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Re: [AGA-Member] Low-light tanks & CO2



Why do you need to lower the ph?

The Discus are just fine in that water. Most all of the Discus today are raised in tap water
so there is no need to try to have them in very soft water.


D'Wyatt Green


On Sep 27, 2005, at 6:20 PM, S. Hieber wrote:

A buffer will raise you KH, not lower it. The easiest way
to lower the pH is to add a mild acid. Adding CO2 will do
this since a portion of it in water forms carbonic acid. IF
your tapwater is 7.5, you shouldn't have any problem
getting the pH down to discus-target levels by adding more
CO2. If your KH was 3 degrees, 30ppm of CO2 would drop you
down to a pH of 6.5. So with tapwater of 7.5, and not
adding other acids, CO2 should do the trick without ever
getting to harmful levels.

I would probably raise the KH a couple of degrees by adding
some calcium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate with each
water change. A little buffering will keep the pH a bit
steadier. Even if you raise the KH up a couple of degrees,
you can still get a nice 6.5 pH without overdosing on CO2.

Adding CO2 doesn't require adding more light although the
inverse is not necessarily true.  YOu might find you need
to add a littel more ferts or fish food -- but with discus,
that is usually not a problem, given their ravenous
appetites. ;-)

hope that helps,
sh

--- Adam Michels <amichels@trafficleader.com> wrote:


Hi, everybody. I joined AGA only a few weeks ago; I was wondering why everyone liked mosses so much until I received the new quarterly! Anyway, I'm confused about achieving equilibrium in my low-light plant tank, and I could really use your advice.

Tank specs:
Tank: 75 gallon
Lighting: 4 28W T5 full-spectrum(2) and 6700K(2), 1 20W
fluorescent, 1
15W fluorescent
Filter: Fluval 304
Substrate: 2/3 Flourite, 1/3 Eco-Complete
CO2: 2 Hagen Nutrafin DIY yeast reactors + 2 ladders
Heating: 2 250W Stealth
Set-up: 2 10lb. plus driftwood stumps
Plants: 1 large Aponogeton boivinarius, 2 Aponogeton
madagascarensis, 1
Aponogeton crispus, several odd smaller Aponogetons, 12+
Crypts, 1 large
Kleiner Bar Sword, 1 Echinodorus major, 1 Echinodorus
osiris, several
large Anubias barteri tied to driftwood, mid-sized
Anubias congensis,
nana, azfeli, frazeri, Sagitarria subulata, many
Sagittaria pusilla
(Dwarf Sags), many Echinodorus tenellus and some java
moss
Fish: Five 4-5" Discus, five Roseline Barbs (denisoni), 3
spotted
headstanders, 1 gold nugget plec (small), 1 rubbernose
plec (small), 1
pair killifish (Nothobranchius kafuensis) and 4 emerald
cories
Tap water: 7.5 pH, 1 dH(17.8 ppm) carbonate hardness
Tank temp: 81-82 degrees F
Additives: Kent Freshwater Plant liquid fert. every water
change,
crushed coral in the filter bed to raised KH and GH
Water Parameters: NH4=0, NO2=0, NO3=less than 12 ppm, pH
7.5 before
turning off lights (haven't checked morning reading)

I wish I had a picture. Things are fine other than I do a
lot of water
changes. But I want my plants to flourish, and the fish
to enjoy water
parameters similar to their natural habitat. The problem
lies in that I
can't get my pH down. I do so many water changes for the
discus that the
driftwood doesn't have a chance to release enough tannic
acid fast
enough, and I don't add enough C02 to lower the pH.
Should I buffer? I
want my pH under 7.0, for sure.

Am I going about this correctly? I raised my discus in a
species tank,
bare-bottom, but they don't seem to mind the new
additions. The killis
look hilarious, but I don't have any where else to put
them!
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

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