can any one help ,im new to planted tanks ,ive just set up a dennerle ph contoller 588 and night time shut off valve
after calibrating the controler i programed the desirered ph to 6.7 thinks this is right (ph was 7.2 before i started )
i have a 300l tank so i put 30 bubles per minute in acording to the instructions the ph droped down to 6.7 and the shut off valve turned off the co2 .question when does the co2 come back on again ?the controller shows 6.69 now hasent moved for about an hour any advice apreciated thanks in advance

any body out there use a ph controller? need help setting the whole co2 system up properly

Hardly any of us use Ph Controllers. I wouldn't say setting the CO2 system up properly involves a Ph controller. In fact it can mess up what you are trying to achieve.

Read this. I would've posted more in this thread but it had been said already so I didn't lol

http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=824...ight=controller

ANDY

i wish i had read that link before i bought a ph controller ,so what is the best way to set up a co2 system ?,on all day ,off at night ,or co2 on 24 hours ,do u use a shut off valve?will i do away with ph controller and shut off valve and use a drop checker and have co2 on 24 hours

Its each to their own.

Most use a solenoid (night shut off) some like me just run 24/7

DC is definately the way to go for seeing what your levels are.

24/7 leaves no room for error because there is build up at night and fish will die if you get it wrong. Solenoid will only let the CO2 on when you tell it too.

I would take some phootos of the Ph controller and get it on ebay.

Andy

lol ive just bought it off ebay lol

I often buy things off ebay when I only want some of it. Often a wholesale Job Lot that contains something I am struggling to find at the right price somewhere else. I then dump the other items back on there to recoup some money.

Also with new goods from shops. For example:

I wanted bathroom accessories (toothbrush holder, soap dish etc) but I already had a 4 rung towel rail so I didn't want that bit. back on it went and I got £4 of the £8 I paid for the whole kit. lol

Therefore the rest cost me £4. Great Deal.

Ph Controller will probs sell on a forum. Try that first and if you don't like the offers then dump it onto fleabay

Andy

thanks for the help very fast ,ill take £150 for the ph controller if you know any one its only been in the tank 24hours lol was brand new lol

Stick it in the buy/sell/swap at the bottom of the main forum page.

Andy

FYI - I run both my co2 tanks 24/7 no problems

how much does the ph drop running 24/7?
what is a safe level for the ph to drop to ?
i have a 300l tank im running about 30 bubbles per min now im running about 60 on day 2 ph has dropped from 6.9 to 6.49 in a matter of 2 hours will it keep dropping at this rate allso the longterm indicator is still blue ,how long before it goes green

sorry for all the questions

This post has been edited by newfishkeeper999: Mar 10 2008, 01:11 PM

It drops the same running 24/7 as it does turning it off at night!!!

Differences are:

With 24/7 You run it slightly slower to stay green.
It will drop by approx 1ph and remain there as you are maintaining a constant CO2.

The trick is that with 24/7 you can either blast it to 30ppm and then change the settings down so that it just replaces the CO2 lost or you can set it and let it gradually climb.

With a solenoid setup you blast it all day and then let it dissipate during the night (wether you force it to dissipate via turbulence or naturally through gaseous exchange)

Safe is an open ended question. On one hand I can say don't worry about the Ph as the fish will adapt to much wider ranges than in all the guides with no problem at all.

On the other hand Ph drops are not just due to CO2!!!

So for CO2 instigated Ph drops, don't worry it will be approx 1Ph. Therefore you know your current Ph. You will know your CO2 related drop. Anything other than in between these ranges and you will know something else is happening.

Andy

thanks for that very helpfull info,

i have 50 bubbles/min going in the 300l tank its took 2x 8 hour blasts to turn the dennerle longterm drop checker green useing i rhynox 5000 diffuser"wish i had paid a bit extra and bought a good external reactor " is that about right?
allso do i need to put the air stone on at any point when injecting co2 ?wether it be on a timer or 24/7?

thanks again for your help

FYI - a CO2 level of 30ppm lowers the pH by 1 point, i.e. from 7.2 to 6.2.

FYI 2 - ADA aquasoil reduces the pH to below detectable levels, add to this CO2 reducing and these tanks must run at well under pH 6. I.e. you wouldn't want African cichlids in it but if you chose the right fish, it shouldn't be a problem.

Sam