co2 and kh question

From the article:

An ideal CO2 level is 15 to 30 ppm. However, to allow for inaccuracies in measurements, you should target about 20 to 25 ppm. If you get a lot higher than 30 ppm, your fish will be stressed, and they could die if the CO2 is around 50 or more. It's hard to get lethal levels of CO2 into the aquarium, especially with a fermentation container. Lower than about 15 or so ppm, you will not see much effect on your plants. If you use something other than a carbonate to buffer your water, that can throw off the accuracy of the table.

It seems as long as the only thing you are using as a buffer is carbonate, then the chart will work just fine. Does crushed coral provide any other type of buffer other than a carbonate buffer?
 
Crushed coral releases a bicarbonate buffer and therefore doesn't affect the chart; it is the expected buffer, as would be sodium bicarb.
 
I've tried the Red Sea drop checker and the glass drop checker with 4dKH solution and haven't had any luck with either. I have no idea what I am doing wrong with either of them. That is why I rely on the chart.
 
fabsroman said:
Injecting CO2 into the tank will cause the PH to drop. If it drops far enough, it will turn the water acidic. If you have anything in the tank that is made of KH, then it can dissolve it if it turns the water acidic enough and release the KH into the water. If you use a PH monitor that controls the CO2 regulator, this will cause greater amounts of CO2 to be put into the water as the KH goes up, because KH raises the ph of the water. In essence, it turns into a death spiral for the O2 breathing organisms in the tank.
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CO2 is a very weak acid. In order for this to happen in reality, one would have to put enough CO2 in the water to kill the fish without any feed back loop. I suppose another way of doing this would be to constantly add CO2 for years without doing water changes.
 
i dont know what the ph is of coral but if it's lets say 8.4 and i'll say that my water is 6.4, i would definately think that it would dissolve it. especially with water flowing accross it constantly. right?
 
It will dissolve it, no doubt. It just won't do it very quickly. Over time you'll end up with algae and bacteria (depending on location) also growing on it which will slow it down even further. You will also be doing water changes which will also bring your water's kH back down.
 
baking soda, baking soda, baking soda... no more guessing! simple, easy and fun for the whole family... baking soda.

edit: if you're playing with your chemistry and your ph controller too you might really want to get a drop checker too. it might save your a$$ next time.
and... stop stirring up your substrate.
 
its def easy. i have a 55 and 1 tablespoon adjusts my tank by about 1 dkh. i was just looking for another method. i failed.

do i really have to worry about my kh too much with a ph controller?
 
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