Inside O2 Level

[Spartachris]

I've been struggling with low pH (7.8) since I started the tank. So I did the experiment of running an airstone in tank water outside. It registered at 8.4ish. I take that to mean I have good buffering (no test for that yet). Then I ran the stone for about an hour inside on different water and it was 7.6 ish! No wonder I feel 80 years old! We have no O2 in this place!

So I need to address the O2 level in the house. Can't really open windows this time of year, or winter either, and don't want to do anything radical like pumping in outside air. How about houseplants in the tank room?

How many and what kind would produce good amounts of O2? Any ideas?

Thanks!

 

[maxst2]

You have ceiling fans? I think you need air movement more than anything.

House plants arent a bad idea, you and make a small herb garden, various ferns... here is a little list i got from a quick google search.

Best Air-Filtering House Plants According to NASA! : TreeHugger


Might have to pick up a few of these myself!

 

[Spartachris]

Thanks for the link. I'll have to pick up some of those plants. But does anyone know if this will help enough?

 

[ccCapt]

It's not that you don't have enough oxygen, you have high co2. If you use a protein skimmer you can run an airline to the outside and let the simmer draw in fresh, outside air.

 

[maxst2]

Id say get as many plants that have high co2 to o2 exchange that you can.

Plus.. plants are nice to have around.

 

[carey]

I have the exact same issue with my tanks. I did the test inside and outside as well .lol

What i;ve been doing is letting the house air out with the ceiling fans all running maybe one day a week. It seems to have helped a little bit.

 

[Spartachris]

Thanks for the responses. I am not running a skimmer, so that's out. I bought a few plants that were on the website maxst2 linked to and turned on a ceiling fan in the next room over. I'll test again in a week or so and see if anything has changed.

It is nice to have the plants around, too.

 

[melosu58]

The way you aerate your tank is surface aggitation. Air bubbles will cause a small disturbance but what you really need is a PH pointed slightly up to the surface. This will create a good gas exchange at the surface causing PH tp rise to appropriate levels and good oxygen levels.

 

[Spartachris]

Just aeration and surface agitation is not going to work if the inside air has too much co2. That's why when I aerated a cup of water for an hour it didn't raise the pH at all using inside air. Using outside air it worked fine. I need to address the air quality in my house, without owning windows, which doesn't work too well when it over 100 degrees.

 

[carey]

Yeah, I just about die here with the windows open, I;m in Florida. I;m trying to do it every once in awhile though.