C02 Injection

[justin10590]

Hello,

New to Planted Aquarium

1st time injecting C02 - I have ran it for the first day today.

Noticed I am overdosing on C02 which i dont want to harm my fish

My KH is at 2 drops of API KH Solution and my PH is 6.6

However the solution in my C02 Indicator is yellow.

I dosed 1 drop per second today in a small 27litre tank.

Please advise what i should do to make sure im dosing enough C02 and not too much

 

[jake72]

Well yellow is an indication of overdose. You could reduce the amount of co2 you are injecting....

 

[dougall]

Your pH and KH numbers seem to suggest a CO2 level of about 15ppm.

Your Drop Checker is going to depend on the solution that is in there. Normally with a fresh 4DKH solution, that has been put in properly, green would indicate 30ppm, yellow would indicate more than that.

so something does not add up.

I assume adding CO2 by drops per second (I assume bubbles per second, CO2 should be added as gas, not liquid) it only indicates to you how it is going, as it more depends on how you get (or not) the CO2 to dissolve so should only be used as a quick visual indicator to you to see if it slows down or speeds up.


so, we need to know what indicator solution you are using, verify it is fresh, etc.

But the bottom line is that if your fish are not gasping at the surface, it likely is not too much CO2.

 

[justin10590]

Your pH and KH numbers seem to suggest a CO2 level of about 15ppm.

Your Drop Checker is going to depend on the solution that is in there. Normally with a fresh 4DKH solution, that has been put in properly, green would indicate 30ppm, yellow would indicate more than that.

so something does not add up.

I assume adding CO2 by drops per second (I assume bubbles per second, CO2 should be added as gas, not liquid) it only indicates to you how it is going, as it more depends on how you get (or not) the CO2 to dissolve so should only be used as a quick visual indicator to you to see if it slows down or speeds up.


so, we need to know what indicator solution you are using, verify it is fresh, etc.

But the bottom line is that if your fish are not gasping at the surface, it likely is not too much CO2.

Thanks for that Dougall

Yes sorry meant bubbles per second.

I have lowered this now down to 1 drop every 2 seconds for today.

The solution I'm using is brand new from DYMAX and is added to the checker as per instructions.


The c02 is added by gas with an external C02 Cylinder

The fish seem to be fine active no stress as far as I can see on them.

I have lowered the output time my c02 is running from 8-12 today

 

[dougall]

I would rely on your KH/pH numbers before relying on the indicator, especially at first as you try to dial everything in.

personally I have found that the biggest problem with using a drop checker, is that I tend to get aquarium water in with the solution, so it isn't accurate.


I cannot find any information (I only looked quickly) on what CO2 levels will change the colors from blue to green to yellow so it might be good to look that up.

for CO2 period, I would try to have it on about the same schedule as your lighting, maybe 30-60 mins before both off and on. if you want to reduce the CO2 amount, either reduce the flow of gas (Bubbles per second) as you did, or invest in a pH controller. Your plants will need to use CO2 while they photosynthesize and they will only do that when there is light.. so reducing the amount of CO2 available to them at the start or end of the light cycle is likely to cause algae problens.

ultimately you should be able to watch your fish, if they aren't gasping at the surface (or they are anabantoids) you are likely fine.. shrimp or snails may have issues too.

but it seems like you are on the right track.. be sure you are following the instructions to your water tests for KK and pH and google for a chart to see what that means for CO2 level ,

 

[jake72]

I'd be careful here as some fishes won't go to the surface even if there is a problem breathing. Also i double check the co2 level with both solution and ph pen. I lean torwards .7 to 1.0 ph drop; this is a crude estimate as the actual amount does depend on gh and base ph but I'm not trying to reach maximal value - just a safe value and at ph drop of 1 my indicator is just turning green (my gh is 7 and kh is 3; base ph is 7.1). The ph pen are not accurate but i'm more interested in the change in value.

I hardly consider my self an expert and I suspect D dougall is far more experience in this matter.

But the bottom line is that if your fish are not gasping at the surface, it likely is not too much CO2.

 

[justin10590]

I would rely on your KH/pH numbers before relying on the indicator, especially at first as you try to dial everything in.

personally I have found that the biggest problem with using a drop checker, is that I tend to get aquarium water in with the solution, so it isn't accurate.


I cannot find any information (I only looked quickly) on what CO2 levels will change the colors from blue to green to yellow so it might be good to look that up.

for CO2 period, I would try to have it on about the same schedule as your lighting, maybe 30-60 mins before both off and on. if you want to reduce the CO2 amount, either reduce the flow of gas (Bubbles per second) as you did, or invest in a pH controller. Your plants will need to use CO2 while they photosynthesize and they will only do that when there is light.. so reducing the amount of CO2 available to them at the start or end of the light cycle is likely to cause algae problens.

ultimately you should be able to watch your fish, if they aren't gasping at the surface (or they are anabantoids) you are likely fine.. shrimp or snails may have issues too.

but it seems like you are on the right track.. be sure you are following the instructions to your water tests for KK and pH and google for a chart to see what that means for CO2 level ,

Thank You so much will give this a go and read further into it.
First time with live plants and c02

 

[justin10590]

I'd be careful here as some fishes won't go to the surface even if there is a problem breathing. Also i double check the co2 level with both solution and ph pen. I lean torwards .7 to 1.0 ph drop; this is a crude estimate as the actual amount does depend on gh and base ph but I'm not trying to reach maximal value - just a safe value and at ph drop of 1 my indicator is just turning green (my gh is 7 and kh is 3; base ph is 7.1). The ph pen are not accurate but i'm more interested in the change in value.

I hardly consider my self an expert and I suspect D dougall is far more experience in this matter.

Thanks Jake will read more into it hopefully I don't and up in a bad cycle as such