Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

CO2 caused huge drop in PH

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21 Jan 2008 22:22 #1 by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland)

CO2 caused huge drop in PH was created by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland)

Made a CO2 rig from a 2 litre bottle for my 80 litre tank, copying one I saw on the net. Almost over night the PH dropped from 7 to 5.8. I removed the CO2 rig right away as I feared for the health of my fish. Is this kind of PH drop the norm ?

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KenS (Ken Simpson)
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21 Jan 2008 22:39 #2 by KenS (Ken Simpson)

Replied by KenS (Ken Simpson) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

I use a 2 litre soda bottle DIY system on my 230l tank. My pH is 7.8 out of the tap and it drops down to 6.8/7.0. It should drop slowly (over 24 hours) so shouldn't impact the fish.

However, 5.8 is low. What recipe did you use? I would also say that a 2 litre bottle is big for an 80 litre tank.

I fill my bottle up half way with warm water (not hot). I then add two cups of sugar and mix well. I then top up the bottle to 4 inches from the top and add half a table spoon of yeast and a table spoon of baking powder (this helps regulate the amount of CO2 released.

Be careful not too add too much yeast or you'll have problems. There's no harm to have a small amount of surface disruption from your filter to ensure there is enough oxygen in the water for your fish.

Regards,

Ken.

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21 Jan 2008 23:25 #3 by platty252 (Darren Dalton)

Replied by platty252 (Darren Dalton) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

You are adding to much Co2.
As ken suggested make a much smaller mix in the bottle.
A good supply of Co2 will drop your ph one full degree. Say ph7 down to ph6
This would give you roughly 25-30ppm Co2 which would be the norm for a planted tank. To much Co2 can be lethal for your fish (>35ppm) not to mention the drop in ph.
If you do a smaller mix and you find the ph is dropping to low just aerate the water more. This will drive off the Co2 and increase your ph.
This will take a bit of tweaking and balancing but you will get there in the end.
Everyone struggles with Co2 at first untill they get used to it.
Just keep an eye on your ph and kh.

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22 Jan 2008 00:32 #4 by adriano210 (adrian kraszewski)

Replied by adriano210 (adrian kraszewski) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

the best receipt is 1410
1000 g h2o
400 sugar
10 g yast
and a litle bit of NaHCo3 - baking soda

volume of co2 is depend by ph in your tank, carbonated hardnes,
for start put in a one buble per second and obserwe ph
when ph will be about 6,8 or 6,6 that will be anought
anyway if your ph is 7,8
easier will be a correct of ph to 7 with acid
after that you have tu use less co2

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22 Jan 2008 08:50 #5 by Seboos (Sebastian Josiek)

Replied by Seboos (Sebastian Josiek) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

Almost over night the PH dropped from 7 to 5.8

At night we should not doze CO2.

I think that is not a blame o repcepture but the water parameters

BTW drop of pH is very high.
What water hardness you have ? (especialy kH). If it's very low (about 1 german degree) a small portion of CO2 will cause much more drop pH.
The best bufor of kH for dozing CO2 is about 5 german degrees - it should not drop lower than 6,5

Is this kind of PH drop the norm ?

Try areation the water and change 10-20% of water on fresh

P.S
What is your other parameters in aquarium and in the water for changes ?

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22 Jan 2008 20:29 #6 by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland)

Replied by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll try a smaller CO2 rig soon, after I've checked out my water parameters more thoroughly. :cheer:

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Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)
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Senior Member

23 Jan 2008 10:35 #7 by Peter OB (Peter O'Brien)

Replied by Peter OB (Peter O'Brien) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

You really need to check the KH of your water.

I would also be running an airstone at night, or use a solenoid valve to turn off the C02 at night.

There is so much buzz these days about C02's being the be all and end all of planted tanks but it can be lethal to your fish if you do not check your PH, KH, and GH levels and then dose accordingly, i.e judge how many bubbles per second will keep the Ph at a constant.

Also IMO, C02 is useless without proper lighting and a good substrate.

That drop in PH would indicate to me that your KH (buffering capacity) is very low. You will probably need to raise it in order to keep the parameters stable.

Smoke me a Kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.

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23 Jan 2008 18:42 #8 by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland)

Replied by lecol57 (Colm Mulholland) on topic Re:CO2 caused huge drop in PH

Thanks Peter

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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

CO2 caused huge drop in PH