CO2 Concentration

fargokid

AC Members
Aug 2, 2010
18
0
1
I cant seem to find any rough numbers on a rough scale of co2 concentration in aquaria should be... I am looking into dosing with essentially sparkling water minus the flavor... putting co2 in water letting it dissolve then adding it to a fish tank to one prevent cooling and 2 hopefully get the right concentration... but i do not know what it is... anyone?
 
You'd be looking for about 30ppm for fish and plants together, which is only useful if you know how to measure for it. (Either a drop checker, or as a calculation of tested PH and carbonate hardness.)

Adding it the way you describe might be troublesome however. My concern is that C02 will steadily "gas off' into the air (at a rate dependent mainly on surface agitation and bubbling). You might get the right concentration for only a short time before it falls off again, or worse yet overshoot. This is why C02 injection usually involves a slow and controlled addition that "holds" the concentration steady. Rapid fluctuations can cause problems for fish.
 
im not sure you understand... Im not dropping a cold piece of solid co2 in my tank. I plan on super saturating a solution by putting pieces of dry ice into a water bottle and putting a loose cover on it, then poor the water into the tank... this is only temporary as no local stores sell co2 tablets and i dont have any and not enough fun money for a co2 system at this time... the problem is so much co2 goes into solution there is a lot of carbonic acid formed... but i beleive thats what co2 forms as it is not easily soluble in water... so??? help? thanks for the 30ppm
 
I believe the results would be too sudden and difficult to control or maintain. Your concentrated solution would make abrupt changes that could do more harm than good. The CO2 levels fall off slowly after being added, requiring frequent monitoring and adjustments.

It would be like trying to light a lamp with a lightning bolt. Without some better form of regulation (or storage for later use), your method would only cause harmful CO2 spikes.
 
is there any other safe method of adding co2? is it necessary to build a yeast thing? for only 5 days?
 
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