Hi all,
So I'd had a tank on my desk for roughly 21 months, and it contained Seiryu Stones as part of the hardscape.
Now some may already know that Seiryu is known for its water altering property, and I figured to share a little bit of my experience so far.
Moreover, I'm also interested in hearing everyone else's experience of playing with Seiryu!
Thanks in advance for anyone willing to read through all this.
Here is my tank specs along with water parameter RIGHT OUT OF tap. Tested with API Master Kit + Tetra Strips
Standard US 5 gallon
7.4 pH
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate: all 0
~300 ppm GH
100-150 ppm KH
Inert gravel substrate with Lava Rock main hardscape, with a small handful of nano Seiryu Stone for accent.
Planted with Myrio Green, Water Sprite, and Japan Clover
So yeah, my water is literally liquid rock, but pH is not bad at all I think. This tank had been a solo betta tank.
I did quite minimal water changes; if water test showed 0 for ammonia and nitrite, I just top it off unless nitrate went crazy.
When my betta hit 2-year, it suddenly passed over weekend with no signs of sickness, so I did a water test to try find a root cause.
A little confession, I had been neglecting pH test for a long time (shame on me). When I did test, I only used regular pH bottle (APT Master Kit), not the High pH one, this will be important.
All parameters were normal, except for pH, which I read as 7.8 (deep blue per regular pH test). 7.8 wasn't too bad I thought, and boy was I wrong. Pull out the High pH bottle and the pH was a whooping 8.6!
While I do believe in stable > perfect parameters, I'm pretty sure my betta did not come from Lake Tanganyika. Full test results from tank:
8.6 pH
Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate: 0, 0, 20
~300 ppm GH (could be more, strip can't test any higher)
100-150 ppm KH
Since I have inert substrate, have pH 7.4 tap, and don't add anything in my water besides Easy Green, I narrowed my suspicion to my hardscape rocks leaching. Since Lava Rock is inert, it had to be the Seiryu Stones.
Soaked one stone in distilled vinegar, yup it fizzed right away alright.
Since Seiryu is a type of limestone, which is composed of mostly calcium carbonate, quick Google search revealed that calcium carbonate dissolving in water can reach pH equilibrium about mid-8, sometimes even around 9 or more.
So that's my experience working with Seiryu Stone. Not saying it's "bad," just that I don't believe it was serving well for my case.
I plan on getting some Ohko Stones instead (nice looking and also inert) and completely redo the tank. Maybe can trade-in the Seiryu in my LFS, who knows.
How is everyone else's experience with Seiryu Stone?