I'm confused about something.. let me fill you in on the situation.
I have a 10gal tank that I was going to turn into a home for my poor crowded clown loaches. I setup the tank with a 2L CO2 system, put in the plants and watched things for a little while. I immediately saw a lot of activity from the plants, with O2 bubbles coming from every one of them, but also noticed that my CO2 was too high. My pH was around 6.8 with 7 dKh (my normal tap water level!), which puts me at the top end of healthy for the fish. Still, it wasnt overboard, so I went ahead and moved in the clowns, 2 ottos, and a swordtail as a dither fish.
Everyone seemed fine, until one day I noticed that the swordtail had crossed over. I checked the levels, and my pH was around 6.6, putting my CO2 at around 53ppm!!! No wonder he croaked. For some reason, the clowns and ottos were fine, if a bit stressed, but not wanting to take any chances, I threw in an airstone on an airpump.
I've left the airpump in there for a few days now, along with the CO2, since I figured it was better to be adding it than not, and my pH is steady at 7, and the dKh is still at 7. If I'm to believe the charts, that means that I've got around 20ppm CO2 still in there, even with the airpump! Is this right? I havent seen much O2 coming from the plants, although there is a bit. Is the airpump messing up my readings from the chart, or am I just putting out such an obscene about of CO2 that it's somehow keeping up with the airpump? I did try out a stronger CO2 recipe this time, with 2cups sugar, 1 tsp yeast and 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!
I have a 10gal tank that I was going to turn into a home for my poor crowded clown loaches. I setup the tank with a 2L CO2 system, put in the plants and watched things for a little while. I immediately saw a lot of activity from the plants, with O2 bubbles coming from every one of them, but also noticed that my CO2 was too high. My pH was around 6.8 with 7 dKh (my normal tap water level!), which puts me at the top end of healthy for the fish. Still, it wasnt overboard, so I went ahead and moved in the clowns, 2 ottos, and a swordtail as a dither fish.
Everyone seemed fine, until one day I noticed that the swordtail had crossed over. I checked the levels, and my pH was around 6.6, putting my CO2 at around 53ppm!!! No wonder he croaked. For some reason, the clowns and ottos were fine, if a bit stressed, but not wanting to take any chances, I threw in an airstone on an airpump.
I've left the airpump in there for a few days now, along with the CO2, since I figured it was better to be adding it than not, and my pH is steady at 7, and the dKh is still at 7. If I'm to believe the charts, that means that I've got around 20ppm CO2 still in there, even with the airpump! Is this right? I havent seen much O2 coming from the plants, although there is a bit. Is the airpump messing up my readings from the chart, or am I just putting out such an obscene about of CO2 that it's somehow keeping up with the airpump? I did try out a stronger CO2 recipe this time, with 2cups sugar, 1 tsp yeast and 1/2 tsp of baking soda.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!