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[Wet Thumb Forum]-Should I add Co2 right now?

4K views 28 replies 10 participants last post by  Spaceman Spiff 
#1 ·
I've just completed purchasing my CO2 equipment and now want to start adding co2 to the tank. Here's the tank stats:

66 gallon.
FE - 0,
PHO4 ~5 (A little high, black brush algae problem)
NO2, < 0.3
NO3 < 8
PH 6.2 ~ 6.5
Ammonia 0
KH 2
GH 0

160 watts on for 3 hours, off for 3 on for 6 to break algae cycle

Heavily planted, medium fish stock all tetras
Japonica, ottos & clown loaches.

Do I dare start adding CO2? If so, I was thinking rougly ~1 - 2 bubbles /min to see how well things take off.

Suggestions?

Later.

Doug.
 
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#2 ·
I've just completed purchasing my CO2 equipment and now want to start adding co2 to the tank. Here's the tank stats:

66 gallon.
FE - 0,
PHO4 ~5 (A little high, black brush algae problem)
NO2, < 0.3
NO3 < 8
PH 6.2 ~ 6.5
Ammonia 0
KH 2
GH 0

160 watts on for 3 hours, off for 3 on for 6 to break algae cycle

Heavily planted, medium fish stock all tetras
Japonica, ottos & clown loaches.

Do I dare start adding CO2? If so, I was thinking rougly ~1 - 2 bubbles /min to see how well things take off.

Suggestions?

Later.

Doug.
 
#3 ·
I say start adding. Might want to raise the KH a little. When I started my CO2 I started with what I thought was a low bubble rate and then slowly raised it over a few days until I got the CO2 range I wanted.

If you have the lights and ferts then adding CO2 will make it a hell of a lot easier to deal with the algea. I had every which algae in my tank. Once I upped everything to the right levels the algae stopped propogating. All I am doing now is removing affected leaves as new leaves grow in. I expect to have all the affected leaves removed in a couple of weeks.

-Steve
See profile for tank info
 
#4 ·
Stop using that broken light cycle to stop algae. In effect your also breaking the photosyntesis cycle of the plants, not good. Keep your light cycle between 10-12 hours daily so that your plants have a chance to kick into gear, thats where you're gonna beat the algae.

75 gal,pressurized CO2 with controller, 3WPG PC lighting,gravel/flourite 50/50 substrate, Filstar XP3, GH=7,KH=5,PH=6.9,NO3=10ppm, PO4=1-2ppm,K=20ppm+/-, FE=.1ppm
 
#5 ·
Get your kH up to around 4 and get your gH up around 7. You might try adding some crushed coral to your filter. Get the CO2 started and it will help with the BBA problem. And as has been stated stop using the funny light cycle.

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American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

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#6 ·
I checked the bulbs on the tank. I replaced 2 that were past their prime.

I'm going to start doing biweekly 30% water changes to get that PhO4 down and start CO2 slowly. I'm also going to add some crushed coral to the cannister filter.

Where was that CO2 table on this site? I can't find it.

Later.

Doug.
 
#8 ·
I'm assuming by biweekly you mean twice a week, rather than every other week. If you DID mean every other week and are doing less than that now, you definitely need to kick up your water changes. Be sure to test your tap water as well as your tank water, though, to make sure about exactly what you're adding. If your tap water is high in phosphates, you might want to try a phosphate absorbing resin to get them down in a reasonable range. Look to your feeding regimen also; if you're feeding your tetras a lot of flake food, much of it may be going uneaten, especially if the clowns are still small; you might look at cutting down there also. I also agree about the light cycle, you're helping the algae more than you're hurting it by doing that. Be sure and raise your KH to a reasonable level (at least 4) before you start CO2; you can do that with baking soda. Use 1/2 tsp. dissolved in water and add to the tank; wait an hour, and test to see what you've achieved. The baking soda will raise your ph, and depending on how much it goes up, you might want to wait several hours before you add more, or add it daily for a few days. When it's where you want it, start your CO2; that will bring the ph down again. Once your plants are getting everything they need and growing well, the algae will begin to retreat. Pruning off the most heavily affected leaves will help the process also. Good luck!
 
#9 ·
I say go balls to the wall and start the CO2 to where you want it right away. Most fish can handle the PH swing, and your plants will start fighting that algae. Mainly algae grows on slow growing plants--and the CO2 will help those plants kick in gear.
 
#10 ·
Started the CO2 Saturday & Sunday at 3-4 bubbles/min. Increased it to 6/min. So far so good. I did see a cardinal tetra start to act goofy. I added an airstone for a little while to monitor the situation. It could be coquincidental.

30% water changes 3 times weekly and triming away any leaves I can see.

Feeding is not an issue. I feed properly. I think the tank being moved and having to partly recycle again had an effect on it.

