weird readings

[Asianlatinremix]

i used mardel 5in1 test strips

i have real problem with lower my ph ?
so i used peat and some dritf wood
made my water all brown now...
but here the readings

40 nitrate
0 nitrite
0 hardness
300+ alkalinity/buffering capacity
8.4 ph
and my ammo. is 0

so i can have soft water and high ph???

but i'm getting a ro unit soon next week from kent .. by then i shold hopefully  have a low ph..

[Tiapan]

Re: weird readings

thats kinda off to my way of thinking too but alkalinity is a higher ph modiphier as well i believe so that makes some sense, but houston water with 0 hardness reading, u sure its not mixed up somehow?

[Mzungu]

Re: weird readings

How long have you been using the peat and driftwood? Have you been measuring the hardness and such since you added them? Also, just to make sure, check the expiration date on the test strips. What's the reading you get when testing just regular tap water with your strips? If you have something to compare the results to, it might be easier to see if there's a problem. But also, yes, you can have soft water with higher pH, as Tiapan pointed out, alkalinity (is that the same as buffering capacity? I still don't know...) helps to keep the pH steady.

[Ellen]

Re: weird readings

Here in College Station, we have supersoft water with HIGH pH out of the tap...

Ellen

[Asianlatinremix]

Re: weird readings

peat and the drift wood has been in for about two weeks
and my tap water was
25 hardness
then i test last night it was 0
expiration date on the test strips is 2008\05
so it steal good
i thought the peat would make my ph go down and the drift wood ?
am i doing something wrong???

[Mzungu]

Re: weird readings

It's probably what Tiapan was saying about alkalinity. But it's doing something, if your water has softened significantly. I'm sorry, was that the reading for your tap water 2 weeks ago, or your tank? If it was the tap water, then maybe your tank was already softer...?

[wesleydnunder]

Re: weird readings

Asianlatinremix the high alkalinity is keeping your ph up. KH or alkalinity is water's ability to neutralize an acid. KH buffers the water to a stable ph. Around here our KH components are mostly carbonates and bicarbonates. These combine with the acids leached by the driftwood and peat, keeping the ph from falling. Here at my house I have a KH 15 and GH 19-23 depending on rainfall amounts up north. I've always been suspicious of the inaccuracy of test strips so I stick to the liquid reagent kits. A gh of 0 and a kh of 300+ ppm from lake houston doesn't sound right.

You may have to mix some RO with your tapwater to get the ph to lower and stay lowered. One caution: a KH below 3 degrees or 52-54ppm is unstable and can crash easily.

Mark