When You Up Co2 What Parametres Change

[Dave Spencer]

the kh is done by adding drops till the colour changes you then count the drops then you multiply it by 10 this gives 40 ppm
jake

1dKH = 17.8ppm, therefore you have water with a carbonate hardness of 2.2dKH, which makes it very soft water, like mine.

Is the CO2 off because you have a solenoid? Your CO2 may be above target, but there are no fish in there yet and your plants will be more than happy, so I shouldn`t worry. If the 24 hour pH drop method is what you are using at the moment, just make sure that it has a drop of 1 by the time you add any fish to give yourself a reasonable figure for CO2 to ensure the fish will be OK.

 

[cuprajake]

i too think the water is very soft, but i dont know if my test kit is the best lol

for intance when i test for kh i can use 4 drops and it turns light yellow then upto seven to get it to look like the guide, now do you take 4 or7 or go in the middle and get a 5.5 lol all this can greatly change your results.

think i mite get another test kit fot gh/kh.

the ph tester is fine, i know with the soft water the fact that the c02 was about 3 bps for 24hrs(no cutoof yet-still not arrived) so its off for tonight todrop it down.

im ei dosing at half of the mixed solutions

this is how i've mixed them:

potassium nitrate(kno3) 40g to 500ml
mono potassium phosphate(kh2po4) 15g to 500ml
traces 15g to 250ml

then my propper dosing will be:

kno3-30ml(currently 15ml)
kh2po4-20ml(currently 10ml)
traces-15ml(currently 7.5ml)

does this seem ok???


jake

 

[Dave Spencer]

I use the JBL kit to test KH and it seems fairly accurate when I test it using my 4dKH solution.

 

[griffgrogg]

sorry to highjack this but Im trying to get the right level of CO2 as well, im also testing with nutrafin. Ive been reading with interest the KH4 and permanent CO2 tank testers. Ive seen some ready made KH4 solution being sold on aquaessentials for use with PH probes.................would this solution do rather than have to mix your own ?

just to bump this thread.....

would using this manufactured KH4 solution be similar to you technical guys making your own ?

 

[Dave Spencer]

would using this manufactured KH4 solution be similar to you technical guys making your own ?

I`m not sure where AE get their reference solution from, but in theory, home made should be good enough provided you have access to the means of measuring RO and BiCarb accurately. I have made one litre of the stuff, which makes it worth £28.

Dave.

 

[Underwurlde]

or intance when i test for kh i can use 4 drops and it turns light yellow then upto seven to get it to look like the guide, now do you take 4 or7 or go in the middle and get a 5.5 lol all this can greatly change your results.

These are not colour matching tests per se: You should see a pretty much instant change from blue to (some kind of) yellow. This is the point at which I stop counting drops.

Measuring of KH can be (& therefore is) horribly inaccurate anyway using this method because they measure the carbonate buffering capacity and relate this directly to a measurement of KH but ignore any phosphate buffering. If any KH measurement is thrown off by the presence of phospahtes in the water, then automatically the measurement of CO2 is off.

Note that in-tank permenant CO2 testers I don't think are intended to measure levels of CO2, rather you mix your accurate solutions to target a desired level of CO2 in the tank (usually 30ppm, but it does not have to be this). You then use them to see if you have too little CO2 (blue indication), just right (green indication), too much (yellow indiication).

would using this manufactured KH4 solution be similar to you technical guys making your own

When us 'technical' guys make our own, it is also recommended that the solution is replaced every other week thus ensuring continual maximum accuracy.

I cannot speak for commercially available alternatives as I have never used one, but if part of its continual use of such devices involves no maintenance (i.e. replacement of test solution), then go figure.

LOL btw, if having access to some weighing scales, distilled water, bicarb and an oven makes us 'technical', then 7 years at college was an utter waste of time for me! I think it makes us more chef than teccie!

Andy

 

[cuprajake]

just got in and have done the tests on current and last nights water,

these are the results

ph-

from last night left 24hrs = 7.0
when i tested the water last night when i took the sample it was ph 6.0

so that is a 1.0 jump indicating 30ppm co2???

this is the tank water results as per the nutrafin,

i left the co2 off till i got in

ph-6.4
kh-30ppm or 1.68 dkh
gh-60ppm or 3.36 dgh

do these make sense?


i now have my solonoid fitted so that will come on 1hr before the lights and go off 1hr before the light go off, approx 1bps


jake

 

[griffgrogg]

thanks, Ive bought some KH4 solution from AE and used it in my also purchased glass tank test. I put in some KH4 solution and 5 drops of solution and it was orangey, still orangey some hours later...............so something is not right. Do I have to add a specific amount of reagent ? does it matter what reagent it is ?

Is someone kind enought to sell me some KH4 solution ???

 

[Dave Spencer]

I put in some KH4 solution and 5 drops of solution and it was orangey, still orangey some hours later...............so something is not right. Do I have to add a specific amount of reagent ? does it matter what reagent it is ?

Is someone kind enought to sell me some KH4 solution ???

What reagent are you using?

It should turn blue when you add it to the reference solution.

Dave.

 

[griffgrogg]

I put in some KH4 solution and 5 drops of solution and it was orangey, still orangey some hours later...............so something is not right. Do I have to add a specific amount of reagent ? does it matter what reagent it is ?

Is someone kind enought to sell me some KH4 solution ???

What reagent are you using?

It should turn blue when you add it to the reference solution.

Dave.

I used the reagent that came with the boyu glass tester from AE, I have been using the JBL tester so have the reagent for that if you think that will be better ?

 

[Dave Spencer]

I also have an orangey reagent, but that also turns blue in the 4dKH. Put a couple of drops of the JBL in the dropper and see what colour that turns to.

I use the Nutrafin reagent which is called Bromo Blue.

 

[griffgrogg]

well Ive used the JBL reagent, dosed the KH4 solution and 5 drops of reagent but it stayed orange. Ive still got my 'normal' jbl permanent test still running and am fairly confident that with that and the KH/PH testing Im doing that Im dosing about 25ppm of CO2 at the moment.

So it doesnt look at though the KH4 solution from AE is doing the biz.............

 

[Dave Spencer]

well Ive used the JBL reagent, dosed the KH4 solution and 5 drops of reagent but it stayed orange. Ive still got my 'normal' jbl permanent test still running and am fairly confident that with that and the KH/PH testing Im doing that Im dosing about 25ppm of CO2 at the moment.

So it doesnt look at though the KH4 solution from AE is doing the biz.............

Yep!

I can`t understand this. I mixed my own 4dKH and it turns blue with the reagent. It should do, because adding BiCarb to RO makes it basic. I`ll post your findings on the AE forum.

Dave.