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CO2 MEASUREMENT USING A DROP CHECKER

You're just teasing now 😀
 
How long time does it take for the injected CO2 to fizzle from my tank after i turn the CO2 off?

The reason I'm asking is that I, wrongly, gave up on the kH/pH CO2 measuring method because my tap water is in the +20 kH range and thus out of the range of the measuring kits I have seen and the charts like the one in this article. But now it seems that my ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia lowers the kH quite drastically to a steady 6. So if the CO2 fizzles quickly enough I would actually be able to get a pH reading without the influence of my CO2. I have some problems with my HC 'Cuba' so I'm a bit weary of turning it off too long as it might push the HC over the edge and into permanent brown instead of green 😉

Any thoughts?

Thanks!
/Tim
 
Hello,
Did you read the original post in this thread? It specifically states that there is no relationship between the KH of your tank water and the behavior of the CO2 dissolved in the water. If you are using a dropchecker with the correct 4dKH water then you never need to worry about the KH of your tank water. You are headed down the wrong path if you think that adding more CO2 causes problems. There is a greater than average probability that your HC is failing due to lack of sufficient CO2.

Cheers,
 
Thanks Ceg, yes, I did read it and understand that there is no correlation between the kH of my tank water and the CO2 levels when using the drop checker. But I was hopping to use the 3-color chart that plantbrain (Tom?) posted on page 4 in this thread. I hope that I this way can find a more accurate reading of the CO2 ppm. I am under impression (perhaps faulty) that this is the actual kH of my tank that is used in that chart. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I have been following quite a large number of your posts and I was hoping that I could lower the light instead of increasing the CO2? Could it be that my HC is beginning to turn yellow because of the light being too bright with the level of CO2 in the water? When I follow the Tropica guidelines I have opened 100% for the CO2 in my tank when it comes to the HC CO2 requirements (~20 bubbles per minute - I know there are ball park numbers).

I have a thread in the 'plants' section about my HC where I describe the LED setup and other factors. I would be very grateful if you have the time to read it and give your advice.

Thanks regardless! You are a great capacity to this forum and I have learnt a lot by reading your posts and guides.

Cheers,
/Tim
 
Hi foxfish. Thanks for your input. I have posted another thread in the 'Plants' section with tank details as mentioned in my post here above:

TimT said:
I have a thread in the 'plants' section about my HC where I describe the LED setup and other factors. I would be very grateful if you have the time to read it and give your advice.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I can't link to it due to my forum noob status 😉

I'd love to hear your input as I suspect that I might have scorched the HC with too much light.

Thanks again!
 
Just another question. I read and understand the thread, i think. Just to verify: if i think i still have to low CO2 (can't get enought dissolved atm, ordered new diffusors, and may even ressurect my old DIY one), is it better to shorten the lightperiod, or to lessen the light (raising them).
 
Wel actually i had them on a tad longer (like 14-16 hours.......😎 ), but as i got CO2 and ferts up since the restart i saw some algae getting up so i reduced it to 8 hours a few days ago. I wil get a dropchecker this weekend and i still eagerly await my new diffusors. I did install an added circulation pump last weekend. CO2 is on 24/7 because i have a big biological filter underneath the tank wich eats CO2.
 
Intensity is always more important than duration. Reduce intensity to sub-lethal levels and it won't matter too much what the duration is.

Cheers,
 
Wel not sure about intensity, I have 2x 150W HQI bulbs, 2x 80W HOT5, and 1 TMC Grobeam 1500 (and i add a second tomorrow). One of the reasons i do the planttest with 12 or so species is to fnd out which ones will work in my setup, more then saying : i want this or this plant. If i find a few that like the conditions of my tank, then i will weed out the rest and start multiplying the ones that work and junglescape with those.
Also i have to find the balance between healthy growth and swimming in the tank each week to prune😉
 
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