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Whats your pH profile?
- Thread starter Jaap
- Start date
Andy Thurston
Member
- Joined
- 16 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 2,804
Heres mine from august i haven't checked since
1200 ph 7.3 blue
1600 Co2 on ph 7.3 blue
1800 Lights on ph 5.9 blue/green
1900 ph 5.9 green
2000 ph 5.9 lime green
2100 co2 off ph 5.9 lime green
2200 ph 6.2 lime green
2300 ph 6.4 lime green
2330 lights off ph 6.5 green
0000 ph 6.7 green
0030 ph 6.8 green
0600 ph 7.4 blue
Photo period and co2 period have been extended lights are now on 2 hours earlier and off 1 hour later
Don't even ask about kh other than its fairly low
1200 ph 7.3 blue
1600 Co2 on ph 7.3 blue
1800 Lights on ph 5.9 blue/green
1900 ph 5.9 green
2000 ph 5.9 lime green
2100 co2 off ph 5.9 lime green
2200 ph 6.2 lime green
2300 ph 6.4 lime green
2330 lights off ph 6.5 green
0000 ph 6.7 green
0030 ph 6.8 green
0600 ph 7.4 blue
Photo period and co2 period have been extended lights are now on 2 hours earlier and off 1 hour later
Don't even ask about kh other than its fairly low
Edvet
Member
from the top of my head 6.5 in the morning , at lights on app 5.3.
pepedopolous
Member
40cm cube (60l), KH = 5, BPS = 4, low surface agitation
CO2 comes on at 10:00 (2 hours before lights ON)
10:00---6.79
11:00---6.29
12:00---6.00
13:00---5.92
14:00---5.83
15:00---5.83
16:00---5.77
CO2 goes off at 16:00 (2 hours before lights OFF)
This appears to be a poor profile as the pH decreases only by about 1 unit in 4 hours. However, with low surface agitation, CO2 added previously does not fully de-gas overnight.
If I create more agitation by angling the spraybar upwards, the pH rises to around 7.4 in the morning and after 2 hours with the CO2 on, decreases to 6.0 However, I can't get it any lower and the BPS is practically uncountable.
At the moment I'm favouring low surface agitation as so much CO2 is wasted otherwise. I don't appear to have the 'magic' 1 pH unit drop but the drop checker placed just above the lowest point of the substrate is never anything but yellow.
I'm pretty sure any shrimp or fish would die in this tank thought I do have some snails which come out towards the evening. Nonetheless, I still have some plants (Hemianthus) doing poorly.
No doubt someone is going to say that I'm not adding enough CO2 or have poor flow/distribution. I maintain I have high CO2, adequate flow, and low light (less than 30 PAR).
P
CO2 comes on at 10:00 (2 hours before lights ON)
10:00---6.79
11:00---6.29
12:00---6.00
13:00---5.92
14:00---5.83
15:00---5.83
16:00---5.77
CO2 goes off at 16:00 (2 hours before lights OFF)
This appears to be a poor profile as the pH decreases only by about 1 unit in 4 hours. However, with low surface agitation, CO2 added previously does not fully de-gas overnight.
If I create more agitation by angling the spraybar upwards, the pH rises to around 7.4 in the morning and after 2 hours with the CO2 on, decreases to 6.0 However, I can't get it any lower and the BPS is practically uncountable.
At the moment I'm favouring low surface agitation as so much CO2 is wasted otherwise. I don't appear to have the 'magic' 1 pH unit drop but the drop checker placed just above the lowest point of the substrate is never anything but yellow.
I'm pretty sure any shrimp or fish would die in this tank thought I do have some snails which come out towards the evening. Nonetheless, I still have some plants (Hemianthus) doing poorly.
No doubt someone is going to say that I'm not adding enough CO2 or have poor flow/distribution. I maintain I have high CO2, adequate flow, and low light (less than 30 PAR).
P
parotet
Member
I will repeat it in a few days but I have played a little bit this weekend with a pHmeter. I have also measured my KH for the first time! Lower than expected, my tap water is KH 12 and in my tank it is KH 10. Anyway I assume it is somewhere around 10-12, doesn't really matter, it's a medium KH that's all.
