Is my co2 actually working?

[ricardo48]

Hi


I am a little confused with my diy co2 results.

The tap water I put into my aquarium is the following

PH = 7.5
GH = 17
KH = 12

This would give me 12ppm of co2 from my tap water?


My aquarium in the morning with diy co2 is the following

PH = 7.5
GH = 25
KH = 15


This would give me co2 of about 15ppm??


My drop checker is yellow/green and contains a 4 dkh solution so I was assuming I was at nearly 30ppm of co2?

nothing has been added to the water so there are "no buffers" of any kind I am aware of giving false readings.


Any suggestions as to what is happening?

 

[beglely]

What does your set-up look like? And what are you using for a diffusor?

 

[fisch]

Is the tap water reading straight from the tap or from the aquarium before the co2? If you GH is going up there could be something in the tank contributing to this.

Also, how long has you DIY co2 been set up? May take a while to get fully working. Although your drop checker indicates otherwise.

Are you using liquid kits? Could be there are bad. Not sure of their shelf life but they don't last forever.

 

[ricardo48]

Pic of setup is on my profile. My diffuser is a bottle in the water with powerhead misting co2 into bottle to diffuse underwater.

Has been running for 5 days now.

Tap reading is straight from the tap.

 

[rkilling1]

If your drop checker has certified 4d kH solution, I would go with the color of the drop checker vs the constituents of your tank.

How accurate is your pH meter, how accurate are your hardness tests, etc...

 

[ricardo48]

Using tetra laborett test kit so not 100% accurate but very close?

Tested my drop checker solution today.... PH of 7.5 and kh of 4/5