Is It Possible To Overdose Co2?

[G_Sharky]

hey guys i currently have a 20 gallon tank and i have the nutrafin natural plant system and I recently switch to the DIY mixture instead of buying the packs...Anyways my mixture was sugar all the way to the recommended level, 1 teaspoon of baking soda and half a teaspoon of bread yeast....Before the DIY i was getting 1 bubble per second and have about 10 bubbles on the ladder, with the DIY mixture i'm getting 1 bubble per second and lots of bubbles on the ladder(can't even count them cause there are so many)..My concern is dosing too much or is it more CO2 the better

 

[zig]

Have you tested the water for your co2 level? and yes it is possible to overdose co2 even with a DIY mix ideally you want a level of 30ppm co2, in order to measure it you need a KH and PH testkit and then you cross reference the results on a co2 chart.

http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

Scroll down the bottom for the co2 chart

 

[Waterloo Kid]

I managed to kill lots of my fish with a CO2 overdose. Strictly speaking it was a KH underdose that caused the problems. My KH is low at the best of times at about 2-3 degrees but it fell lower and caused a huge pH crash. The pH was unmeasurable as my kit only went down to 6. I'm guessing it was more like 3 or 4!
Since you appear to keep africans I'm guessing that you have harder water than me so this shouldn't be a problem. Still it would be a good idea to keep an eye on your pH and KH to monitor both and your CO2 levels. As stated above aim for about 30ppm. Don't let your pH drop very low at all. Your fish won't like you for it!
As a side note, I'm surprised that you have any plants in an african tank. I'd have thought all your plants would get eaten.

WK

 

[G_Sharky]

no i don't have a planted african tank....i tried but they keep on ripping and digging the plants out..I have a bunch of dwarf cichlids along with some community fish in mly 20 gallon....Anyways i tested my ph and kh last night while the lights are on and the kh is 5 degrees(5 drops) and my ph is 6.7-6.8 and that would give me around 25 ppm according the the chart that zig reffered me too.... i'm going to test it again with the lights off soon when i get home....the fish seems to be alive still, but I just discovered that they had ick..... should i medicate?? cause i heard that meds could be harmful for plants too.....thanks...