Co2 And Ph

[BigIan]

I`ve herd people mention that Co2 can stableise the ph in the tank

Is this true and if so how?

as my tap water is very soft with a low kh and gh. and its causing swings in ph from 7.2 at the tap it will sink to 6 within 3 or 4 days,

So i was wondering if i added nco2 to the tank woulde it stop the ph swinging?

i`ve tried various types of stone and don`t really want to start adding chemicals to the tank if i don`t have to



thanks in advance

 

[Bignose]

You do realize that a change from 7.2 to 6 is an increase in acid, right? Maybe you didn't realize this, but adding CO2 is also adding acid, so putting CO2 in your water would only lower the pH.

What you need to do is increase the buffering capability (also called alkalinity or acidity) of your water. Some people use baking soda, or there are other common chemicals that can be used. Crushed shells will increase both pH and buffering. Some of the chemicals at the LFS are phosphate based, which may cause algae blooms, but some of the chemicals are really just salt mixtures that will increase the mineral content of your water and hence its hardness.

 

[BigIan]

i knew that my water was turning acidic, but didn1`t realise that the co2 would also lower ph....

i was thinking of adding co2 to the tank any way is there any way i could do that without having my fish sitting in a bath of acid?

perhaps a smattering of lime stone rocks?

 

[caino]

heya, maby this linky can help and 100 posts

 

[Themuleous]

You cant really stabilise the pH using CO2, it doesnt work like that im afraid. What people do is to lower the pH in hard water areas by adding CO2.

If you're finding that the pH is dropping over a short period, say a few days something else must be happening. I once had this and a piece of bogwood was causing it. The wood, (I dont know how) was lowering the KH and so the pH dropped at the same time. Do you have any wood in there? I would take a few bits out and see if it makes a difference. It might just be a single piece in which case just replace it.

A 'normal' tank shouldn't really experience kh fluctuations under normal conditions unless something it causing it to happen, sounds obvious but think you need to look into the root cause and change that rather than adding CO2.

As said you can increase the KH using bicarbonate of soda.

Sam

 

[BigIan]

the kh dosent drop its stays constant, its the ph that swings low, i`ve tried everything i removed all the stones and wood from the tank and it still happened,

i want to add co2 any way as i want a nice heavily planted tank.

ad i misunderstood what people were refering to when they mentioned ph and co2

thanks people.