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Ph adjustment

O

oogrow88

New member
Hi I justed started my first hydroponic grow and I got my resorvoir all set up with 5 gallons of RO water. I'm using 2ml per gallon of hydroguard and 5ml per gallon of calimagic along with very light flors series nutrients. problem is no matter how many times I adjust the ph to between 5.5 and 5.8 it always self adjusts back to 6.1 to 6.3 and stays there. I dont understand what's going on. I used rapid rooters to start seeds with hydrotron in 4 inch net cups.. running bubbleponics
 
Hi oo, and welcome to the forum. How long does it take to get back up to 6.1? With my previous nutes, I would watch the pH move steadily up, and when it reached 6.3, I'd lower it back down to 5.6; that would take a couple or a few days.

Now I'm using different nutes and it starts low and gradually fluctuates up, though it takes much longer. This is ok with me because different nutrients absorb better at different pH levels (as long as we're staying within the proper perameters), so fluctuation is a good thing!!
 
That's what's crazy about it. I had figured on the fluctuation over days but this is happening in 4 hrs. Another thing that makes it strange is that when I pre mix my water, the ph is at 5.8 without even adjusting it.
 
sounds to me that the air stone may be the reason ph goes up, when oxygen gets dissolved into the water it raises the ph, CO2 does the opposite. have you tried a timer on the air pump? maybe 1 hours on 1 hour off... you could message sirius directly and ask him what he thinks. hes the bubbleponics master around here
 
Water temperature fluctuations cause PH fluctuations. Gases can too, as described above, but the amount of fluctuation is usually much smaller in that case.
Control water temps and PH is easier to control if everything else is dialed in.
 
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I have pretty hard water, so I mix 50/50 RO with tap water, so I don't have to add any Cal/Mag, (yes I'm that cheap), then bubble it for a day until the pH stabilizes. Like Toker1 says, CO2 saturation will push the pH down, and temps really impact the gas saturation level in the solution, a 10 Deg F change in temp will move my pH 0.8. I pH adjust my raw water to the desired range, adding nutrients last. I get a 0.1 - 0.3 rise in pH when the Bloom is added, depending on concentration.

May I ask; when are you making your pH adjustments?

I used to pH adjust after adding nutrients, and I could literally see a cloud form in the water as the concentrated phos acid reacted with my nutrients. I'm not sure what reaction was taking place, but something was sure salting out of my solution. I wish I'd taken some high school chemistry, instead of smoking up in the parking lot with my buddies ... hindsight, hah!

I second what ATU said, at 6.1 - 6.2, you're still in the range, just don't let your room get too cool, or let them get too hungry or it'll run up.
 
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