I have an Inline diffuser attached to the outflow pipe, 65 liters medium PAR tank, spraybar all along the tank, 3 bps and 2.5 hours on before lights. I manage to go from pH 7.4-7.5 to pH 6.4-6.5. DC from blue to yellowish at the end of the day everywhere in the tnk. Fish and shrimps do well, but I have a good my surface rippling which makes me probably lose a lot of gas but keeps my critters ok, and what is more important, I can keep my ph stable during the light period. Check this to know what I mean: http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/en/index.php?id=en_co2ph
Jordi
I have an Inline diffuser attached to the outflow pipe, 65 liters medium PAR tank, spraybar all along the tank, 3 bps and 2.5 hours on before lights. I manage to go from pH 7.4-7.5 to pH 6.4-6.5. DC from blue to yellowish at the end of the day everywhere in the tnk. Fish and shrimps do well, but I have a good my surface rippling which makes me probably lose a lot of gas but keeps my critters ok, and what is more important, I can keep my ph stable during the light period. Check this to know what I mean: http://www.prirodni-akvarium.cz/en/index.php?id=en_co2ph
Jordi
pepedopolous
Member
Hi Jordi,
I did that pH profile on Saturday having changed the water on Friday evening. If you are dosing EI, the pH will rise over the week as the salts have a buffering effect.
I've read the article you posted and I have another aquarium with livestock where I maintain high surface agitation with a Koralia flow pump. The plants-only aquarium that I posted the pH profile for is my 'experimental' tank.
Are you managing to successfully grow any carpeting plants with your set-up?
Cheers,
P
I did that pH profile on Saturday having changed the water on Friday evening. If you are dosing EI, the pH will rise over the week as the salts have a buffering effect.
I've read the article you posted and I have another aquarium with livestock where I maintain high surface agitation with a Koralia flow pump. The plants-only aquarium that I posted the pH profile for is my 'experimental' tank.
Are you managing to successfully grow any carpeting plants with your set-up?
Cheers,
P
parotet
Member
Yes, but non demanding species (Eleocharis and Hydrocotyle tripartita). Have a look to the last post in this thread
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/new-setup-from-2-to-just-plants.34374/page-2
Jordi
http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/new-setup-from-2-to-just-plants.34374/page-2
Jordi
parotet
Member
Hi all
I finally made it today. Specs: 65 liters, KH 9, spraybar, medium light, 3 bps, inline atomizer, good surface rippling
Can be probably improved but this was what I meant regarding good rippling. I am probably loosing a lot of gas but this is the best way I found (actually I did not discover this, just good reading and good advice
) to keep the Co2 levels stable during the light period (6.59 to 6.57 was the maximum variation). Look what happens when the solenoid switchs off the CO2... the agitation degasses the water column very quickly and in a few hours my DC is blue.
Jordi
I finally made it today. Specs: 65 liters, KH 9, spraybar, medium light, 3 bps, inline atomizer, good surface rippling
Can be probably improved but this was what I meant regarding good rippling. I am probably loosing a lot of gas but this is the best way I found (actually I did not discover this, just good reading and good advice
) to keep the Co2 levels stable during the light period (6.59 to 6.57 was the maximum variation). Look what happens when the solenoid switchs off the CO2... the agitation degasses the water column very quickly and in a few hours my DC is blue.Jordi
Last edited:
Ok so you have a larger tank than I do, we have the samw kH and with 3 bps you manage to drop the ph by 1 unit while I drop it by 1 unit with much much higher bps...and I have no leaks....also I inject it to the inlet of filter through an inline difuser...how come you can do this with less bps?Hi all
I finally made it today. Specs: 65 liters, KH 9, spraybar, medium light, 3 bps, inline atomizer, good surface rippling
Can be probably improved but this was what I meant regarding good rippling. I am probably loosing a lot of gas but this is the best way I found (actually I did not discover this, just good reading and good advice
Jordi
pepedopolous
Member
Well the bubbles may be a different size and I think if you have a higher working pressure, a bigger amount of gas is contained within the bubble (and vice versa).
P
P
parotet
Member
Not sure mate... but as mentioned bps don't mean too much. To really compare the co2 delivered to both tanks I can imagine two options: Co2 meter (very expensive) and measuring the volume of gas/hour (in some threads it is explained how to do this but I'm afraid there are not too much references for comparing). Let's see what experts think about this but IMO your pH profile looks reasonable.
