CO2 questions.

[gmh]

I finally decided to go higher tech and bought an aquatek mini co2 system with a Paintball cylinder.
I use the aquatek 3 in 1 diffuser/bubble counter/ check valve, with the diffuser placed a few inches under the filter outflow.
Water parameters this morning were 220 tds, 5dKH, and 7.5 PH.
8 hours later, after running it with the bubble counter set to between 1-2 bps and the unit shut down for the day, my PH registers 6.9.
Does this sound about right? I do not have a drop checker as yet..

 

[gmh]

Oh, it's a 40 gallon tank.

 

[tanker]

Does not sound bad, what kind of lights and how long are they on?

 

[gmh]

I have a Finnex Planted 24/7. It's challenging picking a time to set the co2 on and off since the lights are never completely off. I started the co 2 around 8:45 am and they went off around 3:45 pm.

 

[gmh]

I should have said the CO2 went off at 3:45.
The lights start to reduce intensity then.

 

[tanker]

I would turn off CO2 about an hour before the light start to dim. Even with CO2 off, there is still some in the water.

 

[gmh]

I wish I had kept the box when I bought this. It had a handy chart showing exactly when the PAR starts to shoot up. Right now it's 6;30 pm and the tank still looks fairly well lit but I know the par must be pretty low now.

 

[Zdei]

Have you gotten your co2 dialed in yet. I got the 24/7 couple of months ago and ran it on its cycle. Unfortunately I started getting pretty bad algae growth even with excel dosing daily. So I made 4 custom settings to run throughout the day and night. Then I shut it off for about 5 hours seems to be controlling the algae better.

My next step is co2. Have you had any luck with your settings?

 

[dougall]

I wish I had kept the box when I bought this. It had a handy chart showing exactly when the PAR starts to shoot up. Right now it's 6;30 pm and the tank still looks fairly well lit but I know the par must be pretty low now.

I should have the box if you want me to share any of the settings

Unfortunately I started getting pretty bad algae growth even with excel dosing daily.

Probably you could just lower the intensity of the lights.

 

[Zdei]

Ya that's what I ended up doing with the custom settings which was one of my big turn one towards this light for that exact reason