Is a CO2 drop normal in a newly planted tank?

[WinnipegDragon]

I have been monitoring my new tank pretty closely (daily Ammonia, Nitrate, pH, KH and GH test) during the fishless cycle I started on Tuesday, and I just planted it the day after I started. Initially, the KH/pH readings gave me a CO2 reading of about 8ppm.

In the last three days, my pH has risen a bit, and my KH has plunged from ~70ppm to ~40ppm. My CO2 level is now about 2.1ppm. The odd thing is I am also using the Hagen CO2 kit, so I'm at quite a loss.

The tank is tiny, a 5g Corner Eclipse and I have the CO2 diffuser at the lowest setting. I'm just wondering if new plants 'suck up' a lot of the dissolved minerals/carbon in the water when they are newly transferred and planted?

I'm not sure if this is pertinent, but I'll add it anyhow: The substrate is Flourite (Red) and there is a fairly large piece of Malay driftwood in the tank as well for anchoring my Anubias Nana and Java Fern. The wood was soaked for 48 hours before adding to the tank, and it really didn't discolour the soaking water at all. I know driftwood can soften water, so should I take it out and anchor on lava rock instead?

[tinkerman]

I'm not an expert or anything but I did just upgrade lighting on my 29 gal tank, went from 3.5 wpg to 4.72 wpg and had to triple the amount of co2. So from my experience I would so that adding plants or changing lighting would affect co2 levels.

[GirlieGirl8521]

Its my experience that Malaysian driftwood will lower the KH some. So thats probably throwing off your CO2 "reading" a bit. Thats why the KH/pH relationships aren't always accurate. I'd definitely turn the CO2 up. I run 1 2L and 1 1L bottle on a 3g (while the Hagen thing is probably 1L, or at most 2L) and it has no ill effects on the fish, so don't worry about having too much CO2. Whether its 8 or 2ppm of CO2....its low. ;) You want atleast 15ppm.

[John N.]

pH will drop when you dissolve CO2 in the water. When you're pH isn't dropping then you can be certain that you're not getting enough CO2 dissolved in the water column.

The malaysian driftwood is probably to blame for the wacky changing water paramaters. Usually it drops the pH from the tannis released from the wood. The increase in KH can probably be attributed to the use of Flourite. But no worries.

Try to increase the production of the Hagen kit by using your own baking soda, yeast and sugar mix, and not the stock materials. This will help you get more bubble production, and more C02 in the tank.

For the Hagen Nutrafin Canister:

Sugar to the bottom inside line,
Water to the top inside line,
1/8-1/4 teaspoon yeast
1/4-1 teaspoon baking soda

Close as tight as possible and enjoy.

-John N.