C02 Recent Implementation

[stormstaff]

I have an Aqualantis aquarium 210 litre and got so cheesed off with algae probs that i recently put in 2 Nutrafin co2 cannisters. Prior to this I had no fish fatalities. Nitrite nitrate and ammonia were zero. Ph sat at about 7.6...7.8.

Now these Nutafin cannisters are bubbling away great, but since they were introduced I`ve lost 1 Oto and three corydorus in 3 days. Now I`ve two rams that appear to be a little under the wether...nothing specific...just a little lackluster.

The ph has dropped to about 6.8 and the Nitrate has risen to about 5. After the loss of the Oto and two Corys, I did a water change and added Nitrate / phosphate remover to the filter.

The only other thing that is different is that I`ve reverted back to tap water for the refill and not RO as this was costing too much.

The others in the tank seem to be ok 3 Apistogrammas Aggassizi, 5 rainbow danios 5 black phantom tetras, 3 Rainbow Panchax, I threadfin Rainbow, 9 cardinals and other oto`s

any info gratefully received.

thanks............martin

 

[rabbut]

A drop of one is quite big, and interestibly the delicate fish have gone first, which leads me to think that you perhapse introduced the C02 a little too quickly. How many bubbles per minuite are you injecting? A drop of that much may also indicate that you are injecting too much. Above 30ppm of CO2 content in the water, you start to get problems with your fish. I'd recomend removing the CO2 for the time being, and allowing it to all gas off. Next I'd purchase a drop checker, they are cheap arround £15 before starting injection again. Add one canister, wait a week then add the other. The drop checker will alert you to the CO2 content being too heigh, and the staggered introduction will reduce the shock on the fish.
If the pH drops that much with the drop checker saying the CO2 level is fine, add some crushed coral to the filter, or you risk a pH crash. 30ppm of CO2 would normaly drop the pH by 0.5 if you have stable enough water to run it lng-term. a larger drop would indicate low KH, which is what give the stability in the pH. If it is too low, the CO2 will caurse it to crash if it raises too heigh.

HTH
Rabbut

 

[stormstaff]

A drop of one is quite big, and interestibly the delicate fish have gone first, which leads me to think that you perhapse introduced the C02 a little too quickly. How many bubbles per minuite are you injecting? A drop of that much may also indicate that you are injecting too much. Above 30ppm of CO2 content in the water, you start to get problems with your fish. I'd recomend removing the CO2 for the time being, and allowing it to all gas off. Next I'd purchase a drop checker, they are cheap arround £15 before starting injection again. Add one canister, wait a week then add the other. The drop checker will alert you to the CO2 content being too heigh, and the staggered introduction will reduce the shock on the fish.
If the pH drops that much with the drop checker saying the CO2 level is fine, add some crushed coral to the filter, or you risk a pH crash. 30ppm of CO2 would normaly drop the pH by 0.5 if you have stable enough water to run it lng-term. a larger drop would indicate low KH, which is what give the stability in the pH. If it is too low, the CO2 will caurse it to crash if it raises too heigh.

HTH
Rabbut

Hi Rabbut,

Thank for the reply........
The bubbles are coming off at about 52 per minute.
One putting in slightly more than the other.

Would this indicate to you as excessive ??

Thanks.....martin

 

[rabbut]

Depending on the plants, it may well be a bit on the excessive side. For slow growers this will be a bit too much, for fast ones, it may not be enough. You will need a drop checker to confirm either way

All the best
Rabbut