Co2 changing PH

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cichlidcichlid

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Jun 15, 2006
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The Co2 made the water go from 7.0 to 7.1 PH.

The Co2 comes out every couple of minutes and is injected into the water.

What is going on?

I want it at about 6.6 to 6.5.

The substrate is 31 pound flourite and 25 river sand.

It is a 29 gallon tank, is enough co2 coming out?

From the DIY bottle i have 8 feet of tubing before it gets in the tank.
Should i cut that tubing off and just make it as little tubing as possible?

I only get a short burst every 6-8 minutes.

I want to get some plants tommorrow as long as the light is running and there are ferts will the co2 prob if it is to little affect the plants until i get that fixed?

1 x 55watt compact lighting

Will micro sword grow in this enviroment?

Also there is this red plant starts like Lu something and i was wondering if i could maybe get away with growing that to.
 
I am by no means an expert so hopefully someone can correct me if i'm wrong, but if anything the CO2 should lower your ph. How are you diffusing it? DIY should have a higher rate than a short burst every 6-8 minutes. I get about 1 bubble every 3-4 seconds. Maybe it is because there is a long length of tubing. Do you notice if any water flows into the tube? That might explain why it takes so long. The CO2 has to build pressure to push the water out that fills in between bursts. Just a theory. Your lighting should be good. At least for low to moderate light plants. Idk if it will grow micro sword though. And i think the red plant you are thinking of is Ludwigia Repens? I think you should be able to grow that.
 
There's no "should" or "if anything" about it; CO2 WILL lower pH, period. Ye cannae change the laws of chemistry, cap'n. I would suggest that:

a) 7.0 to 7.1 is within experimental error with our tests. Your pH has essentially not changed.
b) therefore, it follows as night follows day that no CO2 is dissolving in your water. You should be getting a bubble every few seconds at a minimum.
 
So i should shorten the tubing from 8 feet to just enough to get into the tank?

Also i use the recipe 1/4 teaspoon for Active dry yeast, 2 cups sugar, 2 cups water, 1/4 cup tipid water to rehydrate the yeast.

It is in a 2 liter soda bottle, there is absolutely no leaks i am sure.

Is this a good recipe?

The co2 comes out i think every 10 minutes it gets shot into a sponge then another layer and through the power head. The setup should work but maybe the tubing is keeping it from producing at the right rate.

If i pick up a couple of plants today which is what i wanted to do will they be ok?

I will add flourish as well as have the light on 12 hours.

Will it affect the plants if i start up the co2 later?

How quickly when it is done right will the co2 change the ph?
 
Is the mix warm? I keep mine on top of the tank next to the light ballasts so that when the lights are on the mix warms up and produces more CO2.
 
Only have the lights on 6-8hrs until you get the CO2 figured out. What kind of tubing are you using? All tubing will lose some CO2 the longer the run. Silicon and airline tubing are really bad and the CO2 proof tubing you lose like 1%. I would make the run as short as you can. How long have you had the setup running? From what I have heard (never done DIY) they take a few days to really get going as the pressure will build and the yeast will multiply.
 
If you are only getting bubbles out of the DIY mix every 10 minutes, then your yeast wasn't hydrated properly or you have a blockage. Most DIY setups produce about 1 bubble per second or every 2 seconds.

After reaching a steady state of production, the length of tubing will not effect your setup. It will require a certain volume of co2 to fill the line while pressure builds up, but in 8 feet of tubing, that's not a lot of volume.

99% of all problems with DIY CO2 stem from the yeast. Get a cheap $2 kitchen thermometer and make sure you area rehydrating your yeast in water that is about 105-110 d F.
 
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