Hannah
New Member
Hi everyone,
I'm trying to get my CO2 dialled in on my 310l and I'm not sure what to make of my readings - I'd welcome feedback from more experienced eyes to help me undertand what I'm looking at.
For reference, my dKH out of the tap is typically 13-15, and I'm dosing 15ml of Tropica Premium Nutrition/day. The tank is 60cm deep and moderately planted with easy plants - amazon swords, java ferns, anubias etc., with a 59w LED light.
My pH readings before (left) and 4 hrs after adding CO2 (right). I'm reading these at about pH 7.5 ish and pH 6.6 ish, so drop overall of about pH 0.9. Now I've read that the ideal drop is about 1, so in theory this should be OK and indicates a CO2 concentration of just under 30ppm? Interestingly my dKH has also dropped to 8-9dKH over the course of the day - am I right in thinking this is a result of neutralising the increasing acidity?
But....
The colour of my drop checker has barely changed across the course of the day - No CO2 on the left, and 4hrs with CO2 on the right (sorry for the strange angle of the photos - I have a black background in my tank so its easist to view the colour of the DC liquid from behind). The DC is positioned on the other side of the tank from the diffuser, and the diffuser itself is situated a couple of inches below a powerhead and the filter outflow, so the bubbles are well circulated around the tank.
I've checked my readings with the CO2 running against the pH/KH/CO2 chart found via Google, and with a pH of 6.6 and a dKH of around 8-9, that would suggest my CO2 is somewhere around 60 - 65ppm? If this is the case wouldn't I expect to see my drop checker turning more yellowish? Also my fish are behaving normally and don't appear lethargic/distressed/gasping for air.
So I'm a bit confused! Can anyone help me out please?
I'm trying to get my CO2 dialled in on my 310l and I'm not sure what to make of my readings - I'd welcome feedback from more experienced eyes to help me undertand what I'm looking at.
For reference, my dKH out of the tap is typically 13-15, and I'm dosing 15ml of Tropica Premium Nutrition/day. The tank is 60cm deep and moderately planted with easy plants - amazon swords, java ferns, anubias etc., with a 59w LED light.
My pH readings before (left) and 4 hrs after adding CO2 (right). I'm reading these at about pH 7.5 ish and pH 6.6 ish, so drop overall of about pH 0.9. Now I've read that the ideal drop is about 1, so in theory this should be OK and indicates a CO2 concentration of just under 30ppm? Interestingly my dKH has also dropped to 8-9dKH over the course of the day - am I right in thinking this is a result of neutralising the increasing acidity?
But....
The colour of my drop checker has barely changed across the course of the day - No CO2 on the left, and 4hrs with CO2 on the right (sorry for the strange angle of the photos - I have a black background in my tank so its easist to view the colour of the DC liquid from behind). The DC is positioned on the other side of the tank from the diffuser, and the diffuser itself is situated a couple of inches below a powerhead and the filter outflow, so the bubbles are well circulated around the tank.
I've checked my readings with the CO2 running against the pH/KH/CO2 chart found via Google, and with a pH of 6.6 and a dKH of around 8-9, that would suggest my CO2 is somewhere around 60 - 65ppm? If this is the case wouldn't I expect to see my drop checker turning more yellowish? Also my fish are behaving normally and don't appear lethargic/distressed/gasping for air.
So I'm a bit confused! Can anyone help me out please?