Re: [APD] CO2 problems (??)

[Vaughn Hopkins <hoppycalif at yahoo_com>]

CO2!!  My 29 gallon tank last tested at 170 ppm CO2 (KH - 9 and PH - 
7.0), with no distress to the fish.  So, I did the overnight test:  
take a small cup of water from the aquarium and let it sit over night.  
Then test both it and the aquarium water.  The CO2 in the overnight 
water should show about 3 ppm, reflecting the atmospheric CO2.  The 
difference between the two should be about 30 ppm CO2.  That will give 
you a more accurate CO2 reading, but if the fish don't object yet, just 
increase the bubble rate no matter what the test shows.  Do that early 
in the day and watch for fish distress.  Keep jacking it up a little 
each day until the fish say "uncle!" then drop it down a notch.  That 
should be the right amount of CO2 for your tank.  I finally did that 
and my algae problems dropped off considerably.

Vaughn H.

On Wednesday, March 1, 2006, at 03:29 PM, Barry Anderberg wrote:

> It is.
>
> Vaughn Hopkins wrote:
>> Is this a 29 gallon aquarium?  You seem to have omitted that piece of
>> data.
>> Vaughn H.
>>
>> On Tuesday, February 28, 2006, at 05:20 PM, Barry Anderberg wrote:
>>
>>
>>> My city water report says my water's alkalinity, due entirely to
>>> bicarbonate and nothing else, is 17.5 dKH.
>>>
>>> My Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit confirms this number.
>>>
>>> Both Red Sea pH test and Aquarium Pharmaceuticals pH test agree that 
>>> my
>>> pH is currently at or around 6.8.
>>>
>>> That gives me a whopping 85 ppm of CO2 in the water.  This stands to
>>> reason as I am bubbling about 3 bubbles per second into an external 
>>> DIY
>>> reactor.
>>>
>>> The problem?  None of my fish are showing any stress at all, which
>>> makes
>>> me wonder if I am missing something and that my CO2 really isn't that
>>> high.
>>>
>>> As a newbie to planted tanks I'm also obsessed with getting my plants
>>> to
>>> pearl, and they do, every day almost all day long, but it isn't very
>>> heavy pearling like I have seen in some photos.
>>>
>>> Maybe I should try some riccia.
>>>
>>> Also I am starting to see some hair algae on the older growth leaves,
>>> especially on my ludwigia.  I thought if I kept the CO2 high and made
>>> sure my plants had all the nutrients they needed I would be able to
>>> avoid this kind of thing.
>>>
>>> my tank is as follows:
>>>
>>> 100% eco-complete
>>> 10 total hours of lighting, 65W CF lighting with a 3 hour, 2x65W
>>> "mid-day"
>>> Water: 22 dGH, 18 dKH, 6.8 pH
>>>
>>> Aquarium Pharm. Test Kit Results (for whatever they are worth)
>>>
>>> NO3: 20 to 30 ppm
>>> PO4: 5 ppm
>>>
>>> I dose using the Estimative Index as follows:
>>>
>>> Sunday: 50% water change, followed by dose of 1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/16 tsp
>>> K2SO4, 1/16 tsp KH2PO4
>>> Monday: 15 mL Plantex CSM+B mixed at 1 tbsp. per 250 mL water
>>> Tuesday: Same dosing as Sunday
>>> Wednesday: Same as Monday
>>> Thursday: Same dosing as Sunday
>>> Friday: Same as Monday
>>> Saturday: Nothing
>>>
>>> How can I improve my tank and get better, faster growing, healthier
>>> plants and stop that annoying hair algae that is starting to form?
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Aquatic-Plants mailing list
>>> Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
>>> http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants
>>>
>>>
>>
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>>
>
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