CO2 worries!

[ChrisH]

Hi all,

I have a 4ftx2ftx18" tank which I believe is 63 UK Gallons.

I have built a custon hood with the following lamps:

38W Arcadia Origional Tropical Lamp
38W Arcadia Freshwater Lamp
30W Interpet Blue Moon

At the moment the 2 38W lamps come on at 0900 -> 1400 and 1600 -> 2200. At 2200 the 30W lamp comes on for a couple of hours so that I can see the fish before I go to bed.

The tank has just been planted with the 103 plant collection from
Java Plants. I have also built a DIY CO2 unit by following the instructions found here: DIY CO2 , but I haven't connected it up to my tank.

What I have done however is to test the CO2 by letting it bubble through an airstone in a bucket of water. However I was scared to see that the pH of the water in the bucket dropped from 7.1 to bellow 6 in a matter of hours, although I know that there wasn't anything using the CO2.

I want to set this all up so that my plants (and fish) can be as happy as possible, this leads me to a few questions!

1) Is this a good time frame for the lamps or should I rethink? Should I have all three lamps coming on during the day to give it that extra bit of light? Will the moonlight lamp have much effect on the plants, or is is OK to have it on as long as I like in the evenings? Is is a good idea to have the break in the light at lunchtime?

2) Will using CO2 have a worthwhile effect on my tank? Is it normal for the pH to drop like this if the CO2 isn;t used, and if so does it sound safe to use? Is it correct that the plants will only use the CO2 during the day, and if so am I going to get wild fluctuations in my pH over night?

3) The all important question, that I must ask as a student (as a joke!!) - what will be the alcahol content of the fermented yeast/sugar when it is finished? LOL!

Many Thanks, appologies for so many questions but I am new to keeping live plants!

Chris

 

[druxboyz]

how many gallons is that bucket of water? is it anywhere near 63 UK gallons?

im not sure how big 63UK gallons is in US gallons, but your lights would be on the low end if it was 63 US gallons, giving 1.2 wpg.

personally, im at 2.2 wpg, and i think that's still a bit low for plant fun

the plants use the co2 when you turn on your lights for them to photosynthesize. at night, i think some people reduce the amount of co2 entering the aquarium. if you dont, then you might soffocate your fish.

some people have a normal air stone with a timer to turn on at night to give the water some o2.

i'm new to this plant stuff too, so i may be wrong

as for #3, im a college student also, and am curious too

that 103 plant collection thing seems cool, is there any sites in the US that do that?

 

[Bangin]

1) I'm not sure of the exact calculation, but that wattage seems a little low for CO2 injection (not including the moon light). My lights run for a constant period of 10 hours (no break).

2) It depends on the amount of light. Determine your watts-per-gallon. CO2 will decrease the PH. The kH should be at least 3-4 before injecting CO2. Otherwise, the ph will fluctuate and decrease significantly. As druxboyz mentioned you can run an airstone at night to prevent any problems of excess CO2.

Your lights seem rather low for that size aquarium, so I recommend against using CO2 until you have 2wpg or higher.