I have just hooked up a DIY co2 system to my 77g tank. I took a water sample
and found the parameters to be

PH 7.6
KH 50
GH 80

does the KH not sound low in relation to the PH level and if so what if any
concerns should I have if the CO2 drops the PH level I would assume it would
also drop the KH. Comments, advice please.

Rick

On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 03:44:50 GMT, "Rick" wrote:


PH 7.6
KH 50
GH 80

does the KH not sound low in relation to the PH level and if so what if any
concerns should I have if the CO2 drops the PH level I would assume it would
also drop the KH. Comments, advice please.


Looks perfectly normal. 50ppm KH is the same as 2.8 degrees. And
with a KH of 2.8, and a pH of 7.6, that would indicate a CO2 level of
2.2ppm, which is typical in a non-injected tank.

With good CO2 levels (15-20ppm), the pH would be lowered to 6.6 to
6.8.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
does the KH not sound low in relation to the PH level

No. Your water sounds just like mine, in fact. My tapwater has a KH of 3
degrees (which is about 50 ppm, same as yours), and a pH 7.6.

what if any
concerns should I have if the CO2 drops the PH level I would assume it
would
also drop the KH.

CO2 won't drop the KH. The KH will stay the same, the pH will drop. The
amount of the drop will tell you how much CO2 is getting into the water.

However, you might find it hard to get enough CO2 with a DIY system,
simply
because your tank is so large. You might have to run two bottles,
staggered,
and/or be very careful about surface turbulence.

Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/


this is my first attempt at any type of co2 and it may not even work in my
tank at all as I only have 3 x 40 watt T8 bulbs over the 77g tank. For now I
have run the co2 line into the water intake of 201 Power head which I
really don't care too much for as their are sooooo much bubbles from the
outlet. Anyway I may move the system to a smaller tank as I have a planted
33 and two planted 20's to choose from all of which have shop lights with 2
x 40 watt bulbs over them. I do have a double one gallon jug set up that is
supposed to go into the 77g, just have not got it going yet. Thx. for the
replies.

Rick

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
Anyway I may move the system to a smaller tank as I have a planted
33 and two planted 20's to choose from all of which have shop lights with
2
x 40 watt bulbs over them.

How did you get 40 watt bulbs over a 20 gallon tank? Aren't they too
long?


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/

I have both 20's on a home made stand side by side. The shop light is hung
from the ceiling over top. Both tanks have glass lids rather than canopies.

Rick

"LeighMo" wrote in message
...
I have both 20's on a home made stand side by side. The shop light is
hung
from the ceiling over top. Both tanks have glass lids rather than
canopies.



That's a really neat setup. A good level of light for both tanks.

You might have more success injecting CO2 into one of the 20 gallon tanks,
just
because DIY works better on small tanks. And since you have two, you
could
compare them side by side, and see what the effect of CO2 injection is.
:-)


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/


I'm going to try that. I have checked the PH levels on my 77g since I hooked
up the single 2 liter DIY CO2 systems several days ago and there has not
been any change at all although I don't know how long it would take to
change PH. I'll be setting up my double gallon jug system next week when I
get back from Calgary.

Rick

Rick wrote:

"LeighMo" wrote in message
That's a really neat setup. A good level of light for both tanks.

You might have more success injecting CO2 into one of the 20 gallon tanks,
just
because DIY works better on small tanks. And since you have two, you
could
compare them side by side, and see what the effect of CO2 injection is.
:-)

I'm going to try that. I have checked the PH levels on my 77g since I hooked
up the single 2 liter DIY CO2 systems several days ago and there has not
been any change at all although I don't know how long it would take to
change PH. I'll be setting up my double gallon jug system next week when I
get back from Calgary.

Rick,

Please report back with photos-that would be a great case study for all the
people interested in adding CO2 to their tanks!