Best CO2 systems

[IceH2O]

I'll probably need to add KH just so I don't drop my PH to far down.So I need to know how far of a drop will occur.At my current KH my PH would need to be 6.5,way to low for me.My PH out of the tap after sitting 24 hrs is 6.8.

I'm shooting for a KH of 6 and my PH to 6.8.That would give me 29 ppm.

If I add crushed coral to raise my KH how much will the PH rise?
How far of a drop in PH should I expect with the CO2 infusion?




While I'm asking questions.

What WPG determines low,medium,high?

Would 2 wpg in a tank 21 inches high be medium or medium low?

 

[reiverix]

Are you sure your tapwater pH is 6.8 after sitting 24hrs? If your current KH is between 3 and 3.5 then you're already sitting at ~15ppm CO2 which seems high.

 

[IceH2O]

I'll recheck,I'm pretty sure I posted my tap water somewhere before.I'll look.

I just did straight from tap and had a 6.2 PH and checked a glass of water thats been sitting for a week and its at 6.6 PH,but it has a plant in it rooting.

I have a glass filled now I'll check tomorrow and post,but in the mean time I'll look to see if I've already posted it.

 

[Roan Art]

If I add crushed coral to raise my KH how much will the PH rise?

That'll depend on how much coral you add. I'd use aragonite sand, if I were you, as it dissolves faster. However, if your pH is really that low, it's going to dissolve fast anyhow

How far of a drop in PH should I expect with the CO2 infusion?

That will all depend on what your target CO2 level is and how high your KH is.

Set your CO2 level. What do you want to acheive? 20ppm? 30ppm? When I started DIY CO2 I set a modest goal of 10ppm. Once I acheived that (and felt more confident about what I was doing), I went to 15ppm and worked my pH and KH out from there.

What WPG determines low,medium,high?

Well, from what I perceive (and that's a scarey thing in itself ):

1-1.5 wpg low light
1.5-2 wpg low-medium
2-2.5 wpg medium
2.5-3 wpg medium-high
3-3.5 wpg high
3.5-4 high
4-4.5 very high
4.5 + yer cookin in the sun, mama

Condensed:
1-2 wpg low light
2-3 wpg medium
3 + wpg high

Would 2 wpg in a tank 21 inches high be medium or medium low?

I would say medium, or specifically, the low side of medium. Someone posted once that there was a thread here somewhere dealing with tank height versus wpg, but I can't find it anywhere.

Grumble.

Roan

 

[IceH2O]

So what your saying is if I kept my KH at 3 and wanted my CO2 at 30ppm I would need to do enough infusion to drop my PH to 6.5.

Since I'd rather not go lower than PH 6.8 I would need to increase my KH to 6.

Since a stablize rise of KH will also raise my PH I will need to infuse CO2 to get my rate.

Its all going to be relative to my bubble count.Have I grasped the concept yet?

I checked my PH from the tap,its only been 22 hrs but I don't see 2 hrs making a huge difference,the PH is 6.8 and the KH is 2 (I think,I hate the Tetra test..Do you stop counting drops when it turns a light shade of yellow or when it looks yellow like the AP ammonia test?)

I'm guessing I shouldn't start raising my KH until I have infusion set up to run,so as to not PH shock my fish.

 

[Roan Art]

So what your saying is if I kept my KH at 3 and wanted my CO2 at 30ppm I would need to do enough infusion to drop my PH to 6.5.

Since I'd rather not go lower than PH 6.8 I would need to increase my KH to 6.

Since a stablize rise of KH will also raise my PH I will need to infuse CO2 to get my rate.

Its all going to be relative to my bubble count.Have I grasped the concept yet?

Yes and no Forget about your pH of 6.8. Add the coral -- see end of post.

I checked my PH from the tap,its only been 22 hrs but I don't see 2 hrs making a huge difference,the PH is 6.8 and the KH is 2 (I think,I hate the Tetra test..Do you stop counting drops when it turns a light shade of yellow or when it looks yellow like the AP ammonia test?)

Dunno. I only use the AP KH/GH test kits now. I tried the Red Sea one and it sounds exactly like this Tetra one you are using. I hated it.

When you add drops to the AP test, the water turns blue. When you add the last drop, it turns YELLOW and you can't miss it. It's almost a shock The GH test goes from orange to green that way, too. Great tests.

I'm guessing I shouldn't start raising my KH until I have infusion set up to run,so as to not PH shock my fish.

As I said above, forget your pH of 6.8. Go ahead and add crushed coral/aragonite to your tank. Your pH is already low, so it will dissolve easily and it's a "permanent" thing. You won't shock your fish with that, it's not *that* fast The dissolve rate will also slow down once your pH gets to 7.0 and over. Once you start injecting and your pH drops, it will start dissolving faster again.

See how you stand once the coral dissolves. I bet that you end up with close to a 6 dKH and 7.2 pH or thereabouts. Probably even higher. Dave or someone would be better at a guesstimate than I at this.

Use THAT pH to determine your bubble rate and how low you want the pH to drop.

Roan

 

[IceH2O]

If PH/KH determine CO2 levels then CO2 infusion isn't really adding CO2.The infusion is just a way to lower PH to the acceptable rate that determines your CO2.
Ph 7 add coral till KH = 5,pushing the PH to 7.4 (example only,not tested)

PH 7.4 + KH 5 = 6 ppm CO2

PH 7.4 + CO2 infusion = PH 6.7 + KH 5=30 ppm CO2

Is infusion the only non chemical way to drop and control PH?

 

[phanmc]

The goal in injecting CO2 isn't to regulate pH, it's to add more CO2 into the water. Plants use the carbon in CO2 in their photosynthesis process, the more carbon available (in combination with light energy) the more fuel is available for plant growth. From just a planted tank perspective, we aren't intentionally lowering our pH lvl when injecting CO2 but the side effect of CO2 injection is the lowering of the pH, since CO2 is acidic.

 

[IceH2O]

The goal in injecting CO2 isn't to regulate pH, it's to add more CO2 into the water. Plants use the carbon in CO2 in their photosynthesis process, the more carbon available (in combination with light energy) the more fuel is available for plant growth. From just a planted tank perspective, we aren't intentionally lowering our pH lvl when injecting CO2 but the side effect of CO2 injection is the lowering of the pH, since CO2 is acidic.

I understand this,but if I didn't have fish the PH wouldn't be a problem.Since I have fish and a low KH I need to raise my KH.This in turn will raise my PH.A higher PH and KH still has me on the low side of CO2.By adding infusion and lowering my PH,by this side effect,I add CO2 for the plants.Lower PH higher KH = higher CO2.

I'm not saying its a regulator for everyone.But in my case it would be.