What's the Best Ph Up and Down to Use?

green as grass

green as grass

Active Member
Dirty Harry said:
Well, people use it in their fresh and salt water fish tanks. In salt water tanks the coral, fish, and other animals are NOT CHEAP.
When used correctly, all that lives in the water adjusted with it just fine.
I figure if it is safe for expensive fish, it should be safe for plants...when used correctly.
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never knew that either.. crazy the shit i learn on here. i love it
 
green as grass

green as grass

Active Member
UrbanAerO said:
This is what I use also, but its best not to add any PH. After I mix everything and PH is say 4.5 close to my target 5.8, I will add some more protekt silica and PH with that, but if I have to add too much( more than 2.5ml/gal) silica I will use the mad farmers PH(great product)
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good to know thank you. i figured i could use silica to raise ph as long as i dont over do recommended dosage
 
dudeoflife

dudeoflife

Well-Known Member
Here's another one: Citric Acid Powder. Another excellent and inexpensive solution for lowering your ph, and probably the safest.
 
Johan

Johan

Well-Known Member
dont go digital, stick the basic powder, the color doesnt lie to you, but if your digital meter fucks up some how, now what? always go with powder ph testers.
 
UrbanAerO

UrbanAerO

Active Member
green as grass said:
good to know thank you. i figured i could use silica to raise ph as long as i dont over do recommended dosage
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I stopped using PH all together and just ph up with silica, I sometimes add twice the recomended silica in my schedule with no ill side effects. When the ph reaches 7.0(around 2 days) I just changed the nutrients all together, because at this point its almost empty. also note I use 10gallons of nutes for 40 plants. The phosphorus was most of the gunk buildup in my system.
 
green as grass

green as grass

Active Member
UrbanAerO said:
I stopped using PH all together and just ph up with silica, I sometimes add twice the recomended silica in my schedule with no ill side effects. When the ph reaches 7.0(around 2 days) I just changed the nutrients all together, because at this point its almost empty. also note I use 10gallons of nutes for 40 plants. The phosphorus was most of the gunk buildup in my system.
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holy smokes 10 gallons of nutrients wheeeew! you know what i noticed the other day when i mixed up some nutrients with the silicate.
i always add my silicate first per hydro store guy, then H&G A wait ten minutes, then added B then mixed, as i mixed the solution went from clear to cloudy.
Now i knew this was bad and when chemicals start precipitating, so i threw out n started over.

i also did something new and that was filling up rez 2/3rd's full and did A&B nutrients like the chart says for H&G except for this time i think the pro tekt silicate raised the water to high of ph and chemically the A&B didn't mix properly in smaller amount of water.
When i did my next batch the exact same way except this time adding to a full rez instead of 2/3rd full. Didn't get any cloudy reaction this time. so had to be too high of ph that did it.
 
W

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
One thing that has not been touched on yet. Sulfuric Acid from the auto parts store is not of food grade quaility. Yes it will work. I would not make hash or anything edible with it. And would only use it if I was selling it all and not smoking any of it.
 
green as grass

green as grass

Active Member
wiseguy316 said:
One thing that has not been touched on yet. Sulfuric Acid from the auto parts store is not of food grade quaility. Yes it will work. I would not make hash or anything edible with it. And would only use it if I was selling it all and not smoking any of it.
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that is what i was thinking also. acid from a battery couldnt be good..
 
W

wiseguy316

Well-Known Member
Lot's of things work, however GH and most ph products state they are of food grade quality. PH down is cheap last gal I bought was 20 bucks from dchydro, and I still have 3/4 of it left from 2 yrs ago. Baking soda works for ph up, but i just add water if i need up. My water is about 8. Add's water back in for what they have used.
 
4

420forme

Active Member
Yeah, don't tell your patients that you use lye and battery acid to grow their meds. It just doesn't sound good.
 
masonite420

masonite420

Active Member
green as grass said:
I currently run Mad Farmer up and down with the whole line of H&G aqua flakes.
Whats the BEST?
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Mad Farmer’s up and down are $3 cheaper than GH’s and contain no dyes. Dyes are harmful to roots…Sounds like the guy at the shop was trying to help you out and save you some money. If you wanna go natural…use silica blast for up and Mad Farmer N.U.T.S., which is a fulvic acid, for down.
Peace and good luck
 
choempi

choempi

Well-Known Member
GreenThumbSucker said:
GH PH DOWN is made from phosphoric acid, which makes your reservoir pump and hoses slimy, especially during flowering. When the phosphoric acid hits the P saturated solution, a plume of phosphorus hits the water and the solution cant hold it all, some of it changes form to a solid and it becomes slime that sticks to everything it touches. I use sulfuric acid and I get no slime at all, all I have to do is rinse out my system once a week, almost no scrubbing at all.

You can get sulfuric acid at any auto parts store, just ask for battery acid. Cost is anywhere from $3.99 - $5.99 per liter, very cheap. You have to ask for it, they keep it behind the counter. Wear rubber gloves and goggles while handling it. For weaker strength, use 1/3 of a cup per gallon. For normal strength use about a half cup per gallon. Make sure you use RO water or distilled water. You dont want the chlorine from your tap water interacting with the sulfuric acid. A $3.99 container of battery acid will make about 8 or 10 gallons of PH Down.

For PH UP use 100% pure lye. One level tablespoon makes a gallon, which lasts years. Lifetime supply for under 5$.

Read the ingredients on the lye to make sure it is PURE sodium hydroxide or pure Lye in crystal form. To make the PH UP, fill a gallon container 3/4 with RO or distilled water and drop one tablespoon of lye crystals in, then top off with the rest of the water. Wear rubber gloves and goggles. I will never ever have to pay 25$ per gallon for UP or DOWN again!!!

Get it online cheap:

http://www.amazon.com/Sodium-Hydroxide-Caustic-Cleaner-Making/dp/B0032LVYXQ/ref=pd_sxp_grid_i_1_0

or get it at the hardware store:

View attachment 1163311

Just make sure it is pure lye or pure sodium hydroxide
Hope this helps.
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I know this an old thread but if someone can explain what the interaction between the chlorine and the sulfuric acid is exactly. I use bleach in my hydro and want to use this as a ph down.
 
Truth B Known

Truth B Known

Active Member
i use gen hydro ph down.. a lot of people do, but def interested in earth juice.. there are people that use vinegar and citric acid as well.. haven't done enough trial and error to tell you what is best exactly, but i'm curious!
 
Ferredoxin

Ferredoxin

Active Member
Sulfuric acid is dangerous. If you add water to it, instead of adding it to water, it can potentially explode. Fortunately, battery acid is only about 26% H2SO4. I used to work with reagent grade H2SO4, and I had to use a special vented hood with water filters to remove all the toxic fumes.

As far as the interaction with bleach (sodium hypochlorite)........it will produce chlorine gas in acid solutions, which is very toxic. 30 ppm causes coughing and vomiting, 60 ppm will damage your lungs, and 1000 ppm is fatal. Make sure you have no bleach in your rez when you add it!
 
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