No PO4 in the regular tap water.
I'm also trimming off the worst plants. Every water change will help.

Later.

Doug.
 
#12 ·
I'mm slowly adding Seachem ph stable to the tank to raise the KH & GH. I've noticed a couple of fish showing sings of sluggishness. Otherwise the others are doing well.

I've also added a 1lb of crushed coral to the canister.

1 bubble every 10 sec for CO2.

Later.

Doug.
 
#13 ·
Watch your pH, gH and kH very closely. I find that about 4 tablespoons of crushed coral in my cannister filter keeps my 55 gallon tank at a gH of around 8 and my kH around 5-6. It will rise slowly at first and then skyrocket you on. When I set the 55 gallon up I put in about a pound of crushed coral. Within 5 days the kH was over 17 and I did not even bother to check the gH.

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American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

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#14 ·
this is just my experience, but you'll want to pull most that coral out. In a 100g with PH of 6.8 I only keep 100-200mg of coral. Even then I exceed my targets without regular water changes.

The coral works well as soon as the PH turns acidic. A lot is not required.

James Hoftiezer

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#15 ·
I've checked the ph. It's stable around 6.6 ~ 7

I have lost 3 fish. 2 rummny nose & 1 cardinal.

I turned the bubble count down to 2/min. The water here is so soft that I'm having a hard time getting the KH & GH up. KH is now 4, GH still 0. Still have to add the Seachem ph stable to get the KH & GH up. The water here is PH 5.8 on average and GH & KH of 0.

I also noticed that my seloniod isn't working. Last night the co2 was still going into the tank. Even with the selonoid off. I checked it a few times.

I unplugged it and checked it when I got home from work today. It's still bubbling away.

It's getting replaced Friday.

Any idea what I'm doing wrong here? I've had to add an airstone to keep the fish happy.

Later.

Doug.
 
#16 ·
Don't put any PH products into your tank!
Your CO2 is probally higher than you think!
The CO2 chart #'s won't mean anything if you are adding PH products into your tank!

I would do a few big water changes to remove the PH product from your tank.
Remove the seloniod as it is only causing more confusion!
Use baking soda to increase your KH to 4dKH!

This should help!

[This message was edited by ekim on Thu March 06 2003 at 07:25 AM.]
 
#17 ·
I agree with Ekim. Use baking soda to up your KH, and epsom salts will help with the GH (don't use more than a 1/2 tsp. at a time of either, dissolved in a cup of water, and don't do both at the same time!). Just do both slowly! And I would stop the CO2 altogether until you get your GH and KH where you want them and your ph stablized, which shouldn't take more than a few days.
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#18 ·
I'll stop adding the ph stable.
I need to use the seloniod as this is the only thing that will stop the co2 from being fed when the lights are off in the tank. I don't want co2 bubbling into the tank at night.

I've added a 1/2 kilo of crushed coral to the cannister filter. It's hopefully going to stablize the GH & KH on me.

I just found out today that the local city is going to start flushing the water lines and going to be dumping extra clorine into the water. Great! Just what I need when I have to triweekly water changes to get my PO4 down!

I guess I just need to start adding everything slowly and stablize the tank.

Later.

Doug.
 
#20 ·
A half kilo of crushed coral will not stabilize your pH, kH and gH. All three will rise as the coral dissolves until the pH gets to the point where it no longer reacts with the coral. Even then you will still see a slow rise in the kH and gH. I run just a couple of ounces in my cannister for a 55 gallon tank and it is almost too much.

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American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

See my Profile for tank details.
 
#21 ·
Well I replaced the defective selinoid value and started to add co2 again slowly at 1 bubble/min.

I lost 2 fish.

CO2 is now stopped. I need to get the tank stablized first before everything gets killed.

I'm going to add baking soda slowly to see how the GH & KH take off.

CO2 will have to wait.

Later.

Doug.
 
#24 ·
I did another 30% water change today.
PO4 is still up around 3, ph ~7.2 since adding baking soda (which has now stopped).

I added a few new plants to help get the PO4 down. SO far so good.

I removed a few more effected leaves from the plants today. I have some petrified wood that has some black brush algae on it. I'm going to give it the 19 parts water to 1 part bleech soak next weekend. I'll remove it then and rinse the hell out of it.

This PO4 problem is really stumping me. I haven't had a problem like this before in the 20+ years of having aquariums.

I'm literally thinking of completely stripping down the tank, tossing the substrate and rebulding from scratch.

Later.

Doug.
 
#25 ·
Why don't you just use a bag of phosphate absorbing resin (like SeaChem's Phosguard, for example)in your filter? It can eliminate your phosphate problem virtually overnight--although if your phosphates are that high you may find you have to add fresh resin after a day or so to complete the job. The resin will not affect your other water parameters. Have you checked your tap water to see what the phosphate levels are?

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