Seiryu Stone: Raises pH and Hardness to what degree?

[John N.]

I was reading the description of Seiryu Stone on the aqua forest aquarium site and like most of the rocks sold it states that it raises pH and hardness. How much higher are we talking about on average?

-John N.

[Roy Deki]

I wish I could tell you John but, I don't test my water but, I have in the past and my Iwagumi tank was setup with 100% RO and with those stones. It seemed to raise the ph up to about 6.6 and the kh seemed to be around 3-4.

[dougz]

Interesting..

I never even considered that!

Do they react when you do the vinegar test on them?

[dougz]

Anyone?

[George Farmer]

I don't think it's ever an issue providing regular water changes are carried out.

I've used it in my last five 'scapes. No issues (I don't test).

I would guess the KH raise would be more significant in softer water i.e. more acid > more dissolving lime.

[dougz]

Well, I'm going to have fairly soft water (R/O cut with tap water)..

So I'm going to have to see about this issue..

[Roy Deki]

It's really not an issue...you need some kh and this is a better way to get it into you water than adding equilibrium. I too use very soft water with 0 kh but most plants need a little kh, so adding these rocks are a benefit. Our tap water runs over 8 pH with a kh of about 20. I had a lot of issues growing a lot of plants with such hard water.

[dougz]

Well, I'll be cutting it with my tap water (7.8 pH, kH 8 ), like I said, until I get a pH of around 6.7-6.8 (I'll see what the kH is when I get my pH set point)..

So I shouldn't need Equilibrium or anything, should I?

Then I was going to inject CO2 and have that hooked up to a pH controller..

Thoughts?

I'm going to have cardinals in there, and otos, BN, dwarf gourami, and corydoras..

[John N.]

My main concern was a raising of the pH because of the Crystal Red Shrimp I own. I found they prefer lower pH. Anyways, it sounds like has more of an effect on hardness then anything else.

I just placed an order for some, and we'll see how it goes. Thanks everyone.

-John N.