messing with the chemistry, and this will harm fish. It cannot be said too often--pH should never be targeted on its own without including the GH and KH (and sometimes other factors) in the consideration.

Plants will grow well in any substrate that is inert, provided the grain size is not large; pea gravel for example can be difficult for some plants, but all will grow well in fine gravel and sand.

Well no not any substrate high phs reduce the ability to take in nutrients, but that’s not my question. In fact no one seems to be able to answer it.
As for the fish you say are in danger. No fish will not be harmed, because I have no fish.

 

[Waterstrider]

Well no not any substrate high phs reduce the ability to take in nutrients, but that’s not my question. In fact no one seems to be able to answer it.
As for the fish you say are in danger. No fish will not be harmed, because I have no fish.

I also never said I was targeting a ph, just seem to just have assumed that. I just want to know how long the soil will effect it.

 

[Colin_T]

Perhaps contact the manufacturer and see if they have any data on how long their soil releases nutrients and whether is affects the pH.