[Agent69]

I have a paintball co2 system on a 38 gallon tank. It's a GLA atomic v2 regulator set at 2bps with an atomic diffuser. I have a cal aqua labs nano drop checker located on opposite side of the diffuser and it only turn light blue but never reaches green. I can see co2 mist all over the tank since there is a powerhead pushing it all around. Should I crank up the co2? My par is above low but below high so around right in the middle I have a finnex fugeray led. For plants I have dwarf hairgrass and baby tears

 

[Diana]

How are your plants doing?
Are you dosing fertilizers?

The blue drop checker suggests 2 things, IMO.
Either not much CO2 is getting into the water, or else the plants are using it pretty fast.

Is the CO2 running all night? What color is the drop checker in the morning, before the lights come on, before the plants start using the CO2?

 

[jrill]

With lower light ur plants are not using up the co2. Your answer lies in how your plants are growing. If there is good growth and little or no algae your fine.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[Dannyul]

Hello,

For optimal plant growth you should aim to achieve a STABLE CO2 level. This is preferably around 30ppm which is indicated by a lime-green colour on your drop checker.



Best of luck,
Dan

 

[goneRogue]

Did you use a distilled solution in the drop checker or just tank water? Also keep in mind the drop checker is a relative indicator. You want roughly a 1 degree drop in pH so if your drop checker goes from deep blue to green you're probably good.

 

[Agent69]

How are your plants doing?
Are you dosing fertilizers?

The blue drop checker suggests 2 things, IMO.
Either not much CO2 is getting into the water, or else the plants are using it pretty fast.

Is the CO2 running all night? What color is the drop checker in the morning, before the lights come on, before the plants start using the CO2?

I'm dosing both micro and macro ferts I'm using pps pro by GLA. The co2 comes on the same time as the lights and goes off at the same time perhaps I should have it come on an hour before. My drop checker in the morning is a dark blue but after a few hours it starts turning into a light blue almost dark green. The tank is pretty evenly planted although sometimes I wonder if my light is strong enough to get them to carpet. I will post updates of the tank soon

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

With lower light ur plants are not using up the co2. Your answer lies in how your plants are growing. If there is good growth and little or no algae your fine.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

This is a picture of the tank today. I will post updates as soon as I see growth. I've used this same light on a different tank and it resulted in rapid growth but also grew BBA and green string algae but this time I aimed for lower PAR. Thanks for all the replies guys I appreciate all your input!!

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk

Also I filled the water all the way to the rim so the hob filter has less surface agitation almost nothing not even a ripple so less co2 is gassed off. Do you guys think I should at least the hob filter produce a small ripple?

Sent from my SM-G900T using Tapatalk