co2? What??

[knewby]

I don't understand the process of getting co2 into my tank. Does it alter the Ph so the fish get stressed??? What's this about dissolving co2. Will someone plz explain it to me in plain english (no big giant scientific words)

[Ardan]

CO2 is used in some tanks to help plants. When You measure the amount in the water it is called "the dissolved CO2". Oxygen in the water is called the "dissolved O2".

CO2 in the water does alter the ph.

I don't have a planted tank, so I don't use CO2. Care must be taken when using it or fish can die (it needs to be measured and regulated).

To get CO2 into a tank you either bubble CO2 (from a gas cylinder containing CO2) or from a CO2 "generator". (fancy name for equipment that makes CO2 and then bubbles it into the water) .
hth

[knewby]

How do i keep the Ph controlled while using Ph??

How do i regulate the amount? How much is enough??

[Carol_Roberts]

All water contains disolved carbon dioxide and oxygen. Most people's water from the tap contains higher levels of CO2 than can be maintained in the fish tank. When the water is agitated (like by your filter in the fish tank) the CO2 is off-gassed. This raises the pH because CO2 is an acid.

If you don't have plants you don't want to add CO2 because any extra is always trying to escape into the air. This makes the pH fluctuate.

I heavily agitate my water for 3 hours to off-gas any extra CO2 and stabilize the pH before adding the water to my discus tanks. This makes the pH stable and the discus very happy ;D

[knewby]

I have plants and want to use co2. Will the ph be altered if i have plants?
If the co2 isnt regulated, will the ph bounce up and down?

[Carol_Roberts]

Yes, the pH will jump up and down, stressing the discus. I would not experiment with CO2 in a discus tank. Run the CO2 and plants in a different tank from the discus until you have learned how to use it. Only put adult discus in a planted tank with CO2.

[knewby]

Could i still grow plants successfully without the co2?

[Timindallas]

If you have at last 1.5 watts per gallon you should be able to grow a few plants. Pick the easy ones like java fern, java moss, crypts, anubias and some of the sword plants.

These plants are also considered nitrate sponges (java fern and moss anyway).

Tim

[MonkeeFish]

plants takes in the carbon from CO2 and produces food for them
and they spit out the O2 which is what we breath in.

With co2 plants will grow better and be healthier
To desolve Co2 what u wanna do is use some kind of device that will hld the co2 in ur tank longer. CO2 regulation is how many bubbles of CO2 is given off pre hour rite??

what i've read people doing is let the Co2 flow into their filter and let the filter grind up the Co2 but then again it hurts the filter

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i dont have a planted tank so dont take my words for it