Joecoral
Member
from looking at the pictures I assume DIY CO2 means a set-up you put together yourself using a pressurised CO2 fire extinguisher?
ceg4048 said:As I recall, the hare won the race and the rabbit was left in the dust...
Cheers,
Joecoral said:ceg4048 said:As I recall, the hare won the race and the rabbit was left in the dust...
Cheers,
I thought the tortoise won?
It's not clear which tester you are using and/or which water is being used in the tester. Where did you measure a KH of 1.4? and a pH of 6? was this the tank water? If so then you need to ignore it. The only pH or kH readings that would matter are that of the dropchecker. In fact, the dropchecker should be filled with 4 dkh water. This could easily explain why your drop checker is blue. The parameters of water in the dropchecker are completely different than that of the tank water. As explained in the dropchecker article these are separate for the reason of excluding the acidic contamination of the tank water. The reason for referencing Chuck's chart was to show the relationship between pH/KH/CO2, however this relationship is not present in your tank water, only in the isolated sample of distilled/RO water in the dropchecker. You need to add more CO2 not decrease it.B4M said:...25ppm KH is 1.4 degrees and with a PH of 6 this gives 42 ppm CO2 so I'm way off the chart on the previous post. I'll go and turn my CO2 back down and try to figure why the new permanent tester isn't turning green never mind yellow.
High nitrates in a planted tank is good news. You need to forget about trying to reduce this value. In fact you need to stop testing for it period. Fretting about nitrate creeping is only going to cause you more grief.B4M said:My nitrate has always been on the high side; it's usually about 40ppm before water change and 20ppm after. I had assumed this was because of the plus in the TPN+ and my plants weren't mature enough to use at the rate added. I assume I would reduce the KNO3 dosage if nitrate started to creep higher?
ceg4048 said:Where did you measure a KH of 1.4? and a pH of 6? was this the tank water? If so then you need to ignore it.
I was using both the glass drop checker and the permenant CO2 tester (similar to that in your tutorial), with one above the other. Both filled with 4dKH and indicator added per instructions. Glass drop checker is green Perm CO2 tester is blue.ceg4048 said:It's not clear which tester you are using
Within reason right? If they start to reach 100ppm then the fish will suffer so I'll keep an eye on the reading when I start EI.ceg4048 said:High nitrates in a planted tank is good news.
Yes, they can absolutely be safely ignored. What must be considered when adding CO2 has to do only with CO2 toxicity not pH or KH stability.B4M said:Correct. These are tank water readings. I appreciate that the CO2/KH/PH relationship may not be accurate as carbonate may not be the only buffer present. But for the well being of the fish I'm not sure they should be ignored.ceg4048 said:Where did you measure a KH of 1.4? and a pH of 6? was this the tank water? If so then you need to ignore it.
When I increased the CO2 it did reduce the tank PH from 6.4 to 6. I would be conserned about adding yet more CO2.
It's not clear to me why both dropcheckers would behave differently if there were both filled with 4 dkh water and both had drops of Bromo blue added to them. Possibly if one was mounted in a way such that it blocks the water entry way of the other this might have an effect. Try putting more separating between them.B4M said:I was using both the glass drop checker and the permenant CO2 tester (similar to that in your tutorial), with one above the other. Both filled with 4dKH and indicator added per instructions. Glass drop checker is green Perm CO2 tester is blue.ceg4048 said:It's not clear which tester you are using
No, you can be completely unreasonable when it comes to nitrates. I've run tanks with nitrate levels approaching 100ppm and have had no difficulty with fish whatsoever. The only negative effects have been tiresome growth rates. Nitrates have a very low toxicity. It's the ammonia and nitrite that the nitrates start off as that is toxic. In any case I doubt you will reach 100ppm. Another reason I advise against test kits is that they lie ferociously. The minute you believe them and start to panic in response to their false readings is the moment your troubles really start. Ignore your nitrate readings and worry only about keeping your tank clean with massive and frequent water changes, removal of dead leaves and removal of debris and detritus.B4M said:Within reason right? If they start to reach 100ppm then the fish will suffer so I'll keep an eye on the reading when I start EI.ceg4048 said:High nitrates in a planted tank is good news.
ceg4048 said:Yes, they can absolutely be safely ignored. What must be considered when adding CO2 has to do only with CO2 toxicity not pH or KH stability.
Apparently not, there was a thread either here or on the Barr report which unfortunately I can not find. It would seem that CO2 induced PH drop is not the same as acid induced or worse still GH induced ph drop. If your ph is OK for the fish before the CO2 comes on, they won't mind where it drops to while it is on (so long as you don't gas them). PH is an indicator, because it is effected by so many variables. GH, KH and TDS are much more likely to stress your fish if not right.B4M said:I think I need to raise my PH and KH with buffer (baking soda?) before increasing CO2.
Hmm, interesting. Seems to contradict the school of thought that says low PH with little buffer capacity (low KH) leaves a tank vulnerable to PH crashes. Many people also state that a PH of between 6.5 and 7.5 is ideal unless keeping specialist fish.ceg4048 said:There is no danger when dropping below a pH of 6
Thank-you for the encouragementRay said:Nice looking tank, by the way