ph down?

[litano]

What is the cheapest way to get PH down??

[matt]

The cheapest acid you can find is Ph down. The PH down they sell at grow stores always worked for me and seemed to be cheaper then anything else since it was so concentrated. But if you have a source of  say free lemons or vinager that could work.

[Ryan Chatterson]

No the cheapest way is Phosphoric acid or Muriatic acid

[matt]

Where can you find them? Home depot? or order online?

Ryan said:

No the cheapest way is Phosphoric acid or Muriatic acid

[Ryan Chatterson]

I think you can get 2 gal of muriatic acid at home depot for like 10 bucks

[Ryan Chatterson]

They sell it in a kit, single box, 2 1 gal containers. SUPER concentrated so add something like 10ml, then test to get a gauge of what you need to dose.

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Matt,

Please do not use lemons or any type of citric acid as they neutralize and destroy conversion bacteria in AP.

matt said:

The cheapest acid you can find is Ph down. The PH down they sell at grow stores always worked for me and seemed to be cheaper then anything else since it was so concentrated. But if you have a source of  say free lemons or vinager that could work.

[Growzay]

Aquarium safe PH Down made by Laguna is 13.5% Sulfuric Acid. It is Phosphate free- You probably have hard water-

[JD Sawyer]

I've found that pH naturally drops over a period of a few months at least in my home scale flood and drain systems. They always start out on the high side around 7.6 or so and start to come down over time. If you're not in a hurry you may want to let it happen naturally which of course will be the cheapest way... In short time you will likely be on the other side of the issue trying to figure out how to buffer your system back up. In that case, small amounts of hydrated lime for short term adjustments will help and crushed sea shells for a slow release of calcium carbonate will provide a more long term stable buffer. 

 

 

[JD Sawyer]

I should clarify that when I say pH naturally drops over time, that assumes that you don't already have a medium in the system that is naturally buffering pH. For example, if you have gravel that happens to have a high concentration of limestone then pH will likely not drop on it's own or sea shells which is something TC has mentioned before in her system among others... 

 

[litano]

Hi JD, I am using 1/2 Hydroton and 1/2 pea gravel. My system are  from 2-6 months old. Two system were hydroponics where I kept the PH at yellow consistently. All of the tomatoe, basil, lettuce , cucumbers are huge. I added small gold fish a couple of months ago. 25 small ones to a 30 and 40 gallon fish tank.

JD Sawyer said:

I should clarify that when I say pH naturally drops over time, that assumes that you don't already have a medium in the system that is naturally buffering pH. For example, if you have gravel that happens to have a high concentration of limestone then pH will likely not drop on it's own or sea shells which is something TC has mentioned before in her system among others... 

 

[Sylvia Bernstein]

And if you add crushed sea shells be sure to keep them captive in a bag of some sort rather than just adding them to the bed.  That way if your pH starts going up too much you can easily remove them by removing the bag.

[litano]

how crucial is PH to aquaponics, what is the idea? where do I  get crushed sea shell?? thanks