Could having airstones in my res raise my PH?

  • Could having airstones in my res raise my PH?

    Posted by RedWeasel on July 2, 2025 at 4:55 pm

    I’ve been fighting freaking slowly rising PH for a year now. I feel like an idiot if so.

    earlbud420 replied 5 days ago 5 Members · 12 Replies
  • 12 Replies
  • Thickems

    Member
    July 2, 2025 at 5:08 pm
    DGC ProducerFree Membership

    Yes

    • RedWeasel

      Member
      July 2, 2025 at 5:16 pm
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      Goddammit! I should have figured this out ages ago. I fucking brewed beer for competition for years.

  • jmystro

    Moderator
    July 2, 2025 at 5:16 pm
    AdministratorFree MembershipDGC Executive Producer

    It can in many ways. Pumping in hot carbon gas for example. Temperature also affects pH. Are you pumping hot grow room air into your reservoir as well? You want to pull cool, low CO2 air into the air pump.

    • RedWeasel

      Member
      July 2, 2025 at 5:19 pm
      DGC ProducerFree Membership

      No, just a fish pump with air stones in my lung room. It’s only a 12 gal res. I should have known better. Had a light bulb moment today and felt stupid.

      • jmystro

        Moderator
        July 2, 2025 at 6:43 pm
        AdministratorFree MembershipDGC Executive Producer

        12 gallon reservoir is never going to be stable with or without air stones. Stability comes from large volumes of water.

        • RedWeasel

          Member
          July 2, 2025 at 9:21 pm
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          Thank you. That’s good to know. I’ll need to grab a bigger tank. What’s the smallest I could get away with and be somewhat stable? I have space restrictions. Would 50gal be sufficient? 30gal?

          • jmystro

            Moderator
            July 2, 2025 at 11:34 pm
            AdministratorFree MembershipDGC Executive Producer

            50 gallon reservoirs is what I mainly use and I have a few 100 gallon tanks. You can keep a 50 gallon fairly stable. The idea is to maintain a stable pH and EC/PPM buffer within your media by keeping a stable reservoir. An out of range buffer within the media will change the reservoir pH and EC/PPM buffer if the system is recirculating. If the reservoir is stable and buffered then the media should be buffered.

            • RedWeasel

              Member
              July 3, 2025 at 7:34 am
              DGC ProducerFree Membership

              Okay. Perfect. I ordered a 60gal that doesn’t take up much room. I’m growing organic with a SIP system, and PH wouldn’t be a huge issue if the water here didn’t come out of the tap 9+.

              • This reply was modified 5 days, 9 hours ago by  RedWeasel.
            • TheDanishDankMan

              Member
              July 3, 2025 at 9:24 am
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              Where did you order your tank at? I’ve been looking around and feel like they’re all quite expensive

            • RedWeasel

              Member
              July 3, 2025 at 10:35 am
              DGC ProducerFree Membership

              Amazon. Just going with a rain barrel & will swap parts out from my current res.

  • Thickems

    Member
    July 2, 2025 at 5:17 pm
    DGC ProducerFree Membership

    Sometimes we get used to habits or tend to slack. We catch it when we pay attention and realize something is off. It happens, keep rockin!

    • This reply was modified 5 days, 23 hours ago by  Thickems.
  • earlbud420

    Member
    July 3, 2025 at 4:55 pm
    Free Membership

    Once you change for a bigger tank, keep in mind the syphon-effect, jm2c

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