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- #21
Got a PM asking how I used HCL to drop the KH, figured Id post here so anyone else curious can see it
I just use whatever HCL lowes has in stock, it varies a little bit but its all pretty much the same
Generally speaking, for a 75 gallon tank 15 ML will drop the KH by 1
Obviously this is acid we're talking about so be very careful about skin or eye contact
The next main concern is not burning up the plants
I used to dilute the acid in about a pint of water and then slowly add it to the tank by pouring it directly into the filter current. The problem with this method is you better not miss or pour too fast. HCL is heavier than water and if it doesnt catch the current it just settles to the bottom and burns up anything in the general vicinity
I learned this the hard way about two weeks before the deadline making my 2019 AGA Dutch entry
The focal plant you see is about 6 baby Crypt spiralis red all stuck in the same hole or two. Up until 2 weeks before the deadline, thats right, 2 weeks before! I had a beautiful full Blyxa novo about twice that size right there. But I missed the current with HCL and it settled on top of the Novo and completely burned it up, along with half the 53B and Lobelia. So with no Novo I had to plug something else in for the focal spot, and it had to be a red rosette of some kind. And well...all I had was a few baby spiralis
These days I use a piece of curved plastic I cut out from a soup container. I put this under the filter outflow that way it catches all the acid to be blown with the current
What I do is add the acid to about half a pint of water and pour that into the current just before the edge of the plastic piece. This way there's no worries about any missing the current and falling below. As long as it catches some current it will quickly and harmlessly blend in
*Note: never add water to acid! Always add acid to water
So thats just what I do. If you have a reservoir or something for water change water you can just add it to that beforehand and not worry about the plants
As for the notion that 0 KH is a bad thing, I drop the KH to 0-1 in 6 out of my 10 tanks. Ive never seen anything go sideways with a 0 KH, like the proverbial PH crash. What does that even mean anyway? Although I do believe that having a 0 KH can possibly affect the accuracy of a PH reading, Ive never seen a negative response from plants. So tifwiw
Another concern is the by product of HCL reacting with carbonate hardness is a ton of chloride gets released. I forgot the math but once figured it to be in the 50-75 ppm range. Ive never seen that be a problem either, but if your tap comes with abnormally high levels of chloride it might be a concern. Mine comes with less than 10
I just use whatever HCL lowes has in stock, it varies a little bit but its all pretty much the same
Generally speaking, for a 75 gallon tank 15 ML will drop the KH by 1
Obviously this is acid we're talking about so be very careful about skin or eye contact
The next main concern is not burning up the plants
I used to dilute the acid in about a pint of water and then slowly add it to the tank by pouring it directly into the filter current. The problem with this method is you better not miss or pour too fast. HCL is heavier than water and if it doesnt catch the current it just settles to the bottom and burns up anything in the general vicinity
I learned this the hard way about two weeks before the deadline making my 2019 AGA Dutch entry
The focal plant you see is about 6 baby Crypt spiralis red all stuck in the same hole or two. Up until 2 weeks before the deadline, thats right, 2 weeks before! I had a beautiful full Blyxa novo about twice that size right there. But I missed the current with HCL and it settled on top of the Novo and completely burned it up, along with half the 53B and Lobelia. So with no Novo I had to plug something else in for the focal spot, and it had to be a red rosette of some kind. And well...all I had was a few baby spiralis
These days I use a piece of curved plastic I cut out from a soup container. I put this under the filter outflow that way it catches all the acid to be blown with the current
What I do is add the acid to about half a pint of water and pour that into the current just before the edge of the plastic piece. This way there's no worries about any missing the current and falling below. As long as it catches some current it will quickly and harmlessly blend in
*Note: never add water to acid! Always add acid to water
So thats just what I do. If you have a reservoir or something for water change water you can just add it to that beforehand and not worry about the plants
As for the notion that 0 KH is a bad thing, I drop the KH to 0-1 in 6 out of my 10 tanks. Ive never seen anything go sideways with a 0 KH, like the proverbial PH crash. What does that even mean anyway? Although I do believe that having a 0 KH can possibly affect the accuracy of a PH reading, Ive never seen a negative response from plants. So tifwiw
Another concern is the by product of HCL reacting with carbonate hardness is a ton of chloride gets released. I forgot the math but once figured it to be in the 50-75 ppm range. Ive never seen that be a problem either, but if your tap comes with abnormally high levels of chloride it might be a concern. Mine comes with less than 10
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