Tell me, guys- is it possible to keep a higher pH with pressurized CO2?
I've already moved my mystery snails to the 10 gallon because their shells showed some erosion. Rabbit snails and trapdoor snails are supposed to be okay until 6.5, but yesterday my pH was 6.4. I added a teaspoon of baking soda as a temporary measure. I keep the 10 gallon water very hard and a bit cooler, and so I can't just switch critters between tanks willy nilly.
I'm okay with a pH of 6.5, but I'm really not comfortable going lower than that. I know that generally a stable pH is more important than a target pH, but that starts to break down when shells start breaking down.
I also don't want to permanently move all of my snails to the 10 gallon because 1. it's too small for four nerites, two mysteries, three rabbits, and a trapdoor with seven tiny babies; and 2. I really like having the clean-up crew.
So how do I keep my pH at or above 6.5 while adding CO2?
Also, CO2 is CO2, right? A bubble of any given volume is the same amount of CO2 whether it comes from compressed gas or yeast, right? Because pressurized is definitely increasing dissolved CO2, but my bubble count is not higher. I never measured actual bubble volume, but they look like the same size. Is the yeast CO2 less concentrated?
So, somewhat off topic from this particular thread, but I'm excited anyway- we moved both tanks on Saturday because the stand they were both on was coming apart. I was certain this would uncycle the tanks. Sunday we had trace ammonia, but yesterday we had absolutely none. And zero nitrites, too. I can't even tell you how happy I am about that.