co2 meter/tester

Is it a MUST to use a co2 meter/tester in a tank to know that is the co2 enough for the tank?

Originally Posted by doubleace

Is it a MUST to use a co2 meter/tester in a tank to know that is the co2 enough for the tank?

Another alternative way is to measure pH and kH then refer to a Co2 chart for the Co2 readings.

some said not accurate if inside with DW.....

[EvolutionZ]

i dun think its dw?
i heard that if you using ADA soil. using pH/kH chart to measure co2 ppm is not accurate.

To the best of my understanding, the kh/ph chart is generally not reliable because many things can affect both the readings in the tank.

However, it will be accurate if you can control one of them, and then measure the other. I came across a CO2 level indictator in Polyart and bought it on impulse. It looks like this:



I didn't understand how it worked, and I did some research. It seems that if we followed the instructions provided, it is NOT ACCURATE. But if we modified it a bit, it can be quite accurate, the instructions are in this thread:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...p-checker.html

You won't know the ppm, but you can agar-agar tell the range of CO2 in your tank.

You can also get a Drop Checker. Otherwise, if you are confident, you can just increase the CO2 slowly everyday until the fishes exhibit symptoms of stress, after which you stop increasing.

If you are using inert stuff in your tank, then by all means use the pH/KH chart.

[EvolutionZ]

thats a dymax drop checker. you need a kH test kit to test den you can get a accurate result.

Originally Posted by EvolutionZ

thats a dymax drop checker. you need a kH test kit to test den you can get a accurate result.

Yeah. I bought the kH test kit just for this purpose.

Originally Posted by locksley

To the best of my understanding, the kh/ph chart is generally not reliable because many things can affect both the readings in the tank.

However, it will be accurate if you can control one of them, and then measure the other. I came across a CO2 level indictator in Polyart and bought it on impulse. It looks like this:



I didn't understand how it worked, and I did some research. It seems that if we followed the instructions provided, it is NOT ACCURATE. But if we modified it a bit, it can be quite accurate, the instructions are in this thread:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...p-checker.html

You won't know the ppm, but you can agar-agar tell the range of CO2 in your tank.

Ya i saw this indicator in seaview today.. I though its good compare to the other 1.. cos they both need to put some chemical and for this is enclose so the chemical wont easily came off not like the other one.

So i think the best way that mention my some bro is to increase the bubble 1 at a time till the fishes gap for air then reduce by 1 bubble. I think that will be accurate ba?

Originally Posted by doubleace

So i think the best way that mention my some bro is to increase the bubble 1 at a time till the fishes gap for air then reduce by 1 bubble. I think that will be accurate ba?

I think this is a good method if you're using a CO2 reactor.

I'm using a ceramic diffusor and I positioned it such that the bubbles would get caught in the outlet of the filter. The thing is, if I increase the CO2 supply, the bubbles tend to get bigger and there would be more of them and not all of them will get caught by the water returning to the tank. So they rise to the surface and is wasted.

Hence I don't use this method for now. I adjust my CO2 to the point where most of it can be "swept" by the water from my outlet.

Which reminds me, I read somewhere in passing that CO2 and O2 levels in the water are not related. As in, more CO2 doesn't mean less O2. Is this true? If so, then how does the fish gasping at the surface idea work?