CO2 - pH controllers

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George Farmer

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I've just PM'd this to a fellow member regarding my thoughts.

Please note I have never run a pH controller so by rights you can discount a lot of what I say. Anyone that runs a controller please comment on your experiences.

I just thought with the recent CO2 fever that some of you may be interested in my take on things.

Please feel free to comment (zig - I undertand you've done a fair bit of research on these?)


PM
Are you sure you want a pH controller?

I considered buying one but did some thinking before wanting to part with my hard-earned cash.

The advantage is that they keep the CO2 and pH stable ā€“ but is this advantage worth the price tag, and is it really an advantage at all? Let me elaborate. In nature, for instance a heavily planted river or lake the pH fluctuates by a fair amount, far more than in my tank that has CO2 injected 24/7. Fish can adapt easily to these pH changes because they are very gradual over the 24 hours. One only really needs to worry about pH shock when introducing new fish or performing massive water changes etc. So we can safely assume that a stable pH is not really an advantage to the fish, in fact you could argue that it may be more unnatural to have such a stable pH, particularly for fish that originate in heavily planted environments.

Now to the plants. It is widely known that stable CO2 is the best for plants. But I still get a stable CO2 injecting 24/7. My pH varies by 0.2 to 0.4 max. in 24 hours. I have never had so little algae and my plants and fish are the healthiest theyā€™ve ever been. I very much doubt a pH controller would make any noticeable difference.

If the wasting of CO2 is an issue (plants generally donā€™t use CO2 at night), then a solenoid coupled to the lighting solves that. Iā€™m considering one, depending on how long my cylinder lasts.

Just thought Iā€™d let you know my thoughts. After all theyā€™re not cheap and Iā€™ve even heard of horror stories about pH controllers malfunctioning and continuously pumping CO2 and killing all the fish.

Anyway, it's obviously up to you, just expressing my humble opinions and experiences.
 
Iā€™ve even heard of horror stories about pH controllers malfunctioning and continuously pumping CO2 and killing all the fish.

To be honest gf my research was more based around reasons for not needing a controller than auctually needing one after i had read some bad stories pretty much like the above quote, i know a lot of people dont trust them and wont use them for that reason. Im of the opinion that a solenoid is adaquate.
 
Im of the opinion that a solenoid is adaquate.
I went the whole hog and bought the JBL pH controller to go with the rest of the equipment. Although I have a nice tank (IMO) I cant help thinking "Could I have done without it". As zig said the solenoid probably would have done fine.
Yes you have the control and can set the unit to what you require (wee buns to setup) On the downside, the thing needs to be calibrated frequently (which is probably why you hear the horror stories about them). Proper calibration on a fortnightly basis is a must along with careful cleaning of the probe. This is all more expense as you have to buy calibration fluids pH4 & pH7 for freshwater. (buy in bulk, much cheaper than small sachets) The probe will only last a year at most and has to be replaced. So in my opinion, with a little bit more research I probably would not have bothered buying one. It is an ongoing expense not only monetary but time spent maintaining the unit so as it works to its optimum performance.
 
I didnt realize they were so un-trustworthy...
Id certainly rather have my co2 system fail in the not enough direction vs over doing it...
Since i find myself constantly 'tweaking' the needle valve, usually cause its going to slow again, i thought the controller would be a cool idea, as i could turn up the co2 just abit more then i usually do, and it would keep it 'in check'.

...coming home and finding your ph at 4.0 would be a bad thing.. ;)
 
Im saving money and just having a solenoid valve.
I couldnt be bothered with all the calibration all the time...
 
I've also heard stories of the probe coming loose and not staying in the tank and that screws things up.

I personally have a Solenoid, and I don't use it!! I've tested my pH just before lights go out and just before lights go on again while running CO2 all night and again by turning off at night.

In my personal experience the pH swing was MORE when CO2 was turned off. (Can't remember exactly but around 0.5), and with CO2 running all night the swing is 0.2.

Of course every tank is different so this may not apply to everyone. And at the end of the day its cheaper buying the solenoid upfront than getting it separate (well it is in the JBL case) which is why I bought it.
 

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