Lithaqua and it's affects on Ph

[koiczar]

A discussion was started on another thread that wasn't really relevant, so I thought I'd start this one.

Russell and I were discussing the use of a product called Lithaqua. I'm sure some have heard of it and maybe some others haven't. I've been talking to Russell more in-depth about it's efficacy with regards to Ph. His tap water reads a Ph of 8.6, yet his ponds are sitting consistently at 7.2. Now, for any of you who have a high Ph,, I'm sure your wondering about how Lithaqua could be reducing the Ph levels so much. Russ's store tanks are 45 mil EPDM liners and some are simply Poly vortex tanks, either 4 foot or 6 foot diameter. He utilizes three stage gravity fed filter systems not unlike most, except that he employs 1 cu.ft. of Lithaqua for every 1000 gal. (approx).

What is Lithaqua made of? Well, there-in lies what I believe to be the important part of the equation. Alas, I'm not all that familiar with it either, except, I've seen the results. The water quality, the health of the fish all add up to quick recovery from shipping and very nice beni, shiroji and sumi. The sheen and luster of the skin on his fish is very high quality. Now, considering the fact that this is a koi shop, the fish load is quite a bit higher than what we, as hobbyists, have in our ponds (or at least we should have). So, if this products works for a dealers stock ponds, it should really work well for us.

I have sent Russ a pm and asked him to elaborate on Lithaqua. What it is and why it works so well. STAY TUNED!!

[cocoyboy]

Russ showed me how he has it set up, and showed me the good bacteria growth on it also which caught my attention. Bio and a conditioner at the same time, sound good to me. I am working on my water fall so that it will hold Lithaqua in it, but elaborate on this material please!

[bekko]

They use that same stuff under different names as an agricultural soil amendment and even for pseudo-medicinal purposes. It is mined from the sea floor. That mining activity has come under fire by environmentalists who say it is accompanied by habitat destruction. It is no longer allowed to be used on agricultural produces labeled as 'organic' because of the sustainability issues.

Supposedly, it has a lot of trace elements which are not found in coral. I don't know if those trace elements are of any value in a koi pond. It probably depends on the individual pond and its source water. I am also unsure whether or not it emits beneficial yellow cosmic rays like coral does.

The buffering capacity is chemically similar to coral. However, the beauty of this stuff is the structure of the chunks. It is much more porous and crumbly than available forms of coral and has more surface area. Furthermore, the processing requirements are minimal. It does not have to be broken up like coral and is about the right size for our needs just as it comes from the sea floor. I think it all comes from Europe.

We have calcareous algae here, but it behaves differently. In warm-water seas, the calcified algae tends to bind chunks of rubble together to reform them into a large solid mass again. The species in the North Atlantic make that beautiful granular stuff.

-ste veho

[koiczar]

Steve

Thanks for the input. I knew it to be coral based but you clarified it finer detail.

I hope the "yellow cosmic rays" thing you mentioned doesn't start another FIR thread maelae!!LOL

[Bob Hart]

As well as his pH, I'd be interested to see his KH and GH numbers, for tap water and pond water please.

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bob Hart As well as his pH, I'd be interested to see his KH and GH numbers, for tap water and pond water please.

Hi Bob,

The KH in my tap water is 60 and in my tanks is 180 and very stable. I have never worried about GH, since there is not much I can do about it. I do not beleive in RO units, so I just accept that what I have is O.K. because it does not affect the way Lithaqua works.
At our old store my KH was 0, pH 8.7 and my GH was around 300, I think. It has been a few years. Lithaqua performed with the same results there, in fact that is where I determined the volume needed per 1000 gallons. I tried everything before I found Lithaqua, including baking soda, which I call the big B.S. product, plaster of paris, coral and concrete blocks. None of these other items worked.

'Russ

[Russell Peters]

Mike,

Lithaqua is not a coral, but rather a green algae, that has been calcified. We bring it in from Belgium through Bacta-Pur Europe. Lithaqua comes from a tropical benthic genus of green algae called Halimeda. It was first discovered in the 1950's when large numbers of deep bore holes were drilled into Pacific atolls. Geologists found that the dominant element of the carbonate structure was not stony coral, but rather a "lithified" sand made up of the lobes of Halimeda.
The members of this genus rank as one of the most important calcifiers of the biosphere; it is likely that their CaCO3 production over all of the tropical seas is considerably greater than that of stony corals.
Anatomically, members of this genus are constructed of tubules, with very few cross walls. Thus, individual cells are extremely long and narrow. At the surface of the discs or lobes, the surface expression of these tubules (called utricles) is slightly swollen to form a continuous surface as kind of a cellular pavement. Just below the surface of the lobe, there are considerable spaces between the utricles. The calcification, mostly of aragonite needles (CaCO3), occurs alost entirely in these interutricular spaces. Thus, through the anatomy of their utricles, these algae have provided one of the basic requirements for biomineralization, confined spaces in which critical supersaturation can occur.
When a halimeda disc is sectioned, it is possible to see under a dissecting microscope that the chlorplasts are crowded into the outer parts of the utricles. Most of the cellular remander of the lobes and joints is colorless or nearly so. Thus, when photosynthesis is proceeding rapidly, C02 diffuses from the water immediately exterior to the plant and, particularly because this is the largest surface of each utricle, from the interutricular spaces. This stongly raises the pH and the concentration of the carbonate ion in the interutricular spaces. As long as calcium is available to diffuse through the porous cell wall from the exterior, calcium carbonate becomes highly supersaturated in the largely enclosed spaces.

The production of calcium in corals is different and even more long winded, but, a basic summary is; calcification occurs in the basal disc of each polyp and the biomineralization zone is well removed from the photosynthetic region. Therefore, it makes it highly unlikely that carbon dioxide removal and pH elevation is a direct driving force in coral calcification. In fact, for every molecule of CO2 taken up and calcium carbonate laid down, two ions of bicarbonate are used and two molecules of C02 are produced. These acidic conditions and excess carbon dioxide actually slow down calcification.

Have you had enough yet, I have?

Russ

[kingkong]

That was A+ report , in other words, calcification enhances photosynthesis.

[koiczar]

PHEW!! I had enough after the first paragraph!!LOL!! You lost me after the 3rd "the" hahahahaha

Thanks for the 411 on Lithaqua - I knew you knew all about it, just didn't realize how technical your knowledge of it was - great descertation

Thanks

Mike

[bekko]

That was terrific Russel. I had it confused with a completely different product. I feel double stupid because we have a lot of Helmedia in the bay in front of our house. However, I have never seen any under-water deposits that look like the photos of Lithaqua. Here, Helmedia is thought to make a large contribution to production of calcarious sand. A few pieces which look like the internet photos of Lithaqua may be mixed in the substrate, but mostly it is coarse sand grains (pin head size and less) and big chunks of coral rubble (golf ball size and larger). You must need higher concentrations of Helmedia to make the good stuff.

-steveho