Aqua Shield and Hygrozyme used with chemical Nutrients
(Quote) Michael Phelps
“So my Ph has been durastically changing lately, i will check it when i wake up in the morning and get it in between 5.4 and 5.8, then i will come home from work about 9 hours later and it will be down around 4.7-4.8, i will adjust it as soon as i get home, then again right before i go to bed, then as soon as i wake up in the morning its back down to the middle 4's again.”
“Im running 3 ladys, here is the specs.
8 gl bubbleponics
2 airstones
Gh nutes, lucas formula
Hygrozyme
Aqua Sheild
With a few drops of superthrive
Distilled water
I really need some help please.” (End quote)
Hopefully your using a mineral acid to lower your pH, i.e. phosphoric acid, nitric acid or even sulfuric acid rather than some weak organic acid like a citric or acetic acid.
You been following the advice of a soil or organic fertilizer user and have therefore added a bunch of seepage from composted chicken manure (Aqua Shield) and sewage sludge compost (Class A compost) with that has enzymes and complex chains of amino acids and a added "BACTERIA-FREE enzyme." This simply means the heat of composting allegedly kills the bacteria. Not the case. It merely lowers the bacteria count, kills seeds and lowers pathogen levels. "A" cultured enzyme is then added that is alleged to assist in controlling Pythium out breaks. Because of the heat of composting the sludge and compost is called stabilized. Not a wise choice to be adding to a chemical nutrient reservoir. There are guidelines for how soon a Class A compost piece of land can be used after the compost has been applied. It varies based upon the use of the land. If a harvest able food crop is grown on the land it must be something like 6 months or more after the compost is applied. IMO it is not something to grow MJ with. Quit using them and you will very likely see your pH problem nearly disappear.
(quote) "Hey Fatman i def appreciate all the help, you have been a life saver cause the ladys where rapidly growing then as the ph swings came on the growth greatly slowed, I keep the reservoir clean, i change out the water every 6-7 days, infact i actually did it last night. At this point i have to order h202 online cause i dont have any hydro shops in my area and i also have to wait till next friday for payday hahaha.
But your advice has def helped me, i removed the aqua shield from my reservoir, i did add alittle hygrozme to keep bacteria away until i get my h202, last night before i went to bed i checked my ph and it was at 5.6, when i woke up this morning and ran the test it had only gone down to 5.4, so i think all that chicken shit was what was causing the huge ph swings." (End quote)
Nearly all organic nutrients are packed with ammoniac nitrogen. When ammonia cal nitrogen is taken up by plants roots the roots maintain their ionic balance by discharging H+ ions. H+ is acid, acid lowers the pH. Consider that ammonia cal nitrogen is the result of the putrefaction of organic substances (NH3). Organic substances putrefy and become ammonium ions (NH4+), nitrifying bacteria turn the ammonium first to nitrite (NO2-), then to nitrate (NO3-). Nitrate is the nitrogen form of most of the Nitrogen in chemical fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are a soup of all the nitrogen forms. In reality a reservoir containing organic nutrients operates biologically like a wastewater treatment plant, especially if the water is aerated. That is just one reason why I am always surprised when anyone recommends organic nutrients be added to a chemical nutrient reservoir.
Why turn a well operating nutrient reservoir into a sewage treatment plant. That is like taking one step forward and then two steps backward. Then one needs to consider that the longer the reservoir containing organic ammonium nutrient goes without be changed the closer it resembles a sewage treatment system. After a period of 2 to 3 weeks it is a sewage systems treatment plant in essence as that is about the length of time it takes nitrifying bacteria to reach its peak in numbers. The nutrient manufacturers like to deceive people into thinking that does not happen by saying their preparations contain only beneficial enzymes and no bacteria. In reality most composting is done at temperatures between 50 and 65 Degrees Celsius and many pathogens are not killed unless temperature reach 62-63 or a few 66 degrees Celsius.
That is all fine and well as the deceptively avoid the pathogens issue but talk about beneficial and non beneficial bacteria, but the bacterias are present in air but the bacteria is alleged to have been killed/removed by them. I can pretty much guarantee that is not the case. If they do not specifically say the compost materials they use Class a compost. Class A composts is composted sewage plant sludge. There are scads of online reports about how quickly some of the bacteria repopulate the compost (instantly).
The Class A designation does not require testing of the compost before selling it. To sell the compost to the general public it must be Class A. I am only assuming they are ethical enough to be buying only Class A compost. They, not being the general public, can buy/get lower class composts that are normally given to the Commercial agricultural community. It is a non enforceable guideline which has only the power of requiring classification of the compost based upon the time the compost is maintained at set temperatures or higher for set periods of time so as to theoretically cause the killing of weed seeds, some specific bacteria and some pathogens.
It does not require testing and it does not cover all bacteria and pathogens just those that are obviously harmful to man such as salmonella. The Class of compost as set by the EPA really do not set the standards at all based upon what is or is not beneficial for plants growing in soil or hydroponically. The Class A, B and C are levels of stabilization mainly. The class A is just the most stable.
Stabilization through composting just means that after composting the sewage sludge or chicken manure or what have you will have been broken down enough that it is mainly all in the ammoniac stage rather than containing a lot of organic NH3. They test this merely by assuming if the level of volatile organics is reduced by 20 to 30 percent then that is good enough. They have never to my knowledge ever stated why they choose that percentage other than that is about the average reduction when sewage sludge or animal manure with a carbon to nitrogen content of 20:1 to 35:1 is composted.
Can't really trust MJ nutrient manufacturer marketers, as they love playing deception games. Especially when nothing can happen when the deception is exposed. Pretty hard to prove intent to deceive.
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