I'm not personally a CO2 user, but what should happen is that the pH should remain at the level that gives you a one unit pH drop (~30 ppm CO2) throughout the photoperiod, even though the water will be saturated with dissolved oxygen at the end of the photo-period.It will be interesting to see the difference!
Hi, I would aim for a pH between 6.4 and 7.2 in an aquarium with many fish. This fits with most fish and most aquarium plants. If you want to cultivate special plants, like some Eriocaulon species, you have to lower the pH even further - but that doesn't work with all fish. Such plants should be maintained in a special aquarium. We also have to consider the health of the fish in our aquarium.Hi @Christel
Thank you for this clarification.
So, we ought to measure tank water pH every day at around midday, for example - regardless of whether or not we are injecting CO2. Would you agree with this and what range of pH values should we aim for?
JPC
That is the <"approach I recommend as well">. Put at its simplest level "the plants (or fish) can't lie".By the way, good plant growth can be seen in the assimilation of the plants! It is important to observe the plants well - at some point measuring is no longer important, but you can see the plants and the fish whether everything is good or you have to intervene.
The tank will buffer itself to some degree, but you don't need to <"worry about the pH dropping">.once the kh is 0 how do I stop the ph dropping too far? Will my tank provide natural buffers? .......... but I don’t want to drop lower than 6.
Hi @ChristelHi, I would aim for a pH between 6.4 and 7.2 in an aquarium with many fish. This fits with most fish and most aquarium plants. If you want to cultivate special plants, like some Eriocaulon species, you have to lower the pH even further - but that doesn't work with all fish.
Seachem Equilibrium?starting with equilibrium to lower the ph
Right. It won't. I have never seen it happen anyway.Seachem Equilibrium?
I don't think that affects pH.
Yes supposed to be GH only.... but Interesting observation. Whats your tank KH ? With very low KH and specific tank conditions, I wonder if the pH would have dropped regardless of the equilibrium.The idea of using seachem equilibrium with RO is that it targets gh and not kh. So with 0 kh the ph can drop. At least that’s what I understand from reading this thread and others. I did a w/c yesterday with RO with just seachem equilibrium and the ph has indeed dropped from 6.8 to 6.6 (just tested before lights on) and I’ll see what happens as the day goes on.
Hi Darrel (@dw1305) & EveryoneOnce you know that aquascapers have healthy fish, but their tanks go through a cycle of a drop of one pH unit, and subsequently a rapid rise of one pH unit, every day you know that it isn't pH change, as such, that is the problem.
It does, pretty much, says the same thing and there isn't any reason why it shouldn't be equally applicable to both ponds and streams and aquariums.I think you will all find that the following study supports what is being said here in the preceding posts.............Although the above study was carried out on surface waters, I can see no reason why the findings of the study shouldn't apply to ornamental fish and other livestock in an aquarium setting.
Reading through it I think it might not be entirely objective and they may have had an agenda, possibly to do with trying to deflect complaints about the acidification of certain water sheds?..........The pH of lakes and streams often changes during the day in response to photosynthetic activity. In ponds having poorly buffered (low alkalinity) waters, the pH may fall to approximately 7 in the early morning and increase to 9 or more in the afternoon (Boyd 1990). Good fish production usually can be maintained in spite of these daily fluctuations. In most lakes and ponds, diurnal pH fluctuations during the summer, when photosynthetic activity peaks, are generally less than 2 pH units, while in streams are generally less (e.g., 0.5-1.0 units). Unless diurnal fluctuations result in ambient pH falling below 6 or being elevated above 9, they generally have no adverse impact on aquatic life. This is supported by the study findings discussed below...............
Although the above study was carried out on surface waters, I can see no reason why the findings of the study shouldn't apply to ornamental fish and other livestock in an aquarium setting.