PH rising......and rising....

L

lafeeverte

Member
we recently purchased and installed the GHE biofilter in our hydroponic system. Currently the average temperature with the lamps on is between 28 and 30 Celsius, the humidity between 50% and 55%, EC reading at 0.7 and PH between 5.6 and 8.2

It has been over 24 hours since the filter was installed and approx 9 hrs since the biomagic mixture was added and ever since the PH levels have been climbing up although the water is being treated with PHdown product. Growth products by Hesi: Hydro Growth, Root Complex, SuperVit and PowerEnzyme were added to the water one day prior to adding the Biomagic powder. The reservoir is holding 100L and water temperature does not seem too high.

Is there any way the filter is affecting the PH levels?
Is there a preferred method to maintain the optimal PH level with the Biofilter system?
Any reason why the PH level can be so high? So far used almost half a bottle of PH Down and its been only a few days since clones were placed.

Clones are resting in rockwool, there is a pump also keeping water moving also so there should be no issues with stagnant water.



Your recommendations would be greatly appreciated.
 
wookieslinger

wookieslinger

Active Member
I'm not exactly sure if it's your new products that is causing your drifts. I have had problems with new hydroton and new airstones. After a few days of adjusting the ph slowly it would stabilize. I never had a firm answer from anyone on the matter. It never had taken me a half a bottle though. If it does not start to drop and stay I would start to remove products one by one untill you find the problem.
 
ChubbySoap

ChubbySoap

Well-Known Member
sure...if that's a brand new bio filter, there is a good possibility the micro-organisms and fungi trying to populate it are going hog wild reproducing...
sucking up oxygen...eating stuff...and making tons of heat (in the filter) that kills them off in droves ....their tiny but numerous corpses should acidify your water in a snap


and that's just in a fish tank....i couldn't image what that would do in a hyro set up
it's just a learning curve...once that filter is stabilized it'll be smooth sailing i bet
going more alkaline though...i donno
 
L

lafeeverte

Member
hi guys thanks for the replies.
yes, new filter, new product and we activated the filter 2 days ago and added the biomagic mix yesterday. should we just let the filter work its "magic" or should we keep the PH low with PHdown (.5 litre in 2 days) I would think that is excessive and maybe too aggressive.

For instance at 12:00pm today the PH was 8.3 we used 60 ml of PHdown to lower it to 6.2, then at 1:00 the PH worked its way back to 6.8. Then we added another 15 ml of PHdown to bring back to 6.2, the last reading at 2:30 showed 7.3!!!!

NO matter how frequent we are adding the PHdown, the levels keep augmenting.
Also we are using 2 400 watt HPS bulbs and there are 2 fans in a 120 m x 120 m box, see foto....
2 mini rotating air fans and an 190 sq. meter extractor fan, so not too hot in there.

we are worried because we just put in these clones and they are barely strong enough to take the stress let alone grow at a decent rate. how long could clones support a PH of 7+?
 

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ChubbySoap

ChubbySoap

Well-Known Member
what about putting the new filter in it's own isolation pod to get it's feet planted?
hell...does taking it out stop the ph rise for that matter?

i'm not familiar with your tech and am looking at it like an aquarium atm
 
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