bigbadbiddy
Active member
Howdy folks,
I was looking for an organic PH down solution and read somewhere that I should try apple cider vinegar.
That was really bad as I later found out. It created this sort of "sludge" in my reservoir and started to smell foul while simultaneously raising the PH again over time.
The water became completely opaque and brownish in the process along with a film building up on the top.
There was another thread around here dealing with the topic, I forgot where I saw it. Someone else had this happen and advised vehemently against using vinegar as PH down for this reason.
Lesson learned ...
Anyway, to replace the vinegar, I went with citric acid after another research session that seemed like the solution for me.
Alas, I have now emptied and cleaned my reservoir twice (with bleach) and have had the brown film/sludge return both times.
I am currently gearing up to dump my reservoir again and clean it a third time with bleach, this time making sure I scrub the entire surface by hand (I used a mister/sprayer the last time and cleaned the inside walls of the res with a broom) and hope that will take care of it.
If it doesn't, maybe the citric acid I have is causing the same reaction as the vinegar did? i.e. the film/sludge buildup?
Barring any feedback here, I suppose my next step would be to bite the bullet and throw some money GH's way and buy some PH down from them.
I had previously used PH down for swimming pools without any issues with the reservoir ever "going bad". But after 2 rounds I found the little label in the corner saying "antibacterial" which is obviously bad for the microherd of my organic soil so I ditched that.
Any feedback welcome.
I was looking for an organic PH down solution and read somewhere that I should try apple cider vinegar.
That was really bad as I later found out. It created this sort of "sludge" in my reservoir and started to smell foul while simultaneously raising the PH again over time.
The water became completely opaque and brownish in the process along with a film building up on the top.
There was another thread around here dealing with the topic, I forgot where I saw it. Someone else had this happen and advised vehemently against using vinegar as PH down for this reason.
Lesson learned ...
Anyway, to replace the vinegar, I went with citric acid after another research session that seemed like the solution for me.
Alas, I have now emptied and cleaned my reservoir twice (with bleach) and have had the brown film/sludge return both times.
I am currently gearing up to dump my reservoir again and clean it a third time with bleach, this time making sure I scrub the entire surface by hand (I used a mister/sprayer the last time and cleaned the inside walls of the res with a broom) and hope that will take care of it.
If it doesn't, maybe the citric acid I have is causing the same reaction as the vinegar did? i.e. the film/sludge buildup?
Barring any feedback here, I suppose my next step would be to bite the bullet and throw some money GH's way and buy some PH down from them.
I had previously used PH down for swimming pools without any issues with the reservoir ever "going bad". But after 2 rounds I found the little label in the corner saying "antibacterial" which is obviously bad for the microherd of my organic soil so I ditched that.
Any feedback welcome.