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Re: Using pH Down for CO2 fertilization?
My understanding is that plants have a very hard time fixing co2 at >pH 8.
My tank, as yours, was at pH 8.6, and my plants didn't look real good.
I switched to RO water, pH 7, and the plants perked right up and started
perling. Currently, my pH is 6.8, and bubbles stream off the leaves. Part
of this is probably because of the lower pH. You can get RO water pretty
cheap (for such a small tank). Should be about $0.25/gal or so. Add it
slowly, as you don't want to shock the beta. Maybe a 10% water change
every day for a few weeks.
Watch your hardness too, don't let it dip too low. You can keep it up by
adding a little tap water, if the shells don't do it for you.
> I have a bottle of pH Down that came with my A.P. pH test kit. It contains
> Sulfuric acid. I have tried to add this to my tank occasionally (after
> diluting it in water, of course), and noticed that the plants tended to
> bubble after this addition. I think I have read somewhere that the
> addition of Sulfuric acid releases the CO2 from the carbonate. Is that
> correct? If so, is the regular adding of pH Down to the hard water a way
> of supplying CO2 to the plants (until the shells all dissolve, which could
> be a few years--and that can also be replenished with additional shells)?
> What's the effect of the leftover sulphur component? Would it be okay to
> do this regularly together with partial water changes?