CO2 and Higher Light Questions

[meegosh]

It's me again! Sorry for so many questions. I finally set up my co2 system and started ei dosing on Sunday. I have yet to see any indication the co2 levels are rising any. My ph and kh have remained constant at 7.2 and 3dkh. Gh is 9 drops on APIs kh/gh test kit.

Should I increase the bps until I see a change? Does it take long for the co2 levels to build up? Co2 and lights have been on since 3:45pm and its now 7:15pm. ph and kh have been the same all day. I am at 1-1.5 bps right now, tank is topped of so I don't think I'm losing it that way. Any thoughts? Thanks again for all your help.

 

[timwag2001]

ok. your ph should drop but you shouldn't see any change in you kh. is your setup on a timer? you should get your co2 to come on at around an hour or so before your lights come on so that co2 levels are optimul when the lights kick on.

did you invest in a drop checker? (you need 4dkh solution with it)

are your plants pearling? your bps might be a little low. you need to take into consideration that your plants are also using the co2 going into your tank so you might not be building up enough co2 at this time to register a change.

what kind of filter do you have? any surface agitation?

 

[meegosh]

I haven't purchased a drop checker yet, maybe this week sometime. The set up isn't on a timer yet but I plug and unplug solenoid manually for now. I'm using a aquaclear 50 and a powerhead for the co2. There is some surface agitation but the tank is topped off so not much. The powerhead is chopping the bubbles up to a fine mist that gets circulated throughout the tank.

I'll turn the bps up tomorrow to around 2 bps and see if anything changes. Thanks for the help, again.

 

[timwag2001]

any surface agitation will off gas, try to keep it to a minimum. some people modify their filter to not splash as much.

your plants should be pearling after your lights have been on for an hour or two.

make sure you get 4dkh solution for your drop checker

and most importantly... the BRUINS are taking the cup this year!

 

[meegosh]

I was thinking about suspending some polyfiber below the outflow of my AC50 to reduce the 'splashing'. I might try that later today. You can tell that there is CO2 in the tank, millions of tiny bubbles circulating all over the tank. I never had these before adding the CO2.

I'll look around today and see if I can find a good deal on a drop checker and solution.

My plants haven't pearled yet, I only upped the bps late last night and that is when I noticed a LOT more bubbles floating in the tank. I'll try with 2bps, let it run for an hour before lights on then see what happens. My last pH test last night seemed to be more of a lighter green color than before so I think the CO2 is at least registering.

We'll see about the Bruins. Too early in the season yet.