Summary: My TA is 70 and my pH is 6.8. Am I ready for borax?
I started to lower my TA about three weeks ago. Here are the beginning and ending numbers:
Date: 4/26 (before gallon 1)
FC 1.0 CC 0.0
pH 7.8
TA 130
CH 210
CYA 48
Date: 4/29 (before gallon 2)
FC 3 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 110
CH 200
Date: 5/5 (before gallon 3)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 100
CH 210
Date: 5/16 (before gallon 4)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 200
Date: 5/17 (after gallon 4, added last night)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 6.8
TA 70
CH 200
Am I ready for Borax? I'm not too worried about the low pH, since my last gallon of acid is what brought it down so low, and the borax will raise the pH.
Don't mind the increasing FC, on 4/26 I also increased my SWG setting from 30% to 55%.
OBSERVATIONS:
For those of you trying to lower your TA, here are a few unexpected observations:
The lower the TA, the longer it took to increase my pH from the bottom (around 7.2) to the top (around 7.8). When my TA was around 110, it took me 3 days (running my pump 24hr a day, including the jacuzzi spillover.) When my TA was around 90-100, it took 6-7 days to raise from 7.2 to 7.8.
I didn't observe a linear relationship between the addition of acid and the drop of TA. My first gallon of acid dropped my TA from 130 to 110. My second and third gallons dropped my TA from 110 to 100 to 90. The last (fourth) gallon dropped my TA from 90 to 70.
I started to lower my TA about three weeks ago. Here are the beginning and ending numbers:
Date: 4/26 (before gallon 1)
FC 1.0 CC 0.0
pH 7.8
TA 130
CH 210
CYA 48
Date: 4/29 (before gallon 2)
FC 3 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 110
CH 200
Date: 5/5 (before gallon 3)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 100
CH 210
Date: 5/16 (before gallon 4)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 7.8
TA 90
CH 200
Date: 5/17 (after gallon 4, added last night)
FC 5 CC 0
pH 6.8
TA 70
CH 200
Am I ready for Borax? I'm not too worried about the low pH, since my last gallon of acid is what brought it down so low, and the borax will raise the pH.
Don't mind the increasing FC, on 4/26 I also increased my SWG setting from 30% to 55%.
OBSERVATIONS:
For those of you trying to lower your TA, here are a few unexpected observations:
The lower the TA, the longer it took to increase my pH from the bottom (around 7.2) to the top (around 7.8). When my TA was around 110, it took me 3 days (running my pump 24hr a day, including the jacuzzi spillover.) When my TA was around 90-100, it took 6-7 days to raise from 7.2 to 7.8.
I didn't observe a linear relationship between the addition of acid and the drop of TA. My first gallon of acid dropped my TA from 130 to 110. My second and third gallons dropped my TA from 110 to 100 to 90. The last (fourth) gallon dropped my TA from 90 to 70.