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Re: DIY CO2 controller
Wayne Jones writes:
> Pardon me if this is a very dumb idea
> but I am wondering if anybody has tried
> to make a rudimentary CO2 controller
> using some sort of battery immersed in
> the tank. The tank water could maybe act
> as an electrolyte and the anode and
> cathode could perhaps be carbon and
> zinc. Would the such a battery only
> produce current when the ph dropped
> below 7?
The battery will produce a current based not on pH, but on how much stuff is
in ionic solution. The more stuff in there, the more current will flow.
African Rift Lake tanks, which can have a pH as high as 9.0 will conduct far
more than a soft, low pH tank. Only pure, distilled water will not carry
electricity, and as soon as you expose it to the atmosphere, it will pick up
some CO2 and convert that to H2CO3, and that forms an ionic, conductive
solution.
Bob Dixon