parrdog Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 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 , I would like to know how you guys do things? Thanks, Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10050460 Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett4Perth Posted May 3, 2006 Share Posted May 3, 2006 Hi Parrdog, Most plants are pretty tolerant of pH. Whether it is 6.8 or 7.8 probably wont bother them much. More important is to have adequate Ca and Bicarbonate levels, a kH of 4 is reasonable target to aim for. Cheers Brett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted May 4, 2006 Author Share Posted May 4, 2006 Cheers . Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faewyn Posted May 4, 2006 Share Posted May 4, 2006 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 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parrdog Posted May 5, 2006 Author Share Posted May 5, 2006 Ta . Jamie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmiccreepers Posted May 8, 2006 Share Posted May 8, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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