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Buffering Planted Tanks


parrdog

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G'day Guys,

I know plants love a pH of about 6.8 and need a kH of about 4 for CO2 gas exchange. I have a Sera kH/pH up solution to bring up the kH but ofcourse when I do that the pH comes up above 7. I bought a CO2 kit today, when I start it will the kH stay up and the pH come down? Have I got the wrong solution to increase kH? Sorry for all the questions blink.gif , I would like to know how you guys do things?

Thanks,

Jamie.

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if your kH is below 4, it will only make your pH fluctuates more.

you dont really need to raise your kH to grow plants unless you are worried of the pH swinging too much.

generally sydney water kH is pretty low i think.

just feed your plants well, give enough fertiliser tablets so there is enough iron in there.

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I have low KH and with using CO2 I had disastrous pH swings between the day and night. I chucked some shell grit in my cannister and it helped buffer the water wink2.gif

My pH is 7.4>7.6 and I have hard water, RO to helps soften it. CO2 brings down the pH. The shell grit buffers it to keep it stable.

Bit of fiddling around to get perfect to begin with, but it is cheaper option and no need to use added chemicals to the water thumb.gif

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I have a couple of extremely heavily planted tanks and have found I need to turn the CO2 off at night as the plants take up oxygen when there is no light. This also stops the PH from swinging as there is not an excess of unabsorbed CO2.

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