Is hard water screwing with my Co2?

[Tiggs]

I have added co2 for a while now but can never seem to get the ph below 7.....no matter how much co2 goes in - i have gone as far as to starve the fish of o2 in the process (by mistake!)

so i got a KH test kit and my water in the tank (and out the tap) is 180 pm (high)

how do i bring it down......or so i need to? various tables show the c02 level is about 25 ppm which is fine......so does the PH matter?

T

 

[iggy01]

With a pH of 7.0 and a KH of 10 (180ppm) you have around 30 mg/l CO2. That is just about ideal.

Don't try to get your pH any lower.........there's no need.

 

[zig]

Yeah your ph is fine no need for it to be lower, your ph is ideal for a community aquarium, same ph as mine auctually.

 

[Tiggs]

cool.......with that high KH if i was overdoing the co2 would i see a drop in PH as a sign or would i notice gasping fish before that as the KH slows the PH change?

 

[Tiggs]

just tested the ph of my tapwater (that had been sat on the sideboard for 3 hours) its KH and PH is the same as my tank......how can the tap water have that much co2 after being sat out of the tap for 3 hrs?

 

[iggy01]

cool.......with that high KH if i was overdoing the co2 would i see a drop in PH as a sign or would i notice gasping fish before that as the KH slows the PH change?

If your pH were to drop by another 0.2 to 6.8 it would increase your CO2 level to about 48 mg/l. This is getting into the realms of dangerous. Although some experienced aquarists can keep fish safely at these levels, it isn't recommended unless you really know what you're doing.


Keep an eye on your CO2 level. If your fish start gasping, you'll need to take action.

Good luck!

 

[iggy01]

just tested the ph of my tapwater (that had been sat on the sideboard for 3 hours) its KH and PH is the same as my tank......how can the tap water have that much co2 after being sat out of the tap for 3 hrs?

That's a good question!

I would give it 24 hrs and then test again.

Usually, with a KH that high you would expect the pH to be much higher.