Did I get ripped off on my CO2 set-up?

1090 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by ganjero, Jan 16, 2008

Mass-Diver

Discussion Starter · Jan 15, 2008

Background/Intro: After a number of years of keep saltwater aquariums, I moved into a smaller apartment and decided to setup a single tank. I've always loved the look of FW planted tanks, so I decided to go for it. I knew planted tanks could be very tricky, so I decided to keep things simple and focus on easy too keep fish and plants. I ended with a 90gall AG tank and T5 54wattx4 lighting. The main fish are 5 koi angels. The tank seemed to be doing pretty well, for example, my early on algae problems went away when I switched to RO/DI, but I tired of spending money on Excel while reading about how much better Co2 was.....

CO2: So, for Christmas my Wife bought me a fully-automated Co2 system from the online store Aquacave. After getting the cylinder filled, I managed to get the thing put together. I'm not mechanical at all so this was pretty stressful, but I was pleased when I was done. But, then I realized that milwakee pH controlled included in this package had an alarm which apparently could only be set to go off (turing off the solonoid) when the pH was too high! This made no sense to me, as the problem I would run into would be in the ph dropped. Am I missing something? Did I get ripped off?
http://www.aquacave.com/detail.aspx?ID=1364

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strizzi16

· #2 · Jan 15, 2008

lower ph = more co2 = dead fish

So its probably a good thing that your regulator is working

Also you might want to test the tester...it might have to be recalibrated

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Mass-Diver

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 15, 2008

strizzi16 said:
lower ph = more co2 = dead fish

So its probably a good thing that your regulator is working

Also you might want to test the tester...it might have to be recalibrated

It says on the mannual for the controller that the alarm (which cuts the power) is activated when the pH is too high. So, this is useless to me right?

While I'm new to CO2, I know that a worst case situation would be that my reg goes (or my tank pressure drops) and a ton of Co2 goes into my tank, even if the pH drop didn't kill my fish, the huge ammount of Co2 would. Right now, I'm just watching my pH monitor and (out of fear) I'm shutting off my Co2 at night. I paid the extra money for this package, but now it seems like the controller that aquacave included is useless???

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BiscuitSlayer

· #4 · Jan 15, 2008

Mass-Diver said:
But, then I realized that milwakee pH controlled included in this package had an alarm which apparently could only be set to go off (turing off the solonoid) when the pH was too high! This made no sense to me, as the problem I would run into would be in the ph dropped. Am I missing something? Did I get ripped off?

Do you mean that the controller sensed the Ph was too low and shut off the solenoid? If that is the case, it is working as expected as long as the controler is set properly. Like said earlier, it might need to be calibrated.

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KurtG

· #5 · Jan 15, 2008

I'd post a new thread about the specific controller. It is a very common one. I think there is a misunderstanding, but I don't use one.

I have the solenoid on a timer with my light schedule and use a drop checker to monitor levels

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Wasserpest

· #6 · Jan 15, 2008

I am not too familiar with pH controllers, but the behavior you describe seems to be suited for reef tanks (where CO2 leads to higher pH values). Did you get the SMS122 controller? That one should turn the solenoid ON (open it) when the pH goes higher than whatever setpoint is set.

Edit - alarm on means that the outlet is powered, which opens your solenoid, and supplies CO2. So you got the correct behavior and equipment.

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Mass-Diver

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 15, 2008

Hi Guys,

First of all, thanks for the all the comments so far, I really appreciate the help. I'm just having trouble figuring this out for some reason.

So, the model is the SMS122: it says "Alarm: active when measure is higher than setpoint. Output Power Socket: active when measure is higher than selected setpoint"

So, maybe (as some you guys posted) I am OK? If I don't want my tank to go below 6.5 I'll set the controller on that, the alarm will go off, but the power will stay on? Guess I'll go hook it up.

Thanks again for all your help!

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Naja002

· #8 · Jan 15, 2008

The solenoid should be NC (normally closed). So, when the pH is too high--the alarm sounds (so-to-speak) and the solenoid activates--from NC to open...allowing C02 to flow.

From your last post--things sound correct. Best thing to do is just check it out....

roud:

HTH

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ganjero

· #9 · Jan 16, 2008

Wasserpest said:
I am not too familiar with pH controllers, but the behavior you describe seems to be suited for reef tanks (where CO2 leads to higher pH values). Did you get the SMS122 controller? That one should turn the solenoid ON (open it) when the pH goes higher than whatever setpoint is set.

Edit - alarm on means that the outlet is powered, which opens your solenoid, and supplies CO2. So you got the correct behavior and equipment.

You got that wrong, co2 in reef tanks also reduce PH, so controllers are set to turn off the equipment when the ph is too low.

I think the controller should be programmable to do high or low ph, have you try all the configurations?

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