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Re: [APD] Flourish iron & KH drop



You can still use a controller even in your situation. Set the valves, do whatever tests you do to decide when the CO2 level is where you want it. Measure the KH and pH and set your controller there.
 
But controllers are expensive and don't save CO2 compared to just turning off the CO2 with the lights timer. Nor do they prevent the minor changes in pH that one gets with a timer or running the CO2 24/7. There are diffs in the frequency times of the peaks and valleys if you plot the CO2 levels and pH with the three diff methods of controlling CO2 but none of them are, in the situations most aquatic gardeners will face, will amount to a hill of beans worth of diff.
 
I have used controllers. I have one set up right now. And a 24/7 set up and a timer set up. It's fun to try diff things. But, imo,  there is little to speak for pH controllers for as a means for CO2 control. They'd be more fun if they weren't so costly. ;-)
 
sh
 
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----- Original Message ----
From: Vaughn Hopkins <hoppycalif at yahoo_com>
To: aquatic plants digest <aquatic-plants at actwin_com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 7:29:55 PM
Subject: Re: [APD] Flourish iron & KH drop


I don't use a PH controller, nor do I use Flourish Iron, but I see in 
your question why I decided emphatically not to use a PH controller.  
The fallacy that leads us to want a PH controller is the belief that by 
controlling PH we are controlling CO2.  And, that simply isn't the 
case.  The PH controller is dumb as a stump!  It will try to hold the 
PH above a set point, and isn't even remotely interested in CO2 
concentration.  In my opinion, CO2 concentration should logically be 
controlled by setting the needle valve on the regulator system to hold 
the "bubble rate" at the constant value that it takes to keep the CO2 
concentration where we want it.  If we do that, losses of KH, or 
increases in KH, or buffering will not reduce or increase CO2 
concentration - which is the goal.  Is my logic wrong?

Vaughn H.

On Wednesday, March 22, 2006, at 03:54 PM, Kevin Buckley wrote:

> I just started using Flourish iron &, after a while, I noticed that my 
> plants had stopped pearling.
>
> I have injected CO2 & 330W of CF lighting in a 50g.
>
> I then noticed that, as I added a capful of Flourish iron, my pH 
> dropped a little.
>
> I tested my KH & found that, over a period of several days, my KH had 
> dropped from 160ppm to 50ppm.
>
> The reason the pearling had stopped was that my CO2 controller (set to 
> pH = 7.3) was no longer injecting CO2!!
>
> I added a few teaspoons of Sodium Bicarbonate to raise the KH & 
> everything returned to normal.
>
> I just did a quick test ...
>
> My tapwater has a KH of 180ppm.  I added 5ml of Flourish iron to 2L of 
> tapwater & waited 30m.
>
> The KH had dropped to 140ppm.
>
> Has anyone else had this problem?
>
> Regards, Kevin
> _______________________________________________
> Aquatic-Plants mailing list
> Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
> http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants
>

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