Not sure if it really matters but muriatic acid is 31.5% HCl not 20%.
I am not diluting it at all but I don't have anything in my tank yet other than substrate.
water hardness/conductivity meter?
Moderator: Mustafa
It depends on what brand you buy.argblarg wrote:Not sure if it really matters but muriatic acid is 31.5% HCl not 20%.
I would dilute it for safety and dosage reasons (dilute it to about 10 %). For one, HCL "fumes" at concentrations above about 30%, which means that you are breathing in toxic gases. Also...if you happen to spill some of it on your skin, it's a lot better and easier to deal with a 10% concentration than a 30+ percent concentration. And finally, once you get to a point where almost all your alkalinity has been neutralized...one more drop of a 30% solution can drive down the ph a lot more than you might want.I am not diluting it at all but I don't have anything in my tank yet other than substrate.
I just wasn't sure what I could store it in that it wouldn't melt through so I thought that was too risky. I am wearing protective material but it definately would be nice to just use an eye dropper or something.
As far as the concentration percentages, the ANSI standard definition is 31.45% but it looks like there are other ranges so nevermind!
As far as the concentration percentages, the ANSI standard definition is 31.45% but it looks like there are other ranges so nevermind!
ph won't stay down
help! in my tiger tank, the ph is 7.8-- I wanted to lower that, so I put in some Laguna peat granules(in a mesh bag)- still no change after one week. Tigers are dying here and there- 2 days ago I tried muriatic acid, and voila!
Ph down to 6.8! Approx 4 hrs later, ph straight back up to 7.8 ! !
Yesterday I put 3 jiffy peats in a bucket, and when they swelled up, I tested the water - It had gone down from 7.8 to 7.4 -- SO I thought it would work great. I put them in a nyon mesh bag and added to the aquarium. I noticed the shrimp congregated on this bag at the end where the peat was visible. Looked like they were loving trying to eat this stuff. This morning I checked the water - still 7.8 ! ! I have done water changes with 7.0 r/o water in the past- why am I having such a hard time lowering the ph???
Sheryl ---
Ph down to 6.8! Approx 4 hrs later, ph straight back up to 7.8 ! !
Yesterday I put 3 jiffy peats in a bucket, and when they swelled up, I tested the water - It had gone down from 7.8 to 7.4 -- SO I thought it would work great. I put them in a nyon mesh bag and added to the aquarium. I noticed the shrimp congregated on this bag at the end where the peat was visible. Looked like they were loving trying to eat this stuff. This morning I checked the water - still 7.8 ! ! I have done water changes with 7.0 r/o water in the past- why am I having such a hard time lowering the ph???
Sheryl ---