Acid which one???

[jim from sydney]

Hi All :lol:

I am investigating the possibilities of the variety of acids we can use to lower the PH.

I am aware about shell grids and Corals to stabilise the PH but that is not want i want to investigate.

Powders like, PH down etc are OK, but expensive if you have a few large tanks with lots of W/C. besides i dont like them as they do not mix as readily as liquids acids.

So we have Nitric Acids, Phosphoric and Sulphuric all readily available, all in liquid form and of a variety of Molecular strength.

So the questions are these :idea: :idea:

1. Is it save to use these as alternative to powder?
2. What strength (Molar) do we use?
3. Does any-one use liquids acid, and if so, with what results?

Regards.....Jim

[jim from sydney]

Hi All

i received this thru a friend on another forum........

Any acidification of the water will remove / use up some of the KH items as the KH items are also what "stablizes" pH / holds it at one value. Exception tends to be phosphoric acids... due to the phosphates being able to stablize / hold pH values themselves.

In general it is better / safer to use lower mol strength acids from stand point of human safety. ( splash, vapors, handling, etc. ).

Weak Hydrochloric acid ( Muriatic acid ) is bit of safety concern but is well established with lot of literature on use. That said, all the acids must be dosed in holding tank and tested for pH value at time of dosing and 24 hrs later to achieve "stable" pH value.

Amounts of acid to use vary due to water pH stablizers used by water authorities so sorry that no "set amounts" can be given to you. Water also "picks up" pH stablizers in "transit" in water pipes so that "dose and test" will serve you better than any "set dosing rate".