Chemical free pH hack

[emperata]

I live in the south and suffer from two things: a pathological fear of bugs and low pH. Therefore, it’s not possible to flood my apartment with fresh air and my pH was stuck at 8.0. So l put an airstone in my hob and nestled the pump in a dense pothos plant (a super high O2 producer and Co2 scrubber- it’s a type of philodendron that grows like crazy). In two days my pH rose to 8.3.

 

[arking_mark]

Very interesting. I didn't think a plant could produce enough oxygen. In fact, I thought one would basically need a greenhouse.

 

[emperata]

Very interesting. I didn't think a plant could produce enough oxygen. In fact, I thought one would basically need a greenhouse.

Some plants are uber producers. If you google “highest oxygen producing house plants“, you’ll almost always see this one.

 

[Righteous]

Adding O2 to the tank isn’t going to increase pH / reduce CO2 (assuming that’s what you’re implying is happening with the pump in the plant)

What’s instead happening is that the airstone is driving CO2 to equilibrium with your room air, so you probably didn’t have enough mixing happening before.

For the plant to have been the cause of your higher pH the CO2 would have somehow had to been consumed by the plant (the pump is the air inlet, not an outlet).

And even though plants do consume CO2 they
don’t really have the highest metabolic rate. To offset the CO2 exhaled by a single person in your apartment, you’d need several hundred plants.

There’s also the fact that plants respire O2 and expel CO2 just like us at night when they are no longer photosynthesizing.

Sorry to rain on your parade!! But hopefully the takeaway is that yes, even something as small as an airstone can help pH in some cases. (And I’m sure the plant also looks pretty )

 

[emperata]

Adding O2 to the tank isn’t going to increase pH / reduce CO2 (assuming that’s what you’re implying is happening with the pump in the plant)

What’s instead happening is that the airstone is driving CO2 to equilibrium with your room air, so you probably didn’t have enough mixing happening before.

For the plant to have been the cause of your lower pH the CO2 would have somehow had to been consumed by the plant (the pump is the air inlet, not an outlet).

And even though plants do consume CO2 they
don’t really have the highest metabolic rate. To offset the CO2 exhaled by a single person in your apartment, you’d need several hundred plants.

There’s also the fact that plants respire O2 and expel CO2 just like us at night when they are no longer photosynthesizing.

Sorry to rain on your parade!! But hopefully the takeaway is that yes, even something as small as an airstone can help pH in some cases. (And I’m sure the plant also looks pretty )

The pH rose. That’s what l needed. You rained on no parade. The plant put oxygen into the pump’s diapragm, like it or not. And yes, thanks, the plant does look pretty.

 

[Righteous]

The pH rose. That’s what l needed. You rained on no parade. The plant put oxygen into the pump’s diapragm, like it or not. And yes, thanks, the plant does look pretty, Einstein.

Well again, oxygen into the pump isn’t going to raise pH. (whether that’s the tiny amount from a house plant, or a giant compressed o2 tank)

And what’s with the name calling?? Didn’t you post on the chemistry forum to get some feedback?

 

[emperata]

Well again, oxygen into the pump isn’t going to lower pH.

And what’s with the name calling?? Didn’t you post on the chemistry forum to get some feedback?

Sir, it raised the pH.

 

[Righteous]

Sir, it raised the pH.

Again, what raised the pH was not the oxygen. It’s the act of the airstone causing the CO2 in the tank to reach equilibrium with the air in the room. You’re off gassing CO2 in the tank.

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

I was in the "my plants help with PH" camp too for awhile. Then i borrowed a C02 meter from a friend and did a bunch of experiments and testing and found my plants didnt really do jack. lol i have about 20 plants in the same room as my 3 systems.

They sure look nice and add to the vibe but no PH help. Oh well, there are other ways to get that accomplished

 

[WVNed]

Carbonic acid
Co2 in water
CO2 + H2O ⇌ H2CO3
Why your pH goes down. It has nothing to do with O2.

 

[emperata]

Again, what raised the pH was not the oxygen. It’s the act of the airstone causing the CO2 in the tank to reach equilibrium with the air in the room. You’re off gassing CO2 in the tank.

The airstone alone didn’t help. My apartment is airtight. Whether you like, agree, disagree, counter-explain or just feel combative. It worked. And, yes, l posted for info and not molecular arguments. Thanks again. Ciao

 

[emperata]

I was in the "my plants help with PH" camp too for awhile. Then i borrowed a C02 meter from a friend and did a bunch of experiments and testing and found my plants didnt really do jack. lol i have about 20 plants in the same room as my 3 systems.

They sure look nice and add to the vibe but no PH help. Oh well, there are other ways to get that accomplished

I think what worked for ne was the productivity of pothos and the pump buried in the plant. Best of luck!

 

[Righteous]

The airstone alone didn’t help. My apartment is airtight. Whether you like, agree, disagree, counter-explain or just feel combative. It worked. And, yes, l posted for info and not molecular arguments. Thanks again. Ciao

Wow. Lol.

I guess some people don’t like the chemistry part of the chemistry forum.

 

[emperata]

Again, what raised the pH was not the oxygen. It’s the act of the airstone causing the CO2 in the tank to reach equilibrium with the air in the room. You’re off gassing CO2 in the tank.

I achieved my goal. Thanks for illuminating.

 

[Righteous]

@emperata Maybe you got the impression I was trying to be rude or something, but that’s the opposite of what I was going for. I was trying to be positive, but also still contribute some science and chemistry perspective on things. The whole point of this forum is to have discussions about chemistry and how it effects reef tanks. Talking about pH by definition is “molecular” since it’s a measure of hydrogen ions.

There’s no point in getting angry over this stuff. You made an observation, and talked about it on the forum, which is awesome. This is how we all learn together.

But at the same time, the interaction of CO2 and pH is fairly well understood. Hopefully you decide to stick around and keep taking part in productive discussions.

 

[Anthony Scholfield]

The airstone alone didn’t help. My apartment is airtight. Whether you like, agree, disagree, counter-explain or just feel combative. It worked. And, yes, l posted for info and not molecular arguments. Thanks again. Ciao

I think what worked for ne was the productivity of pothos and the pump buried in the plant. Best of luck!

LOL wow is right!

But i get wanting to believe your right, especially when you found a "fix" to your problem. I was the same way....then the testing proved me wrong.

Truth is, this isnt about being right or wrong but about being educated. What your sharing is cool and its also cool others have shared to give more light to the actual situation. Thats how we all learn.

 

[emperata]

Wow. Lol.

I guess some people don’t like the chemistry part of the chemistry forum.

One learns about one’s passion in 50 years.

 

[emperata]

LOL wow is right!

But i get wanting to believe your right, especially when you found a "fix" to your problem. I was the same way....then the testing proved me wrong.

Truth is, this isnt about being right or wrong but about being educated. What your sharing is cool and its also cool others have shared to give more light to the actual situation. Thats how we all learn.

Agreed!! But some folks know too much toblearn new things, contrary to their experience l guess. every tank is unique.

 

[emperata]

Wow. Lol.

I guess some people don’t like the chemistry part of the chemistry forum.

What l don’t like is somebody telling me what l did didn’t work. I am all about learning and sucking brains.

 

[Righteous]

What l don’t like is somebody telling me what l did didn’t work. I am all about learning and sucking brains.

I never said it didn’t work. I believe it did work, but not for the specific reasons that were being discussed. (and I think those details are helpful to understand)