Co2 And Ph

[spankone]

bare with me on this one i've got to try and get my question across with out sounding stupid. co2 lowers ph yeh, so at night when when the plants are respiring will that mean less or no co2 is being used up and will make the ph drop. i guess thats why they recomend checking ph morning and night... im trying to deside if i should up the anty and buy something like this

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?...products_id=649

it seems good value for money. trying to deside though if its worth the cost for such a small tank my nano's only 18/10/10 inchs but on the plus side a can of gas should last for ages

 

[jimbooo]

at night plants give off co2 and take in o2, reverse in daytime.

if you only run the kit during the day and turn off at night then the ph will be reasonably constant. if you run it 24h then at night the PH will drop as the plants wont be using the co2 you put in.

you may be thinking that even with it off the plants will be adding co2 from their own respiration but the quantity they give out is far far less than the quantity you will be putting in via a pressurised system.

basically turn off at night and you will be fine.

it will 100% improve your plants just go easy on the bubble rate, in a small tank you could easily overdose. set it low to start with and increase very gradually until you get to 30ppm co2 and you should be fine.

you are right, the bottle will last for ages on a nano.

hope that helps.

James

 

[Themuleous]

Yes you are right. Not only do the plants not use CO2 at night but they actually give off CO2, so the level in the tank goes up (and pH correspondingly goes down a bit). However its not really a problem. I run both my tanks with co2 24/7 with no apparent problems.

That kit is OK and you can get cheap 600g disposable cylinder on eBay for 10quid each.

However if you can find somewhere to get refills you could get this kit which is much cheaper. And comes with everything you need. Spend a few more quid and you could also get a solenoid, although its not necessary IMHO.

Sam

 

[spankone]

wow with soleniod thats only £65 how expensive is shipping any ideas?

 

[Themuleous]

20euro or around 13quid. Says at the bottom of the add

 

[sophos9]

I overrun PH after lights off for 1hr, the levels of DO will be high, PH stability is good through the night. In the morning, I kick in CO2 2 hours before lights on, this ensures enough CO2 to cover the consumption though the 10hr photoperiod

This best fit was found after 5 days/nights of experiments... Really must get a life