Jordi
Jordi
mlongpre
Member
You all can compare co2 rates by using a measuring cup or similar with ml marks. Put the measuring cup into the water and flip upside down. Make sure there is no air trapped in the cup. Now take your co2 device/ tube and put it under the cup making sure all the co2 goes into the cup. Time it to say 1 minute and pull the co2 device/tube from under the cup away so no more co2 goes in the cup. Read how much co2 has been fed into the cup. There you will get a figure of how many ml's of co2 you inject per figure of time, in this example, per minute. I believe this is a much better way to compare co2 injection rates between tanks.
parotet
Member
Yes, that is what I was suggesting but the problem is that I am not sure if once you have the volume there will be other reference values for comparing. In Tom Barr's forum there was a thread about this, maybe there is some useful information there.
Jordi
Edvet
Member
Looks very good Jordi, if the distribution is good you shouldn't see problems.
Very nice thread guys.
Im injecting co2 24/7 as to get a 1.1 ph drop all the time. Im doing this in order to not get any fluctuation during photoperiod, which induces algae supposedly. Its very hard for most people to have co2 stable like Parotets case because you need a lot of surface agitation and a lot of bps. Its better yes but i dont see any drawbacks with what Im doing. Bps is lower so its not wasting too much CO2. Fish should be fine as long as co2 is not over the top.
what do you guys think. Its still an experiment for me.
Im injecting co2 24/7 as to get a 1.1 ph drop all the time. Im doing this in order to not get any fluctuation during photoperiod, which induces algae supposedly. Its very hard for most people to have co2 stable like Parotets case because you need a lot of surface agitation and a lot of bps. Its better yes but i dont see any drawbacks with what Im doing. Bps is lower so its not wasting too much CO2. Fish should be fine as long as co2 is not over the top.
what do you guys think. Its still an experiment for me.
mlongpre
Member
I'm really interested in how this turns out. I'm at a point where I'm going to try 24/7 injection. I can't for the life of me get my tank to perform. Leaves falling off, bba showing up on places, pinholes. Co2 right!?Have two full length spray bars. Great flow (I think). pH drops from 7.4 down to 6 and stays there. Kh of 5. Have to inject 4 hours before lights on but it gets there eventually and sticks. But my ph meter only has a resolution of .1 so I guess it could be moving a little. Tried light levels from 20 par up to 100 (guessing based on Internet figures). Lower par equals no growth and leave droppage and higher light gives skinny twisted brittle growth while dropping leaves. Dosing full ei with extra K. 15-20ppm no3, 5-10ppm po4, 30+ppm k. About 1.5ppm fe through csmb.
So frustrating. Been trying to get it for at least two years now. I feel like I have a fairly good understanding of what needs to be done to run a tank but I'm just not seeing any results. Guess I'm just disappointed in myself for not being able to do this. Might need to get someone local to come out and help me.
If you want you can open a new thread for us to help you out in the long run mlongpre. So far my algae has stopped and even subsided. It seems its all about co2 stability. I dont have to touch s thing and surface movement is just a little bit.
i think well need more info on your injection method. And a ph profile. Mainly you want ph to be stable during the photoperiod. I also think you might have diffusion problems towards the soil because your tank is quite high.
i think well need more info on your injection method. And a ph profile. Mainly you want ph to be stable during the photoperiod. I also think you might have diffusion problems towards the soil because your tank is quite high.
Andy Thurston
Member
- Joined
- 16 Apr 2013
- Messages
- 2,804
that looks very similar to my mates setup. I presume the co2 is fed into the powehead and back to the tank by the lower spraybar, if this is so then this is an excellent way of getting co2 into the water column. how many lph is your powerhead? and filter? also what is the size of your tank?
the only bba I can see is on the wood which suggests, to me, that this is caused by the wood decaying not co2.
the pinholes in the leaves all seem to be confined to the lower regions of the plants which suggests flow is an issue at the bottom of your tank.
another little thing, unstable co2 can be caused by not topping the tank up every day or 2, which leads to co2 levels reducing caused by the surface agitation increasing as the water level lowers.
what temperature do you keep the tank at? if possible reduce the temp., this will allow more gasses to dissolve in the water
overall your tank looks very close to being stable and a few little changes should get you there
the only bba I can see is on the wood which suggests, to me, that this is caused by the wood decaying not co2.
the pinholes in the leaves all seem to be confined to the lower regions of the plants which suggests flow is an issue at the bottom of your tank.
another little thing, unstable co2 can be caused by not topping the tank up every day or 2, which leads to co2 levels reducing caused by the surface agitation increasing as the water level lowers.
what temperature do you keep the tank at? if possible reduce the temp., this will allow more gasses to dissolve in the water
overall your tank looks very close to being stable and a few little changes should get you there
