another co2 ques.

[RoLeX]

Hey guys,
ive been out of the seen for a while due to work/study commitments, and need a little help. im setting up a planted tank with co2.
Water parameters:
ph 7.6
kh 2.24
gh 4.84
ques 1. i will be putting drift wood in my tank which i know will drop my ph to about 6.5 and kh to 1.6 or so. If i inject co2 will i be looking down the barrel of a sub 1 kh level? and how will i moniter my co2 level as the driftwood acts as a buffer and tells me i have 15ppm co2 when there is really only 2ppm or so.
ques 2. is a ph of 7.6 possible with such a low kh i have?i was under the understanding that it was all relational. i know its not my tests playing up because ive tried many and they come back to me with the same result.

ps is there any forumal to use a kh and gh reading to find out a ph level?

Thanks in advance, any help/suggestions will be much appreciated.

 

[BrianNY]

You're partially correct on some things Rolex. It's great that you're asking these questions before you start your project.

Driftwood may act to lower the pH but will do nothing to affect the KH. The buffering capacity of your water is based solely on the KH. So, if the pH is 7.6 out of the tap (which is very possible), and the KH is under 3, the pH will be drastically reduced in short period of time. Adding CO2 will likely cause your pH to crash. You can safely raise the KH by adding a handful of crushed coral to your filter. This should raise the KH to about 6 gradually and give you enough beffuring capacity.

 

[BrianNY]

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

There's link to the CO2 calculator you've requested. Good Luck

 

[RoLeX]

Thanks for your help,
however i was more worried about the false reading i am going to get from the c02 calculator. because the drift wood did lower my ph and kh which in turn shows me on the chart that i have 15 ppm when i know this isnt possible. I would not like to add and other buffer such as coral as you mentioned, because it would require me to find an equlibrium to keep parameters in the tank stable. (which would be very hard to do with DIY co2).
Please correct me if i am wrong but wont the kh rise from the coral also push up my ph and once again give me a false reading? Or because it is in such a small amount that it will only affect the kh? (is adding baking soda an option?)

Please dont take this as me asking till i get an answer i like, i simply want to have the best knowledge before i do anything.

Thanks again BrainNY

 

[BrianNY]

Your correct here. The crushed coral will also raise your pH as well. The thing is that CO2 will lower it again. I would trust your pH readings.

In my tank pH is 6.8, KH is 7. This gives me an approximate CO2 of 25ppm which I think is fine. KH out of my tap is 1 so I'm forced to buffer the water and I use crushed coral. Had I not buffered the water the pH would surely crash when I added the CO2.

HTH

 

[Tiffi]

A ph crash is really likely to happen in your case if you don't add corals to raise the kH and therefore stabilize the pH.

Otherwise, such a crash can kill all your fish .

 

[RoLeX]

THANKS GUYS!
Very helpful. I will probably run my tank with just plants for 2 weeks or so i can moniter my readings to make sure everything is stable and healthy before fishies are added.

Thanks again, much appreciated