I'm about to put plants and want to get Co2 but can't buy an expensive setup. My tank is 125 gallons, and I was wondering how to know how much I'm putting in, and how much I need to put in. Could I get some plans from people that have used them. I know it can be dangerous, but if you're carefull isn't it good to have.
DIY Co2 System
- Thread starter sam_the_man1987
- Start date
There's a pretty good thread going on right now in the DIY Forum. I'm the feller who'd argue that its a lot of work to get the kind of output you'd want and that it'd cost you about the same within about a year on a tank that large. Quenton is making a pretty good case that costs can be contained if you have access to good sourcing.
You can work out the CO2 level in your tank based on the KH and pH readings using this handy
chart + calculator. It assumes that your water doesn't have non-carbonate buffers and that there aren't a lot of tannins driving down the pH. Works for some and not for others. The other method you can use is to take a pH reading without CO2 (either before you add or after a sample has been set out to sit overnight to outgas) and another with CO2: ideally you'd want to drive your pH down one full step (from 7.5 to 6.5, for instance).
You can work out the CO2 level in your tank based on the KH and pH readings using this handy
chart + calculator. It assumes that your water doesn't have non-carbonate buffers and that there aren't a lot of tannins driving down the pH. Works for some and not for others. The other method you can use is to take a pH reading without CO2 (either before you add or after a sample has been set out to sit overnight to outgas) and another with CO2: ideally you'd want to drive your pH down one full step (from 7.5 to 6.5, for instance).