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co2 cons and pros

11K views 11 replies 2 participants last post by  Blaxicanlatino 
#1 ·
Should I use co2 in my aquarium? is it neccessary? Whats so good about having it and what is bad about it? Is there a cheap method of adding co2 to my tank? any suggestions? thank you :)
 
#7 ·
Get a drop checker off ebay. Here <------ This seller is really good, takes about 2 weeks to get it though. They will replace it no questions asked if anything is wrong with it.

You put a couple drops of the solution in the ball and add a little bit of tank water. The solution will be yellow if co2 is low, green if it is good, and blue if it is high.
 
#6 ·
LOL! :oops: Yeah I meant PH! Yeah it lowers it pretty slowly. If you are using a DIY yeast setup it shouldn't matter, There is very little risk of overdose co2 using this kinda setup.You can overdose using pressurized co2. I've done it before and it's not good. I killed a very large colony of cherry shrimp and came close to killing the fish in that tank:-(. Though that was my fault, it should not of happened.

In regards to the PH thing, I wouldn't worry about it. My tap water is 7.6 and the tanks w/ co2 run at about 6.8. I still run pressurised co2 and it gets turned off at night, I don't know how much the PH "swings" at night. But cherry shrimp, rainbows, and gouramis have all been bred in that tank, so it doesn't seem to bother the fish. Keep in mind in the wild PH can fluctuate quite a bit

The only time you should worry about ph dropping is if your water has very low buffering levels. I'm talking about KH, low KH levels and your ph can fluctuate widely. High KH levels and your PH won't move if you hit it with a brick.
 
#9 ·
The most accurate way would be to hunt down a KH test kit. Or you can just rely on the drop checker. KH and PH relate to each other which then relates to the amount of co2. Before drop checkers you had to measure PH and KH to figure out the PPM of CO2. Here is a chart, you shoot for about 20-30ppm. Though it wouldn't be super accurate if you knew your PH and your general CO2 level(low/good/hi) from the drop checker you could figure out your general KH using the chart.
 
#10 ·
I see. so i need to know my pH and my kH before i could know how much c02 is good. Is there a fert that gives off c02? of perhaps maybe if i half the ingredients in the DIY c02 generator to put a minimal amount of C02 in.

Does KH also have a relation to water hardness? my water is really hard
 
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