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"Perfect" water

Should I not bother? Below are the water stats.

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I recommend you to test phosphates, as I do not see that parameter in your table. In Plymouth we have 5 mg/l of phosphates in the water, courtesy of the water company to avoid metallic precipitates in the pipes. And that is common practice in UK. And, of course 5 mg/l of phosphates is like ten times what your plants need, so...here we use RO water. ;)

Better to be sure than taking risks.
 
In Plymouth we have 5 mg/l of phosphates in the water
Doubt it. Water companies dose 500ug/l to max of 1.5mg/l phosphoric acid or sodium phosphate up to a maximum UK level of 2.2mg/l total phosphate, perfect for plants.
 
Doubt it. Water companies dose 500ug/l to max of 1.5mg/l phosphoric acid or sodium phosphate up to a maximum UK level of 2.2mg/l total phosphate, perfect for plants.

You can doubt it, of course, but I did several times the test and coincide with the info my LFS has also, so...I am just telling a reality. Whatever fits to customs in the companies or not, it is a different matter. There can be further reasons to explain higher levels here.

Apart from that, levels of phosphates in plants have been addressed as 0.5 mg/l not 2.2 mg/l so far I know, unless you use EI, which does not fit really the needs of the plants, as you are just boosting nutrients far from need. ;)
 
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Maybe this is helpful
EI target ranges
CO2 range 25-30 ppm
NO3 range 5-30 ppm
K+ range 10-30 ppm
PO4 range 1.0-2.0 ppm
Fe 0.2-0.5ppm or higher
GH range 3-5 degrees ~ 50ppm or higher
KH range 3-5
 
but I did several times the test and coincide with the info my LFS has also
You cannot easily test for phosphate, regardless what ever you measured and what ever test kit you used. Chloride and sulphates and nitrates and dechlorinator and other ions will influence the result and give as much as x10 phosphate reading. This would then nicely match the 0.5mg/l water companies dose as measured by your test kit. As I said I very much doubt your phosphate will be that high.

I just wish I had the water you had above....mine is above 25 Clarke and would love soft water like yours...no scale on tanks, no scale on equipment.

Disadvantage of course with no or little hardness pH kits & pens (and test kits, did I mention test kits) are useless and you are always running CO2 1 or 2 bubbles per second from asphyxiating your fish...
 
Disadvantage of course with no or little hardness pH kits & pens (and test kits, did I mention test kits) are useless and you are always running CO2 1 or 2 bubbles per second from asphyxiating your fish...

I know that problem well - I am having an epic battle getting CO2 balanced. Very very close to sacking it off and getting plastic plants :)

I am going to start bringing my KH and GH up.
 
You cannot easily test for phosphate, regardless what ever you measured and what ever test kit you used. Chloride and sulphates and nitrates and dechlorinator and other ions will influence the result and give as much as x10 phosphate reading

Out of curiosity...could you give me some proof about this statement? I am really interested into that as I like to make tests to the water (I am not EI fan, so I have to) and I found that they work quite well as I use that information to adjust my fert plan and the parameters always move in the line that I changed them, thing usually does not happen if the test is wrong (like for instance, having a given level of phosphates, add certain amount to raise it up to a certain level, test again and finding the result is coherent). So if the tests are useless as you are suggesting, and the information they provide is misleading, I should have crashed the tanks long time ago, as I target much lower levels of nutrients than EI. As they did not crash, then I have to assume that I am not doing wrong the things, so I have my doubts about your statement. Nothing personal, but just wanted to know in what is supported that so I can learn more a bit of the water chemistry from trustable sources. Maybe I am missing something else.
Thank you for the contribution!
 
Phosphate assays may require a bit of practise but check out rabbit muscle glycogen phosphorylase research - "phosphate release" is the simplest method of following this enzyme's activity & is far from an unreliable erratic assay :rolleyes:


Kit methodology detailed analysis will provide information re false positives/negatives, interfering compounds - these often must be at quite high levels or rather uncommon as this sort of analysis is part of determining the type of chemistry to be used in specific ion analysis ... hobby level kits are not based upon denovo methodologies but rather chemistries that have been in use for decades (ie well documented).

pH analysis in soft water systems merely requires suitable electrodes & membranes & user technique - the underatenner pH probe is unlikely to provide very accurate or precise results in any aquarium system, whether hard or soft water ... most hobby level pH probes deliver pH value 7.0 +/- 0.1 - 0.2 pH units ... proper membrane cleaning & care & storage & calibration may improve the accuracy & precision depending on the hardware you start with ... there is also a life expectancy associated with sensing membranes & internal reference solutions.
For most hobbyist use these inexpensive probes work just fine re most aquarium livestock & plants thrive over a fairly wide range of conditions.
Most test kits can also work "fine" for the same reasons - these are "broadstroke" looks at aquarium conditions: odd data means "investigate further" - generally beginning with a water change

Water companies are required to use rather more sophisticated methodologies & equipment for their measurements, they tend to accurately represent water conditions at point of measure (source & stations along the delivery routes) - it's generally not difficult to find the closest station & accompanying data nearest your home.

Specific water companies may receive exceptions to regulatory levels (though this involves a good bit of paperwork etc)
 
Thans alto, good answer. :)

Tom Barr showed some time ago that test kits are not accurate, but to be honest, we do not need that kind of accuracy in our tanks. Plants live usually in environments with oscillation of parameters higher than the error of tests, easily.

Apart from that, Tom also insisted that test kits can be used if you calibrate them, thing that it is really easy to do and easy to verify. I did it so I trust my kits and I also am used to cross-verified them, so I do not deny that parameters of the water can impact in the validity of the results, of course, but from there to say they can produce an error of 10 times, it requires some scientific support behind it, in my point of view.
 
Thans alto, good answer. :)

Tom Barr showed some time ago that test kits are not accurate, but to be honest, we do not need that kind of accuracy in our tanks. Plants live usually in environments with oscillation of parameters higher than the error of tests, easily.

Apart from that, Tom also insisted that test kits can be used if you calibrate them, thing that it is really easy to do and easy to verify. I did it so I trust my kits and I also am used to cross-verified them, so I do not deny that parameters of the water can impact in the validity of the results, of course, but from there to say they can produce an error of 10 times, it requires some scientific support behind it, in my point of view.
I'm not an "EI fan", never had my best results with it, but if you finally solve the supposed inaccuracy of tests, the question is: and what? For which plants in the tank is this meaningful? How to link this information with other key parameters such as light or co2. IME (I have also used test kits) you don't have much more chances of having a successful planted tank with that info. I just use the online calculators as a rough guide for producing my own ferts and calculate dosing, but then observation makes the rest. When I was a newbie and I used to read this kind of statements, I though "well, this is easy to say when you have experience..." But now with a bit more of experience the truth is that there is not that much difference. You probably can predict some bad things with more advance, but that's all. And you probably can make an overall better assessment regarding your tank. You know what good flow is, good co2, good growth, etc. this last point is IMO much more important than knowing the level of one nutrient in your tank.

Jordi
 
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