co2 and ph

[sieski]

Ok I like in a soft water area right. I kept having ph crashes so I started using this Interpet Aquarium Aqualibrium Salt - Aquatic Mania and it is working fine.I hope to switch to some crushed coral in the filter as a more natural method soon.

Now I ordered a co2 kit and have been reading various posts on here about how it can lower the ph. Even some of the co2 sections on sellers websites have ph testers.

So how much is the co2 going to affect my co2 and how can I counter act this if it drops when I am already using a buffering system?

 

[jsoong]

CO2 will drop the pH. This is a calculator of how much:
Measuring CO2 levels in a Planted Tank

Also lots of good info on that link.

As long as there is a reasonable buffering system (KH of 2+) the pH swing will be contained, and more or less linear with the CO2 level. pH changes from CO2 changes are usually very well tolerated. <Got to do with physiology, a respiratory vs metabolic acidosis.>

Most people don't worry about the 0.8 or so pH drop for the typical injected level of CO2. And no one had reported problems with pH swings from CO2 injection. But being more paranoid, I generally recommend buffering your water to a higher starting pH value. (KH of 4-ish or 75+ ppm). Because the pH scale is logarithmic, a pH change of 0.8 from 7 to 6.2 is NOT the same as that from 7.8 to 7. The latter has a ~10 fold less change in hydrogen ion concentration, a more appropriate measure of change in a biologic system compared to pH.

<Don't get me started on the pH scale .... It is devised for chemist who can't handle math! - a simple thing like 10 to the -7 - and have to change H+ concentration to some non-linear scale like pH ..... REAL physiologists think in H+ concentration .... >

 

[mgamer20o0]

a drop checker will help messure co2 better then the ph chart.

what is your ph and hardness?