CO2 questions...

Z

Zoomies

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Feb 6, 2004
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I've been reading up on the thousands of threads about CO2, and I have a few questions that I didn't find answered. So...

1. The addition of C02 into the tank lowers the PH of the water. In my case, I'm using treated tap water in my tank, and my PH is quite high. (Swings from 8 to 8.5) Does this mean I should do lower volume water changes to avoid PH shock?

2. I currently have a HOB Aquaclear Mini that I place on the back of my tank in addition to my Fluval 304. My reasoning for this is that when I need to set up a Hospital/Quarantine tank I can simply move the Mini into a 10 gallon and I should have some biological filtration. Will this disturb the surface of the water enough to impact the CO2??

3. I understand that with CO2 you want to have close to zero surface movement. This is correct, right? I just need to double check because I'm from the old non-planted school of "The more surface exchange, the better." My fish will still get enough Oxygen from the plants, right?

4. I'm thinking of a DIY Co2 system to get started with. I've read that you can place the ouput of the Co2 under the intake of a powerhead to help break up the bubbles - but wouldn't this create a suction that could siphon the yeast mixture into the tank? I know a check valve prevents water from being siphoned from the tank, but what about the other way around? Is the 'two-bottle' method the only way to prevent this?

Thanks!!
 
1.) Treated water? What kind of treated water? Do you treat it with chemicals to lower your pH?

If you are using a chemical to lower your pH, stop doing so. Using chemicals to lower pH tends to lead to a pH that bounces around. A stable pH is nearly always better than a "perfect" (but bouncing) pH.
My tap water is hard as rocks... and my pH generally sits at around 8-8.5 as well. I don't treat my tap water with anything except dechlorinator. The pH in my plant tank sits at around a 7.0 with CO2 injection. I do a 50% water change once a week, and my fish are just fine.

2.) If you want to reduce the amount of surface disruption from your mini, just grab a sponge, cut a slot in it, and wedge the sponge onto the lip of the filter. The sponge should be kept in place since its wedged in between the filter and the tank. This will reduce surface disruption quite well.

3.) My 70gallon tank has a bit of surface movement and its doing just fine. CO2 supplemented tanks are generally saturated with O2 (thus plant pearling), so O2 shouldn't be a problem.

4.) Back in my DIY days, I used an AC powerhead with a quick filter attachement. I drilled a small hole at the bottom of the quick filter, put the CO2 line through that, and put an airstone at the end of the line, so that the line wouldn't slip out.

HTH
-Richer
 
Can you clarify what you mean by 'treated water'? Treated by the water company or by you? And what are you or the water company treating it with?

Len
 
Oops! Lots of misunderstanding there.

By 'treated tap water' I meant I de-clorinate the tap water. Nothing more. Just remove the chloramines. Sorry for the confusion!

Richer - thanks about the sponge idea! That should work great. About the powerhead - I'm not worried about the air hose being secure, I'm worried about the contents of the yeast bottle getting sucked into the tank - am I missing something? (Does the way you secure the air hose prevent a siphon out of the yeast bottle?)
 
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