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MR LHG

You and my friends were dead on the money, it was the substrate after all that. it looks to have some form of petrified wood mixed in with it and its what is causing the leeching effect.

Here is what i did:

I went and purchased Muriatic Acid, which i guess is a form of Hydrochloric acid. I tested the large rocks, petrified wood and the gravel and at first i didn't find anything. i also tested another piece of petrified wood my in-laws had.

The piece my in-laws had did exactly what you told me it would do. however the piece i had, did not. I was then looking at the tests and saw something interesting. i found a small tiny piece of the substrate was bubbling. This leads me to believe that not all the substrate but some is leeching out calcium and therefore i am going to have to replace the substrate in the tank.

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html

Well it aint over guys.

Over the weekend i replaced the Substate with Eco Complete. Love the substrate btw. Anyways i went down to check the water parameters tonight and found that the water was still at 8.4 or more even after 100% water change and substrate removal. Good news is that my ammonia is still 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates are at about 5. hehehe

So I am running a test. I put the Petrified wood into a bucket of water and i have put several river stones or so they are called into a dish of water to see if either of them raise the PH over the next 48 hrs or so. I guess we will have to see

Thanks for your input as always, Shane
http://thetanklog.blogspot.com/ - [ Thanks to ScottF ]
http://www.natureaquariumclubofutah.com/main.html