Diy Co2 Reactor!

[chimera_786]

lol..i finally made one! I used the common one: the 2L bottle, yeast, sugar, air tubing and all the of the other good stuff. But here the thing, ive read up on adding Co2 in the tank and ive come across one common point: the pH will go down. Well, i certainly don't want that as it'll be a shock to the tank inhabitants. How do i counter the pH and if possible, have a very minute change in the pH as the Co2 is added. BTW..do i even need Co2? I have 17watt 18inch T8 bulb that came with the tank. My tank is far for even lightly planted. I have a struggling java fern and a Diandra. I just wanted to the Co2 for healthier plant growth, which i can avoid, if supplemental nutrients can be supplied to the plant

Thanks for looking!

 

[OldMan47]

In general, I have had good success with java fern, in a low light situation, without using CO2. My plants stay healthy and slowly grow and reproduce. I have also seen java fern that was grown under higher light with CO2 and ferts and the difference is amazing. Compared to my low light plants, the high light fertilized plants are monsters. It really depends what you want to do when you are working with java ferns.
The effect of DIY CO2 on pH is rather small unless you have soft water. With typical, around here, hard water, the pH effect of DIY is fairly small and doesn't seem to bother the fish. I have read elsewhere that even a larger change, such as the fish see with a pressurized CO2 system, doesn't seem to bother the fish. I don't have any experience with that so I can't say from my own experiences. If you are worried about the pH of CO2, get a kit and measure the KH of your water. At over about 8 degrees of KH I wouldn't worry about much pH effect.

 

[waterdrop]

From my reading on TFF it is my understanding that one of the reasons that pH drops from CO2 and from DIY CO2 in particular are not much of a worry is that pH drops but KH does not. Many of the fears and concerns about pH shock to fish apparently have often come from actually because they were accompanied with KH change and from the things I have read, that was actually the more dangerous change for the fish.

Hopefully I am not leading anyone astray, but basically I'm saying this to reinforce OM's post that DIY CO2 pH effects should not be too bad for your fish. Still, whenever one is doing new unfamiliar things, its good to be very observant and keep good stats and log notes.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Dave Spencer]

I wouldn`t worry about pH too much, as any changes are gradual. Wild fish experience pH changes all the time. I run my CO2 at 30ppm in 3dKH with no problems. My pH runs close to 6.

With stock lighting you could consider adding organic carbon via Flourish Excel or Easycarbo to make life simpler. gaseous CO2 is best, best not vital in a lower light tank.

Dave.

 

[Mikaila31]

Yeah don't worry about the PH. I use pressurized CO2 and the tank ph changes from about 7.6 to 6.8. I do a 50% waterchange every week with water straight from the tap. Never had any issues and I have lots of shrimp in my tanks, so I wouldn't even worry about the fish.

 

[chimera_786]

well my DIY is kind of working..there arent a lot of bubbles...and i dont know how much do i need for a healthy plant growth. But as for the replies...so i dont need to worry about the pH as long as my kH wont get affected? But doesnt kH have a relationship with pH? I dont know.. i mean i dont want the change in pH (let be small) to have an effect in any way.

 

[waterdrop]

No, I think what we're saying is that KH won't be affected (won't be changed) by CO2, which means that any pH change that occurs will not be (or will not be nearly as) dangerous to your fish. So that's a good thing. Its saying you can try your DIY without worrying so much about pH.

On the other hand you're also getting some advice that probably Flourish Excel or EasyCarbo would accomplish the same thing and be easier to maintain. Dave has described to me in the past that liquid carbon approaches like this can work well in low-light setups.

Most people find DIY CO2 to be fussy and difficult to maintain after a while (although there are also probably those who can put up with it and you may be one) and either drop it or switch to pressurized. Pressurized is described as being much easier to maintain, just fairly expensive (or work intensive if you build your own with a fire extinguisher) to get started. And Dave has described that Pressurized is significantly higher quality (much easier to maintain steady 30ppm) than either liquid carbon or DIY in terms of successfully feeding the plants the carbon nutrient they want, which is of course the goal.

Don't know if that helps any,
~~waterdrop~~

 

[Behold]

when i get the money for CO2 ill be happy for the drop from 8.2

 

[chimera_786]

so wait..i dont need the DIY reactor if i have low light settings? I mean i only have a diandra and two small java ferns. I mean, ive read that if u dont have a light setting above 1.8WPG, then u dont need the Co2 as the fish in my tank will produce enough and will only need co2 once i have a lot of plants. Is that true..caz its only been 5 hours with the whole DIY set up and i can simple take it out. Im getting some java moss and some pellia to cover the rocks and the gravel with..so i was wondering..should i still keep the DIY system??

oh and one more thing...should i keep the DIY system on during the night? i mean plants dont need co2 during night.. and they produce it themselves..so would that just add to the Co2 during the night..making the water a bit more acidic. Right now..the pH is at 6.3

 

[OldMan47]

Most people who run DIY CO2 will tell you that even with low light it can have a big effect on the plant growth. They also don't bother trying to put the gas somewhere else when the lights are off.