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Here is a water chemistry question that I am dragging over from the Other South American forum.
I think that we cleared up the EC vs TDS debate. :?: What really is the effect of carbonates on 'soft water' fish?
What carbonates do is make it really hard to lower the pH. They are alkaline buffers. They soak up free hydrogen ions. So one obvious answer is that if the calcium carbonate level is high, the pH cannot be lowered to where we want it to be.
HOWEVER, does the carbonate in the water itself have a detrimental effect on the fish? If you could get the pH down (and keep it down), would high carbonates hurt fish if the TDS/EC of the water is still very low?
Here is the application I am aiming towards. One problem associated with soft water and injected CO2 is the possibility of a pH crash. Could calcium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate be used in small amounts to buffer the aquarium water just a little bit so that a crash is unlikely to occur? :?
Inquiring minds want to know....