Co2 Affecting Ph

[charliesmith]

might be a silly question, but my tap water has a PH of 9, have managed to reduce it to 8 - 8.5, but it wont go any lower! i have peat in my external filter, use laterite under my fine gravel and have two large pieces of bogwood in the tank...

ideally id like the PH to drop to neutral, i know it will take time (only been planted for 3 weeks) but would the fact i use co2 affect the PH??

my apologies if this seems a daft question, hope you can give me some advice!

cheers

 

[ShoC]

from what I know Co2 will reduce PH (correct me if Im wrong Im a novice)

it affects the KH? and makes the ph unstable causing a Swing at night?
then the PH will change but but a swing can have dire effects on your fish..
again Correct me if Im wrong and I'll delete what I wrote.

 

[charliesmith]

wouldnt have a clue if you were wrong!! lol

i knew it had an effect on PH, remember reading something about KH - looks like we read the same thing and you've remembered it?!

i only assumed that co2 raised PH through its carbon element - maybe in gaseous form, it has the opposite effect? or m i waffling! lol

thanks for your help

 

[JamesC]

from what I know Co2 will reduce PH (correct me if Im wrong Im a novice)

it affects the KH? and makes the ph unstable causing a Swing at night?
then the PH will change but but a swing can have dire effects on your fish..
again Correct me if Im wrong and I'll delete what I wrote.

Nearly right.
Yes adding CO2 to water will reduce it's pH and yes it will affect the water's KH by increasing it very slightly, but not by enough that you would notice with a cheapo hobby test kit.

What is commonly misunderstood is that a change in pH due CO2 gas is not harmful to fish. In ponds and lakes fish have become quite acclimatised to large daily pH swings due to changing CO2 levels. What is very harmful is pH swings due to a change in KH.

James

 

[charliesmith]

jamesc - i thank you!

makes sense, thanks for that - guess i will have to wait a while to get my khuli loaches! in the mean time - ill keep crushing snails!

cheers

 

[ShoC]

from what I know Co2 will reduce PH (correct me if Im wrong Im a novice)

it affects the KH? and makes the ph unstable causing a Swing at night?
then the PH will change but but a swing can have dire effects on your fish..
again Correct me if Im wrong and I'll delete what I wrote.

Nearly right.
Yes adding CO2 to water will reduce it's pH and yes it will affect the water's KH by increasing it very slightly, but not by enough that you would notice with a cheapo hobby test kit.

What is commonly misunderstood is that a change in pH due CO2 gas is not harmful to fish. In ponds and lakes fish have become quite acclimatised to large daily pH swings due to changing CO2 levels. What is very harmful is pH swings due to a change in KH.

James

so if I add my DIY co2 the swing caused at night wont be harmfull to my fish,? as this is what put me off from having it in my tank even thought I do really need it,

and turning it off at night i thought was the best idea.. to prevent a swing.

 

[JamesC]

so if I add my DIY co2 the swing caused at night wont be harmfull to my fish,? as this is what put me off from having it in my tank even thought I do really need it,

and turning it off at night i thought was the best idea.. to prevent a swing.

It'll be fine. Many people use CO2 in their tanks with no problems with livestock. I turn it off at night to save CO2 and lower levels as the plants don't require it when it's dark. Plants respire very little CO2 compared to the amounts that are injected.

James