is my ppm right?

[wickerman]

i have a 20 gal quite heavly planted tank with no added c02 my wpg is 2.5
i took a ph and kh test today and my c02 levels was 9ppm...is it possible that its right,because i thought it would be much lower,without added c02

 

[TrickyD119]

Do you have any peat or driftwood in there? I believe I've read that they can skew your results.

I'm not sure really but I have read that on here, just throwing that out there until someone more knowledgeable comes along.

 

[wickerman]

no peat or driftwood,just bogwood.
my ph is 7 and kh is 3

 

[wickerman]

thing is im not sure that my ph is spot on 7,i find it hard to read the colors spot on and if my ph was say 7.2(which would be a little shade more blue) then my 02 reading would be 5.7....hmmmmmm.....my ph chart goes up .5 each color...........

does that make sence???

 

[TrickyD119]

Makes sense to me, mine is the same what and I often have trouble discerning exactly where my pH sits too, but if I stare at it long enough I usually feel pretty comfortable in the end. Either way though, it wouldn’t make much difference in terms or growth so there is definitely room for error. Nothing to worry about in my opinion.

Sorry I can’t help with the actually question itself, but I believe you wont really see any beneficial growth until after 10ppm anyway and really want something more along the lines of 25ppm.

 

[djlen]

Bogwood will often play with pH readings. Your CO2ppm is probably in the 2 - 4 range.
If the fish are OK and the plants are growing, I would not be concerned about your pH.
Sounds fine to me.

Len

 

[wickerman]

yeah im going to inject some co2 into the tank soon
just trying to get to terms with the water chemisty first

 

[wickerman]

so the bogwood is buffering my ph down...so every reading i do,will be false.
:sad
what shall i do now..i was going to get c02 for my tank,but if i cant get proper readings,how will i know if im overdosing....???........(maybe take 5ppm of the reading to allow for the wood?
i thought fishkeeping was ment to be a relaxing hobby..!!!!

 

[benedictj]

While your CO2 readings may seem to be an anomoly, 9 ppm is still ambient CO2 and could likely occur in your tank.

Couple of questions-

First and foremost, how long has the tank been setup and how long has it had the bogwood in it?

What time of day did you test? Was it within the first half hour of the photocycle?

 

[wickerman]

did the test halfway through photoperiod
tank set up 2 months,had bogwood in tank since day 1
the water is still yellowish from the wood