Really need some help

[quitters]

Hey guys i got a hagen natural co2 kit 2 days ago

the bubbles are meant to take a while to flow right but there still getting stuck in the reactor after 2 days, i have tried . ..

-moving the reactor deeper
-playing with how vertical it is
-the tube is in correctly slanty edge the right way

bubbles are comming at a decent pace but there all grouping up and just sitting there :S

also another really important question noone seems to be able to answer (LFS x 3 anyway)

-I am adding co2 which reduces ph, this makes an equilibrium of 6.8 when a carbonate buffer is present

so i add the co2, watch the ph go down, then bring it up to 6.8 with coral/baking soda ect.

the bit i dont get, is how do i equal the ph when doing water changes? i cant use carbonate buffer stuff or else i will mess with the kh in the tank no?

do i just use that dodgy acid chemicals? or do i add a phosphate buffer?

thanks sorry im going crazzy with this im so close heres a pic of my tank anyway ...

 

[7Enigma]

Hey guys i got a hagen natural co2 kit 2 days ago

the bubbles are meant to take a while to flow right but there still getting stuck in the reactor after 2 days, i have tried . ..

-moving the reactor deeper
-playing with how vertical it is
-the tube is in correctly slanty edge the right way

bubbles are comming at a decent pace but there all grouping up and just sitting there :S

also another really important question noone seems to be able to answer (LFS x 3 anyway)

-I am adding co2 which reduces ph, this makes an equilibrium of 6.8 when a carbonate buffer is present

so i add the co2, watch the ph go down, then bring it up to 6.8 with coral/baking soda ect.

the bit i dont get, is how do i equal the ph when doing water changes? i cant use carbonate buffer stuff or else i will mess with the kh in the tank no?

do i just use that dodgy acid chemicals? or do i add a phosphate buffer?

thanks sorry im going crazzy with this im so close heres a pic of my tank anyway ...

I can't answer your question about the CO2 reactor since I've never used a Hagen before. DO NOT ADD BAKING SODA TO THE TANK TO GET THE PH BACK UP!!!!

Ok now let me explain. carbonate hardness (KH) is a measure of the buffering capacity of your water. This means that a high KH can take a lot of acid (CO2) and the pH will change only a little, whereas a low KH tank might swing dangerously low (at or below 6).

Tanks that have CO2 systems normally should be kept at 3 KH or greater to prevent the large pH swing (goes down at night, and back up during the day). What you do is buffer the tank with baking soda BEFORE adding any CO2, and then keep it consistent during each water change. The shock to the fish from the KH suddenly getting higher is very bad. pH swings caused by CO2 is a debatable topic as to how damaging they are to fish, but it is well known that hardness changes (GH or KH) WILL harm the fish. What you need to do is similar what I did.

I had very low hardness (~1KH) and when I added CO2 my pH was crashing at night (close to pH6.0). I slowly raised the hardness with baking soda 0.5-1.0 degrees per day until I got to 6-7 degrees where I'm at now. This will acclimate the fish slowly and you shouldn't have a problem with disease/death. At every water change, you will need to get the KH of the water being added back to the tank the SAME as the tank water. Yes the pH of the tap water with baking soda added and the tank will not be the same, but since you are only doing a 10-25% PWC (guessing here), the pH swing will only be slight.

This is a real pain for me since I'm also dosing dry ferts, so water changes are not as quick or easy as before!

 

[quitters]

ok thank you very much that was an awesome reply

i forgot to mention i dont have fish yet getting everything cycled and right first.

ok so yeh that makes sense. thanks heaps!

oh and to the first post, im still starting out so the tank is cloudy, it will go with weekly/biweekly water changes and if yours is really bad you could temporarily add some activated carbon to your filter but it only lasts for like 2 weeks, and get a finer pad (micro pad i think there called) for your filter.

thanks!

 

[7Enigma]

If there is no fish, you can just raise the KH to what you want (I'd recommend aim for about 5 degrees). Don't do water changes during this time. The tank WILL get cloudy, that is the bacterial bloom (if it is white) in the tank. Keep the tank lights off, and bump the temp of the tank up to the mid 80's if your heaters will do it. This will speed up the cycle. Goodluck!

 

[rich311k]

I wouldn't turn off the light or raise the temperature I am sure the plants will not appreciate it. the white cloud will settle out quickly.

 

[quitters]

ok thanks people

i think ive got about 2 days left on my cycle yay!

i should adjust kh after the 75% water change im planning on doing (dont want nitrates to drop tooo much) shoudnt i? do i have to wait a day before testing or can i test in like an hour or two?

 

[rich311k]

You can do it after an hour or so. i would wait to adjust your KH until after the cycle is done. After all you have no fish to worry about right now.

 

[quitters]

spank u very hard!