Ballasts, bottles and buffers

[Yenko]

So, this weekend I've begun the uber-plants project.

So, I'm converting my 32 gallon's 40 watt lighting into powerful 80 watt lighting, and adding CO2.

Currently, I'm experimenting with keeping the PH from going out of control in a fishless 10 gallon tank. Once the PH is under control a few hardy fish go in, and if I can keep them in good health for a month, the CO2 goes over to the 32 gallon.

The 32 gallon is getting it's lights overdriven. I'm only going to overdrive one 20w tube at first, then if I don't get good results, overdrive the second (Stupid expensive ballasts).

 

[Bignose]

That sounds like a fun project, Yenko. But, just a thought, it is probably harder to control the pH in the ten gallon than it would be in the 32 gallon. As you may or may not know, pH is a measure of concentration of H+ ions.

The reason it is harder to control in the 10 gallon than the 32 is that in the 32 you have more dilution. Lets say that as a basis you have a concentration of C, which is equal to x/(volume of tank), x is the total amount of ions in the tank, hence x over the volume is the concentration. Since you have the same concentration (pH) in both tanks to start, let x=10 in the 10 gallon and x=32 in the 32 gallon, or lets set C = 1.

So, now you increase x by 10 in both tanks.

In the 10 gallon, (10+10)/10 = 20/10 = new C = 2

In the 32 gallon, (32+10)/32 = 42/32 = new C = 1.3

So, by changing both tanks the same amount, you got a much larger increase in concentration in the 10 gallon (hence a larger change in pH), showing that it is more difficult to control in the smaller tank.

Of course, if the fish are all in the 32 gallon, you probably dont want to experiment with the pH

 

[enchanted]

Bignose is right in the sense it will be different on the 32G.

If you are using DIY CO2 it is not going to make a drastic change unless you are using an extremely large bottle.

If you are using DIY then I would recommend starting with say a 1 Liter bottle on the 32G and just monitor. If all goes well then up to a 2 Liter, etc....

If you are using pressurized without a PH controller it is even easier. Just start with an extremely lowing setting, run it for a while with testing, then up a little, etc...

 

[zerothemouse]

Hi Everyone,

I have a planted 37gallon tank with DIY C02. I just use a plastic 2 liter container filled with yeast sugar and water. Then I have an air line running to an air stone. You can regulate the amount of C02 concentration by raising or lowering the stone into the water. The lower the stone the higher the concentration. So just start with it about an inch from the surface. Test your parameters after 24 hours and then lower it an inch or two if needed and test again after 24 hours. I have my stone about 4 inches from the surface of the water. This is enough to give me about 19ppm of C02 and keeps my PH around 7.0 which works fine for my setup.

You might already know this but you need to test for the KH hardness of your water as well as the PH once you have the C02 established. By using a graph that you can find somewhere on this forum or on the internet, you can use these two measurements to figure out the concentration in ppm of C02. Too much C02 could result in dead fish, too little will not benefit your plants.

mouse

 

[Yenko]

I know all about the PH and KH stuff. In the 32 gallon, I'm going to have a bell reactor, so the rate CO2 goes into the water is constant, regardless of what my yeast is doing. I'm going to put the clown loaches in the 10 gallon while I get this stuff figured out; that way they only have to endure one small PH change once they go back in. Needless to say, I'll be done messing around with the PH in the 10 gallon tank when the clowns go in.