Ryuoh Stone Accent to softwater scape

[SyngAdorErio]

Hey scapecrunchers, I have a 35 gallon tank that I love to grow softwater plants. I use remineralized RO water to a GH of 5 and KH that is unmeasurable or approximately equal to ZERO. The syngonanthus, eriocaulons and other softwater plants love the water normally. I have recently made a purchase of 3 medium sized Ryuoh stones, about 12 pounds, glued them to other rocks for stability and introduced them to my tank. They have made a huge impact to the scape, I freaking love them!

After the weekend I tested the water and the KH is between 1 and 2. I had read after purchasing the stones that they would raise the KH, but thought it would be slower. Has anyone attempted this feat in the past? These stones are magnificent and really don't want to remove them. Do I just accept that I'll be doing 75% waterchanges every 3 days? This would hopefully keep the kh at a negligible level, but the fluctuation in CO2 concentration due to the increased KH has already claimed 2 fishy lives.

Does anyone have a suggestion on how to manage the KH change? Is there something I can "clear coat" the rock with so it will not dissolve and effect the water chemistry? Do I start loading my filter with Peat to counteract the KH increase?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Art]

What substrate are you using?

I don't have much experience with this. I did introduce stones in the past that impacted my water chemistry. Unfortunately, my solution was to remove the stones which I understand you don't want to do.

 

[SyngAdorErio]

What substrate are you using?

I don't have much experience with this. I did introduce stones in the past that impacted my water chemistry. Unfortunately, my solution was to remove the stones which I understand you don't want to do.

I have Amazonia v2 at about 3 inches in depth. Most of it has been in there a year or more and added a gallon more a few months ago. I am sure that the Amazonia v2 is helping to slow the increase of KH but it unfortunately isn't enough.

 

[GreggZ]

After the weekend I tested the water and the KH is between 1 and 2

If your dKH only gets to 1 or 2 as far as plants go I wouldn't worry about it. Most plants will do great at that level, including soft water plants like Syngo's.

What is likely happening is that the stones are raising dKH and the soil is buffering it somewhat. The question is what happens if you let the tank go longer between water changes? Only one way to find out. If it keeps rising then that is going to be a lot of management to keep it in check.

This would hopefully keep the kh at a negligible level, but the fluctuation in CO2 concentration due to the increased KH has already claimed 2 fishy lives.

This is the other issue. If dKH is not stable, it becomes harder to dial in CO2. You might be better off with some stones that don't leach anything into the water column.

Personally I prefer a stable dKH, so stones like that are not an option.

 

[Bolbi]

I would suggest to remove the stones if you want to keep KH low, too much hassle. It can only get worse with time when the soil loses its buffering ability.

 

[SyngAdorErio]

I have decided to find a way to make these stones work. I happen to have a Smooth-On shop about 5 minutes from my house. They supply the material that was used on the show Tanked to make some of their underwater hardscape creations. They have a product, Urecoat, which is a rubberized urethane coating that you "paint" on the stone and it encapsulates the stone creating a barrier between the stone and water so there is no leaching of carbonate hardness. I coated the back stone already and plan to do the front stone next. My only hesitation was how it would look under water. The stone has a wet look with the coating applied and 75% cured. Based on the saltwater tank Smooth-on has in their retail store with multiple hardscape items coated in the tank, I am hopeful that I won't even notice the coating on the stone in the tank.

https://www.smooth-on.com/product-line/urecoat