levels on hagen ladder?

[kindbud]

does anybody use the medium or high level on the hagen ladder for their 10 gallon?

just set up a 10g with 2 15 watt screw in compact flourescents (the kind you get at the lighting/hardware store), a 50/50 mix of flourite/aquarium gravel, and an aquaclear mini. had that running with a few plants and driftwood for over a week. just added my first 2 ottos today. about to add the ladder. gonna go with the max (most bubble travel distance) setting until i hear otherwise. btw, i'm showing a ph of 6.8 in the tank (same as my tap), a gh of 2 deg, and a kh of 1-2 deg.

respond quickly if you think i'm in trouble.
thanks. wish me luck. i'll post a pic as soon as i find my camera. i have so much junk and so many boxes and stuff everywhere. between this and the 29g i'm setting up simultaneously, it's like the aquarium store exploded in here.

[SCMurphy]

I just put it at the bottom of the ladder for the 10 gallon tanks, but they are heavily planted.

[anonapersona]

KH of 1 to 2 degrees? that's trouble!

find out what your target pH is and be very clear about what a dangerous level is also.

Using Chuck's site, I'm seeing that at KH=2 a pH of 6.4 or 6.6 with a CO2 level between 15 and 25ppm which is good and 6.2 is dangerous at over 30 ppm. How exact is your test kit? Can you be certain of the difference between 6.2 and 6.4?

Many sources suggest bringing that KH up with carbonate of some sort, either coral or baking soda to give you a margin of safety. Ading CO2 introduces acids to the tank that can reduce the KH, as it lowers you are in danger of a terrible pH crash if all the buffer is used up.

I suggest starting in the middle of the ladder, and in the morning of a day that you can be around to see the pH changes.

[trenac]

I would start with the upper part of the ladder with a PH of 6.8 because if you get to much C02 in there your PH will crash. Also yor KH is very low you do not want it under 3. I would get my KH up first by using baking soda or Dolomite(I have not tried these but I heard that they work). Keep a close eye on your PH & KH daily when you start adding C02. If you see it dropping then decrease your C02.

[Junebug720]

I've used baking soda to raise KH and it worked perfectly. I can't remember the exact amount I used though (I think it was 1/4 tsp to raise 3 degrees of KH :?: )

[AussieTanker]

I just put it at the bottom of the ladder for my 9.2 gallon tank, but it is reasonably heavily planted.

I have not had any problems with that for about 4 months .... but recently by mistake i put 5 times more yeast into my co2 mix than i normally do .... i thought it was a bit odd that the co2 bubbles were really streaming out so much that day too! .... but it just didn't register with me that it was too much .... ops: ...... the next morning i had one very dead small pleco :cry:

luckily the other small pleco and 5 small guppies survived ok .... needless to say i watch my mix much more carefully these days .... the outlet is stilll at the bottom of the hagen ladder .... and have not had any problems since

honestly i don't think it had anything to do with the position on the ladder ... just messed up my usual yeast amounts

hope that helps ...

regards
aussie tanker

[AussieTanker]

btw kindbud ... since changing the substrate in the 9.2 gall to flourite the plant growth has exploded ... no other changes and i only have 11w on 9.2 gall

regards

[kindbud]

so it's almost day 4 with the hagen ladder on the max setting. i'm still getting 1 bubble every 90 seconds maybe. and this is the second packet that i've tried in the box. the first packet gave me nothing after 2 days. i guess i should worry about getting any c02 before worrying about how much i should try to dissolve. anyway, on the hunt for some potion recipes. thanks for all replies.

[kindbud]

so it was just a dud hagen packet. next one worked a lot better.

now i'm getting this white cloudy buildup right where the tube releases the gas into the ladder. aside from it looking not so fresh, can anyone comment on exactly what i'm harming by allowing this to continue? if i set up a 'gas filter' chamber with another bottle would that clear up this fuzz? i am more than willing to do this, though i admit, i was excited about the hagen kit being a nice looking, compact and comprehensive unit.

[ninoboy]

You mean the gas seperator? It would help to slow down the build up but it's still gonna be there. I use it myself but more toward avoiding any mixture accidently goes into my tank. The build up is not harmful to fish though, just clean it up every month.