Is your CO2 on all night?

[AsahiToro]

I'm curious of how many people turn thier CO2 off during the night via solenoid/timer/ph controller or do you just leave it on? How much of a PH swing is too much? Thanks for any input,

Scott

[Richer]

I run my CO2 24/7 mainly because I currently cannot afford a solenoid and my reactor doesn't allow me to just shut off the powerhead to stop the mixing.

I notice that my pH flucuates between 6.8-7.2. With a kh of 8, that ranges from about 15-25 ppm of CO2. Its been like this for quite awhile, and I've noticed no stress on the fish.

HTH
-Richer

[crutch27]

My pressurized system doesnt have a solonoid either, and I've run it for 6 months and havent had any problems with fish. I check the ph in the mornings and there isnt too much of a drop. If you are worried you could always set a timer to bubble an airstone for a couple hours in the middle of the night. I just put in a powerhead in that runs for a couple hours at night to get some better water circulation actually, and that helps drive off some of the co2 as a nice side note.

[plantbrain]

CO2 is for the plants, not pH control. I turn it off at night. If you have a pump to feed the CO2 gas into the tank, simply plug it into the light timer.
Amano says the Japanese think adding CO2 at night is Taboo. Interesting comment.
I don't think it matter too much one way or another.
I've had so called sensitive fish(Altums/Discus) in both set ups, no difference.

I've always had my systems set up in this manner at home.
Clears off the pump to prevent clogging, prevents any slow build up to toxic levels of CO2 if I'm not paying attention since it has 12hrs of down time very 24hrs.

The hoopla over pH swings and preventing this by leaving it on all night is really a BIG myth. Many FW systems go through large daily fluxes in the pH values. Drastic sudden changes in poorly buffered water can cause issues, but not in the ranges of KH's we use generally.
Regards,
Tom Barr

[punch]

I was lucky, My co2 tank can w/a selonoid and I hooked it and the lights to the timer. When the lights go out, my co2 shuts off.

[gcvt]

I've been running mine 24/7 since March with no problems at all.

[Jeremy S]

I have my CO2 on 24/7 and the fish do fine.

[125gJoe]

Originally posted by punch
I was lucky, My co2 tank can w/a selonoid and I hooked it and the lights to the timer. When the lights go out, my co2 shuts off.


Same here!

[Skippy]

I have good buffering in my water here, at least I think 5kh is good, and leave my c02 on 24/7.

I see a slight morning versus evening PH fluctuation but nothing that seems to be bothering my fish in the least.

[Bruddah Chrispy]

I've got DIY CO2 and I leave it on 24x7. Of course nothing seems to affect the pH in my tank. The tank's inital pH was 7.6. I added plants, and the pH was 7.6. I added bog wood, and the pH was 7.6. I added CO2, and the pH was 7.6.

I thought at one time that I might want it lower, but the fish all seem happy and I don't seem to be able to lower it, so I've decided I want the pH to stay where it is. :-)

[djlen]

I'm so relieved to hear the responses to this thread. I've been worried about the PH swings in both of my tanks, mostly overnight, but also from the time I put up a new bottle of DIY CO2 and the time the injection starts to peter out. It's like a gradual increase in PH as the CO2 injection lessens, but I've never notice any ill affects in the fish and the plants are doing great.
Thanks for all the feedback.
Len