Co2 info...

[Marx]

ok i've been running co2 for about 3 weeks.. everythings is great..

Except today i decided to check ph first thing in morning.. right after lights on.. and my ph was at 7.1ish and about 2 hours later after co2 was on it drops to 6.9..

Will that kill my fish?

should i just run co2 over night?

or lower my doage 1 bubble a second right now??

Thanks!!

[Ron]

Hi Marx,

Don't worry about it, your fish will be fine. Check your pH again just before lights out as well, to know what's going on during an entire period of photosynthesis.

Also, in really heavily planted tanks, oxygen can be in short supply early in the morning before the plants start producing, as they actually use O2 while the lights are off. This becomes an issue in some tanks where people eliminate surface turbulence to avoid offgassing the CO2 they've added. In this case, the fish can be seen breathing at the surface. The problem can be solved by increasing water flow at the surface, or adding a nightime airstone.

Best,

         Ron

[BigDaddy]

ok i've been running co2 for about 3 weeks.. everythings is great..

Except today i decided to check ph first thing in morning.. right after lights on.. and my ph was at 7.1ish and about 2 hours later after co2 was on it drops to 6.9..

Will that kill my fish?

should i just run co2 over night?

or lower my doage 1 bubble a second right now??

Thanks!!

Marx... sounds like you turn off CO2 at night.  That's why your pH drops.  Adding CO2 drops pH.  Even if you leave CO2 on all night, you will have small pH swings from the plants consuming CO2 during the day versus the CO2 buildup at night.

My water starts its day at a pH of around 6.2 and by lights out, it's risen to in between 6.6 and 6.8.  I'm leaving my CO2 running 24/7.

Turning CO2 on in the morning and off at night isn't really optimal, mainly because at lights on, your CO2 hasn't risen to optimal levels.  You should turn on CO2 a couple of hours earlier to ensure you have good levels BEFORE the lights go on.  Then, you can turn off CO2 a couple of hours  before lights off.

In my case, the pH only swings .4 over a 12 hour period in either direction.  If you turn it on and off every morning, the pH is dropping and rising in a much shorter period.  Gradual changes always have less impact on fish than sudden ones.

[Marx]

ok so i will turn my co2  of 1 hour  before lights out and 1 hour before lights on..  sounds like a plan..

Thanks..

the reason im asking is because my dwarf neon rainbows go nutz in the morning.. and chace all other fish around.. they jet over to them and start to vibrate(shiver) against the sides of the other fish lol..  they also get a light orange strip appear on there back under the dorsal fins.. and  when it returns to normal silver/nmeon color they stop trying to (vibrate (shiver ) against other fish lol..