Heat treatment/water agitation/oxygen levels!

[elliott_001]

I have been keeping my temp up to 86 (well, its actually above 86) to treat against the ich signs i have recently seen. I have my water level lowered so my filter outlet causes agitation to keep the oxygen levels up while the water is heated.

As some of you may know, i have recently (2 days ago) started using DIY CO2, and so i have turned off my air pump (to prevent extra co2 escaping).

My temp is still up, but i would like to fill my tank up, firstly to minimise agitation for the co2, and second because it looks rubbish and i wanna take some photos so i can compare the before and after of DIY CO2!! lol

Will it be ok to fill my tank up? Will my plants provide enough and my water hold enough oxygen for my fish when it is so warm?

TIA

[tropicfishman]

you should be fine as long as you fill it up slowly, plus I doubt much CO2 is going to escape through that little agitation

[jcarlilesiu]

CO2 is actually advised to be used in tanks that have minimal aggitation. This is because less agitation provides less surface area, the old, shorter distance is a straight path, and waves make it curvy (this is what i assumed anyway). I have pressurized CO2 on my 56 gallon tank, and i have quite a splash from my filter, and a Biowheel running and im still able to get 45 ppm CO2 if i want to, i just go througha little more CO2.

As far as taking your water up for pictures.. i would hold off. High temperatures really do effect the saturation level of oxygen in the water, and I wouldn't be comfortable risking my fish's lives for a few photos... IMHO

[elliott_001]

As i have just started using co2, i am looking to do away with my air stones, and not have my filter agitating the water too much.
I thought that surface agitation caused a loss of co2 (in co2 injected tanks) because of a concertration gradient effect. Because there is a higher concertration of co2 in the water than the atmosphere (or what little co2 saturation there would be in water after co2 equillibrium), any agitation gives the extra co2 an easy escape. But i could be wrong!?

If thats the risk then i will hold off, i wasnt too sure, just wondered what others thought.
Thanks for your help.

[hashbaz]

My first suggestion is to raise the water level and watch your fish extremely closely. If they show signs of low oxygen (gasping at surface, lethargic etc.) then lower the water level to increase the surface agitation.

Another option is to lower the water level. You are correct that in a CO2 injected tank, surface agitation will cause the CO2 to outgas faster. With lower CO2, you may want to lower your lighting to prevent an algae outbreak.

How much light do you have? If you have enough growth that you are seeing "pearling" then you know you have no oxygen problems in the day, and may want to turn on the air pumps at night - If your fish show signs of problems.

[elliott_001]

I have 1wpg of light, i can see some pearling on the l. repens, but not all plants. The fish all seem ok, and i have had the air pump off for about 2days-2 nights. Water level is still down, so filter output is still producing some agitation.
Thanks.