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6.5x55

6.5x55

AC Members
Nov 26, 2008
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www.riflesintheuk.com
Setup my CO2 bottle at the weekend (I run it with the lights and off at night) on my 180L and thought I'd buy some test kits yesterday just to check everything was runnig sweetly - the fish are all acting normally. I bought a kH and a pH kit and tested last night.

pH = 6.4
kH=2
CO2= 40+?

:eek:

I hit AC, jumped in the car and hit the supermarket for a tub of sodium bicarb. I added 2 teaspoons to 5 gallons of water syphoned from the tank and left it syphoning back in through a length of airline.

I checked it this morning and it was

pH=6.8
kH=4
CO2=18.

I'm going to add two more teaspoons tonight and try and stabilise at kH=6 and pH=7.

I'm glad I checked :).
 
Get a drop checker to know for sure and stop tampering with your water parameters.

The pH/kH chart will give an incorrect reading if there are other acids and buffers in the tank water, which there most likely is.
 
Do you have a drop checker? The chart method is not very accurate. If your fish weren't showing signs of distress then you where probably OK. You may want to get a drop checker
 
They are brand new liquid test kits from a very reputable manufacturer so I have no doubt they were accurate. Fish are all mildly acid to neutral water fishes (plec, cats and tetras) so pH6.4 is definitely a bit low. kH of 2 is far too low a buffer level, I have read 4-5 is a safe minimum to avoid pH swings or crashes.

What's a drop checker?
 
6.4 is not too low. Fish care little about pH; anywhere from 5.5 to around 9 suits 99% of them fine. My planted tank runs around pH 6.0 with a KH of 3 because of injecting CO2 and filtering with peat to lower the GH. Fish fine.
 
My fish get frisky with the pH drops to around 6.0 to 6.4

I got kH of 3 and I don't get any major issue when I was running Yeast Co2 or Pressurized.

Add a little piece of Tuffa rock in your filter or whatever to get your kH up a little, nothing to panic about just keep a eye on your level when your Co2 flow is strong.
 
Also - adding bicarb won't alter the amount of CO2 dissolved in the water. Surface agitation will allow CO2 to outgas, lowering its concentration.

Get a drop checker. You'll sleep better.
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=979657&postcount=2 <What's a drop checker
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...ce-kh-solution-for-co2-measurement-88293.html <4dKH solution
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...aquarium-projects/32100-diy-drop-checker.html <DIY drop checkers
http://liquidarthome.net/khstandard <a vendor of both KH solutions & nice drop checkers
 
6.5x55 said:
They are brand new liquid test kits from a very reputable manufacturer so I have no doubt they were accurate. Fish are all mildly acid to neutral water fishes (plec, cats and tetras) so pH6.4 is definitely a bit low. kH of 2 is far too low a buffer level, I have read 4-5 is a safe minimum to avoid pH swings or crashes.

What's a drop checker?
Click to expand...

It's not the test kits that are inaccurate, it's the method. The pH/kH chart is accurate if the only acid present is CO2 and the only buffer is carbonate, in an established aquarium this is never the case. You have acids from nitrifying bacterias and also phosphates which is a buffer.

A drop checker, info linked by Sqawkbert, works on the same principle as the pH/kH chart but removes all the variables by isolating the indicator solution so only CO2 can affect it, thus giving you an accurate reading.
 
My drop checker is always yellow..
When it was in the green my plants looked pretty bad..

As long as the fish aren't struggling to breathe, i wouldnt worry too much about it.
 
Just measured after leaving the CO2 on over night. kH is stable at 4 and pH swing between 6.6 at night and 6.8 in the morning and the fish are all happy so I guess it's stable. My Egaria has rooted in 4 days so I guess the plants are happy too :).
 
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