PH wont steady out... wtf??

masterKush91

masterKush91

Member
OK so I am not understanding why my ph is fluctuating so much. Before I went to bed last night I changed my reservoir and ph my water to 5.7 and left it alone. when I wake up its at 7.2 so I put 2mL of Earth Juice Natural Down. I check it thirty minutes later and ph is at 6.4 so I leave it alone... Came back two hours later to check ph again and its at the same but I noticed my water is all Cloudy already and I assume it was from the ph down so I leave it be to settle. I come back another two hours later and its still cloudy and on top of that my ph is 7.2 again. I dont understand what Iam doing wrong. Why is does my ph not want to go down??? And also does anyone think my reservoir is Cloudy from the ph down? I dont think it can be algae because my res. is light proof and ialso changed it last night, but im still technically a nooB so idk.My ppm is still averaging 145 with plain tap and no nutes and my water temp is around 70 degrees. Any help will be much appreciated!!!!!!
 
mikmike

mikmike

Well-Known Member
is there anyway you can post pics of your roots and water and then of the plant as well. U are using only ph down and no nuts is that correct?
 
mikmike

mikmike

Well-Known Member
What is the ppm/ph of your res compared to your tap and make sure your meters is properly calibrated
 
masterKush91

masterKush91

Member
my ppm for res is at 170 with ph of about 7.1 and no nutes what so ever. straight from tap the ppm is 145 and ph of 6.7. The plant is still a seedling so Im unable to see roots right now. ill post pic of the seedling ASAP tho.
 
mikmike

mikmike

Well-Known Member
Hmm this is very odd no nutes so cant because of nutes to small to be draining any nutes that are naturally in the water. hmm and the ppm is higher because of the PH down u are using. Hmm just thought about this have u soaked your clay balls ( forgot name) at desired ph level overnight in like a bucket or something....
 
masterKush91

masterKush91

Member
Ihave not tried that yet mikmike. Im gonna try that and start in the morning. But my water is still cloudy so Im gonna drain my res and clean it and see what happens with that as well. +rep for helping tho!
 
mikmike

mikmike

Well-Known Member
Thanx and yea cleaning it out and soack some rocks over night with ph of like 5.6ish and that should solve it ( it happened to me first time i did hydro and just remembered it)
 
P

PraxicalExcercise

Member
Aah, I finally found the MSDS.

It's citric acid. This works fine for soil, but it's shit for hydro systems that are recirculating or if you store your nutes for more than a short time in the rez. Bacteria and fungi can eat this stuff for energy and a carbon source; that's probably what's happening to you. Also, if you're using inorganic nutrients, this could be causing precipitates to form in your rez -- your cloudiness is either that or a bacterial bloom. That will also 'eat' the acid and keep it from lowering the pH.

I suggest a simple inorganic pH Down product, preferably phosphoric acid based, but nitric acid's fine, too. Inorganic acids don't fuel microorganism growth.
 
FR33MASON

FR33MASON

Active Member
masterKush91 said:
OK so I am not understanding why my ph is fluctuating so much. Before I went to bed last night I changed my reservoir and ph my water to 5.7 and left it alone. when I wake up its at 7.2 so I put 2mL of Earth Juice Natural Down. I check it thirty minutes later and ph is at 6.4 so I leave it alone... Came back two hours later to check ph again and its at the same but I noticed my water is all Cloudy already and I assume it was from the ph down so I leave it be to settle. I come back another two hours later and its still cloudy and on top of that my ph is 7.2 again. I dont understand what Iam doing wrong. Why is does my ph not want to go down??? And also does anyone think my reservoir is Cloudy from the ph down? I dont think it can be algae because my res. is light proof and ialso changed it last night, but im still technically a nooB so idk.My ppm is still averaging 145 with plain tap and no nutes and my water temp is around 70 degrees. Any help will be much appreciated!!!!!!
Click to expand...
You are fighting a buffer. you need to break the buffer in order to drop the pH and not have it rebound. The buffer is like a pillow which protects the solution from taking wild pH swings. It is the KH (carbonate hardness) not the GH (generall hardness) that is givng you trouble

To learn more here are some links:
http://scienceinhydroponics.com/2010/08/chemical-buffers-in-hydroponics-what-is-the-best-cheapest-buffer.html

This is an article geared towards aquaria but it does explain better as to what you are fighting:
http://kh-aquarium.blogspot.ca/

Hope it helps.
 
silusbotwin

silusbotwin

Well-Known Member
Please forgive me if by not reading this entire thread I may be missing some info when I say that cheap air-stones will always cause ph to fluctuate. Not sure if this is relevant in your situation but if you have a cheap air-stone, ya might want to try swapping it for an air diffuser that isn't made out of cheap stone.
 
cues

cues

Well-Known Member
Hydroton needs rinsing very well then soaking in pH balanced water or you get all sorts of problems. Not just with pH, it will also clog your pumps. You get a kind of 'powder' on it which turns to sludge when wet. That's what's making your res cloudy. This should be done between each grow. I've heard of others bleaching it between grows too, but never bothered myself.
Despite these problems, I still think it's the best medium for flood and drain.
 
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