co2 levels

ccLansman

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Two days ago i purchased a compressed co2 setup and have it running.

It has been running all day at about 2-3 bps and that plants dont seem to be aspirating at all. I checked nitrates and they are at 30ppm, my phosphates at about 2ppm, and i dosed mico ferts yesterday. Any reason why the plants are not responding to the co2? Do i need to inject more? I dont have a hardness measurement but i put some gh booster in there two days ago. Any idea? Ph is around 7.

Thanks!

sorry

60gals
 

VaughnH

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You didn't say how big your tank is, so the 2-3 bubbles per second doesn't mean anything. It would be a lot for a 10 gallon tank, but very little for a 180 gallon tank. If you get a drop checker you can tell how much CO2 is in the water, which is what counts.
 

VaughnH

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You would have better results, most likely, with half as much light. And, 2-3 bubbles per second is probably too low for a 60 gallon tank. But, only with a drop checker used correctly can you be sure.
 

VaughnH

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Too much light without an adequate supply of all nutrients, including carbon, can cause the available nutrients to be quickly used up by the most competitive plants, leaving the others limited in growth. But, worst of all, too much light without vigorously growing plants is an invitation to algae to take over.
 

ccLansman

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any reason running 3-4bps all day and the co2 indicator and plants dont start responding until about the last hour of light?
 

Mooner

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ccLansman;27187 said:
any reason running 3-4bps all day and the co2 indicator and plants dont start responding until about the last hour of light?

If nutrients are in place(macs and mics) and there is good flow throughout the tank, then slowly increase the bps. Also are you starting the CO2 1-2 hours before lights on? and off about one hour before lights off? Don't get to hung up on the count of bps. Only use this for moving up or down for a current position. Your drop checker if fill with a 4kdh solution should register around 2 hours from light on. Keep working on it, shouldn't take long to get set. Then periodic checking as tank fills in.
 

ccLansman

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Nope, had the co2 on when the lights popped on. Ill change the settings today and see how it reacts tomorrow. I know it varys from tank to tank but any round about bps for a 60gal tank?

1 other thing, i use gh booster at water changes but somone said that epsom salt was needed for for the Mg. I have never added this to my tank and dont see it on the list for the EI dosing method, should i add any or is it not needed? Thanks.
 

Carissa

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GH booster provides magnesium.

I use Mg (epsom salts) and calcium chloride since I don't have GH booster and my water is totally soft. If you have 4 - 6 degrees of GH, it's probably not needed, unless you think that your GH is coming entirely from calcium, for some reason, in which case you would need Mg. With GH booster you need neither.
 

Carissa

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I would think you would have to add an awful lot. Anywhere from 5 - 15 degrees GH should be fine. It takes me at least a tablespoon or more of powders to get mine up to 5 when I do a water change on my 32g.
 

rich815

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ccLansman;27232 said:
could you possibly add too much booster? Will too much hardness limit plant growth?

As someone else said it would probably take a lot. However, as I understand it I believe changing the KH or GH too quickly is not something the fish are too keen on. Like anything probably best to do such changes somewhat gradually instead of just dropping a whole bunch of booster in all at once to get immediately to some level you think would be best...
 

ccLansman

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does it matter how much 4dkh solution i put in my drop checker? I thought i read that the less water you put the faster the readings will equalize? This true?
 

Tom Barr

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rich815;27239 said:
As someone else said it would probably take a lot. However, as I understand it I believe changing the KH or GH too quickly is not something the fish are too keen on. Like anything probably best to do such changes somewhat gradually instead of just dropping a whole bunch of booster in all at once to get immediately to some level you think would be best...

This is a good point and simple solution is to consider how much KNO3 is added relative to each water change...............

They are salts as well and will impact fish in a similar manner.

Say you have the 32 gal tank above, the KNO3 might be say 1/3 teaspoon for the dose after a 50% water change, you really are not going to ever need more than 1/2 teaspoon of Gh booster based on plant demand.
The goal here is to prevent limitations, by providing non limiting levels.

This should be plenty along with most folk's GH in their tap.
Now if you want to add more GH booster, do so about midweek, or dose like you might with KNO3 but a tad less.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 

VaughnH

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ccLansman;27273 said:
does it matter how much 4dkh solution i put in my drop checker? I thought i read that the less water you put the faster the readings will equalize? This true?

A fast reacting drop checker will have a large surface area of fluid in it, but a small volume of fluid. So, in my opinion, a drop checker with a spherical bulb of fluid should have it about half or a bit less full of fluid. Just remember, it is hard enough to see the color changes without reducing the amount of fluid so much that there is only a thin layer of liquid, where you couldn't tell what the color is.
 

ccLansman

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thanks ill reduce it when i get home, i had it near full. I added 3 drops of the indicator and it did not make it any darker its still really hard to see, how do the folks on here with pictures of theirs get the color so dark?