# co2 kh  ph problems



## jh81271 (25 Aug 2008)

hi everybody,can anybody help? 
I have a 39"Lx15"x20"H(not sure how many gallons/litres)
4x39watt arcadia plant pro tubes although i only use 2 at present 
fluval 305 filter
ada amazonia aquasoil
kh1 gh6 ph6 ph could be lower as testkit only goes to 6.i have been buffering water with sera ph/kh up and tropic marin RO mineral salts to raise kh and ph .but they still keep dropping
I use pressurized co2 at 1 bubble a second (i did increase this to 2 bubbles a second to try and stablize kh which did work but ph stayed  6 or lower.could this be aquasoil still not settled?.I did have the problems of nitrite and ammonia leaching at the beginning and this did settle after a week or two.Has anybody experienced the same problems with aquasoil?
I have just tested again. kh1 and ph6 or lower HELP! 
i will say though fish look ok


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## Ed Seeley (25 Aug 2008)

You say the fish are fine, so why are you bothered?  I'm not being facetious here; I run my tanks with pure RO water and simply add a little remineralisation salts to give me 0dKH, 0dGH and a pH that hovers around 5.5 when the CO2 is on.  The fish love it.  Unless you are keeping fish that require alkaline conditions, such as cichlids from the Rift Lakes, then you really don't need to worry about it.

The Aquasoil may well be lowering the KH some still but it's really not a problem.  Stop adding the buffers as there's no need and they just temporarily alter the water chemistry which will then swing back when the buffers are depleted.  How much water are you changing and what water are you using?  If you're using tap water then that will probably have all the buffers in it you need so just change some water daily to help ease the swings in water chemistry.


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## jh81271 (25 Aug 2008)

hi ed,thanks for replying 
I change 25ltr a week with RO water and mix in tropic marin salts .this gets ph7 and kh7. I think my tank holds about 168ltr(not 100% sure though)
i also use JBL co2 dropchecker which is green. The tapwater here reads ph7 kh2 gh4 and phosphate 5ppm.I have read that phosphate only needs to be 0.5ppm thats why i dont use tapwater 
many thanks 
jason


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## Ed Seeley (25 Aug 2008)

Phosphate really doesn't cause algae.  Algae uses it to grow, but so do your plants and when fertilising you need to add it and Nitrate.  If you read in the 'Aquarium fert dosing' forum (especially this thread) you'll see plenty of evidence that the two things aren't linked.  Most of the time it's not enough fertilisers or CO2, and hence poor plant growth, or ammonia or high levels of other organics that seem to trigger off algae attacks.  To be honest your tap water sounds perfect for a use in a planted tank!  Wish mine was so soft!


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## jh81271 (25 Aug 2008)

hi ed ,i think i will try tap water and see how it goes.I was always told phosphate and nitrate are main causes of algae.
i am getting algae as it happens.hair and bga.I also think my fluval 305 is a bit small for tank and i was thinking of getting a 
bigger filter (tetratec ex1200).this is the biggest my cabinet will accommadate.
Also does flourish excel lower ph
many thanks jason


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## ceg4048 (26 Aug 2008)

Hi Jason,
             My first suggestion is to stop worrying about pH because pH and pH swings simply doesn't matter. Neither your plants nor your fish care about pH. What they care about is clean water, good maintenance, and in the case of the plants, they care about being fed.

What you have been told about phosphate and nitrate is completely false. In fact just the opposite is true. Therefore the second suggestion is to review the following threads:

EI DOSING USING DRY SALTS

Good algae article

CO2 MEASUREMENT USING A DROP CHECKER

These will give you a better idea about plant care and the importance of nutrients. Hair algae is closely associated with poor CO2 or poor distribution of CO2 while BGA can be associated with poor levels of nitrate or poor distribution of nitrates. Getting a stronger filter is a very good idea to address the distribution issue, but you need to get a firm grasp on nutrient dosing as well as CO2 injection.

Cheers,


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## Ed Seeley (26 Aug 2008)

Hair algae can be a sign of not enough CO2.  How are you injecting CO2 and are you using 4dKH water in your drop checker?  You need to use water of 4dKH so that when the drop checker is green you have 30ppm CO2 in the water.  Different dKH give a green colour at different levels of CO2.

BGA, IMO, is usually linked to areas of poor flow or higher levels of organics in the system.  Best way to tackle it is to up the flow and give the whole tank and filter a really good clean, getting rid of any detritus that does collect even in the cleanest tank.  It sounds like upping the filter size might be a good idea; it certainly can't hurt.  Once you've done that and got the system clean then up the water changes and fertilise to make sure the plants are growing well.

Excel won't effect the pH AFAIK.  I use it whenever any little issues raise their heads and/or after water changes.  In your case then it should definitely help with the hair algae.  What I did to treat algae is take the days dose of Excel in a pipette or syringe and squirt it onto the algae infested areas.  I don't think it will have much effect on BGA though as they are bacteria.


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## jh81271 (29 Aug 2008)

hi ed and ceg sorry to take so long to reply
i dont use 4dkh water for co2 in drop checker as i thought that as tank water was only 1dkh i didnt think i would get an accurate co2 ppm measurment.
thankyou ceg 4 the threads(very informative)
for the past couple of days i havent been using co2 .instead i have been using flourish excel,which does what you said(kill hair algae).bga hasnt been to bad either this week.
hopefully eheim 2028 coming tomorrow .cant wait lol
i dont use ei method of ferts just ada step 1 at present . I havnt been using  ferts this week as i think ada aqua soil is enough on its own
i started dosing 9ml and even increased to 12ml  a day and found algae was becoming an inreasing problem . each ml of ada step 1 treats 20ltr
my plant list is elocharis parvula,limnophila sessiliflora,and vallis nana , usual ferns and moss and duck weed for surface cover
thanks jason


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