Re: (Joe Reiter asked about....

[Paul Sears <psears at nrn1_NRCan.gc.ca>]

> From: Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>
> Subject: Re: (Joe Reiter asked about Seachem's Excel and Flourish)
> 
> > Date: Mon, 10 Jun 2002 07:53:32 -0700
> > From: "Roger Gordon" <rgordon at tns_net>
> > Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V5 #147
> > 
> > Joe Reiter asked about Seachem's Excel and Flourish--
> > 
> > I use Excel in my East African Rift Tank.  With the high pH, you can't get
> > the CO2 concentration high enough to be beneficial to the plants.  So Excel
> > is the only alternative.  
> > 
> 
> 
> Perhaps I am missing something here, but pH has no particular effect on 
> the solubility of CO2 in a normal tank. Right?

	Right.  The misunderstanding
above is unfortunately very common, and is to be found in textbooks.  The
CO2 concentration is set by your CO2 system, the fish, the plants and the
exposure of the water to the air.  The KH is the bicarbonates dissolved
in the water and the pH is set by the CO2 concentration and the KH.  The
CO2 concentration is _not_ controlled by the pH - it's the other way
round.

>                      It ain't what you know
>                      that gets you in trouble;
>                      it's what you know for sure
>                      that ain't so. -- Mark Twain

	I read it in a book, so it must be right.....   ;)


-- 
Paul Sears        Ottawa, Canada