Hagen CO2 injector question

A

aquatrippe

AC Members
Apr 4, 2003
71
0
0
Visit site
Hi,

Just purchased a Haged Nutrafin natural plant system CO2 supply for my 12 gallon eclipse after hearing good things about the product.

New to C02 and plants so I was wondering about the warning that the CO2 injection will bring down KH and PH..

My question is ..since my aquarium is an amazon basin type with 0 to1 DH/KH and a PH of about 5.5.. do I need to worry about the C02 pulling the PH down?

Thanks..
 
.. the lower the kh means the more chance you have of co2 lowering you ph...... (am i right) im pretty sure i am... and i think some people will warn you not to attempt co2, but im not 100% sure... but dont take my advice...
 
I have the same system on a 20 gallon planted tank. My normal ph (non- CO2 adjusted) is about 7.7, and my KH is about 5.4

I have recently added a second bottle, but when I had one bottle I had readings consistently in the 12 to 14ppm region, but this was with a Internal powerfilter diffusing it. Chances are that you will come up with more in that small of a tank. (good thing) I would be wary about adding CO2 with such a low KH, though! Anything below 3KH is unsafe to add CO2 and you can't really get accurate readings with your water chemistry. With your figures the charts say you have about 94.6ppm CO2, which obviously isn't the case!

Raise your KH before adding CO2!!!!
 
add baking soda or crushed coral to filter (I use crushed coral) I only needed 1tsp in my filter to get my 20 gallon from 2.9KH to 5.1KH. It's a continuous buffer, too......no need to add more with water changes.

You could probably also add tap water to whatever you are currently using.
 
Hi,

Thanks for all your quick responses.. I had the co2 thing running and it was just starting to produce bubbles..

My aquarium is all cardinal and neon tetras that do well in a ph range as low as 4.2...my current reading [I was incorrect before] was 6.2

I am really new to this so, I just wondered if my low to zero KH is still a problem because even if it were to lower the PH down to 5.2 that would be in an acceptable range for my fish in this aquarium..

The question is how fast does this happen? quickly enough to stress the fish?

Wondering if this was such a good idea..:)
 
just wanted to add that I use the aquarium pharm. tap water purifier to get my water to such a low ph/kh/gh.... I use the electrolyte mixture with the filter..as suggested for a amazon water quality
 
That's a nice water chemistry for those fish, but it won't be so nice when the pH crashes and all the fish die, cause you added a bit of CO2 and the KH couldn't handle it.:eek:

Get the KH up to at least 3.0
 
thanks.. I just pulled out the system after seeing your last post..

It was only running an hour or so with just a few bubbles.. that shouldn't precipitate a crash should it?

stores are closed so I cannot buy anything to raise my KH for a few days most likely..

Hope I didnt put too much CO2 in.. do you think that small amount could cause a problem?
 
Aqua, first of all you don't want to keep Cardinal Tetras at a pH of 4.2, or anywhere near that pH. They like acidic water, but that's much to low for them. They'd be much happier in a 6.4-6.6 range of pH.
You need to go to your LFS and ask them to give you some crushed coral from one of their reef tanks. Usually LFS will do this for no charge or a nominal charge. Put about a tablespoon full in a small nylon bag and stick it in your filter. In a few days to a week you'll see your kH start to rise. Then you can adjust the kH by adding or subtracting the coral.
Len
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom