# Turning off CO2 at night?



## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

I have a basic, store-bought CO2 injector into my tank (a pump attached to a canister under pressure, that lets out a little sploosh of bubbles every 10-20 seconds). I've been leaving it on 24/7.
I recently lost a german blue ram  and have been advised to turn off the CO2 at night because it makes the pH drop (normally it's 6.5) because of the extra CO2 production from the plants and the un-absorbed CO2 from the injector. However, I've read that turning the CO2 off will cause a pH SPIKE in the morning.

Any thoughts on this?? I plan on testing the CO2 tomorrow morning to see where it's at.


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## rba (Aug 25, 2006)

IMO, CO2 should always be turned off at night OR there needs to be a significant increase in water circulation/aeration so it can outgas and not build up. The latter is a waste of CO2. pH can drop a LOT if there are a lot of plants AND CO2 injection.

If you are going to test, do not turn the lights on, or do anything else, until after you test.


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

arguements have been made for both methods. test your KH and your PH to give you your CO2 levels. do it during the day, at night and in the morning. If your KH is low then your PH will be unstable. use this chart to check If your KH is around 8 and your PH is still the same as it was before lights out, then I wouldn't corelate the deaths due to CO2. Also if your fish are gasping then your CO2 might be too high. As I said DL that chart and see.

http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_dosage_calc.htm

download the chart, its saves a lot of guessing and will help you with dosing your ferts as well.

If your PH is stable at 6.5 in the morning then you dont have to shut it off, but as I said test those 2 and see where you are at. If you need advice after you do that then I'll be glad to help 

If you cant find the download part IM me with your email, and I will send it to you, can't attach it on here as its almost a meg in size.

cheers.

zig


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Agreed. With a pressurized system, turning it off is almost a must. With DIY or snaller store systems, it will depend on your KH.


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## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

Am I defining pressurized correctly? I have a canister, airtight (with a hole for the air tube), which is full of the CO2 media. The tube is hooked up to a pump inside the tank.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Canister as in what a fire extinguisher looks like? Then yes.


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## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

No, it's plastic, kind of bottle-ish. I don't whether or not its under pressure - I think it may be, because the CO2 is being produced, but then it is released. ???


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## rba (Aug 25, 2006)

CO2 media? Not what I thought, may not put out enough to make a big difference. Might just toss in an airstone at night to prevent problems.

Are you measuring your CO2 levels?


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2006)

Pressurized CO2 is from a CO2 cylinder....its either Aluminum or something else (steel maybe?)...its a silver cylinder and has carbon dioxide gas in it....not a mixture. If you are mixing up yeast, sugar, and water...that is the yeast method which produces CO2...its basically DIY in a fancy bottle.

Chances are its not lowering your pH too much and you can leave it on. But I would check like stated above just to make sure. If it is dropping too much you can just add an airstone at night. Its hard to turn off a yeast mixture. I would just use an airstone to out gas the CO2 at night.



> I have a basic, store-bought CO2 injector into my tank (a pump attached to a canister under pressure, that lets out a little sploosh of bubbles every 10-20 seconds)


It sounds like the Red Sea Turbo system....which is a DIY type method of yeast CO2. Or something similar...


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## Zoe (Feb 26, 2006)

Yep, it's just yeast in a store-bought bottle, with a pump. I figured it wasn't pressurized.



> Chances are its not lowering your pH too much and you can leave it on. But I would check like stated above just to make sure. If it is dropping too much you can just add an airstone at night. Its hard to turn off a yeast mixture. I would just use an airstone to out gas the CO2 at night.


I just put the pump on a timer... Will that cause problems?


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2006)

Putting the pump on a timer won't cause any problems at all. Some CO2 will leak out (which is good...the yeast kind are under pressurized but isn't "pressurized" pure CO2...if that makes sense) but not enough to make the pH drop drastically.

I have the Red Sea Turbo system thing which comes with a pump diffusor and I started using the pump with a 2 liter juice bottle. The cylinder thing that came with it is only 1 L...soon I'm going to add another 2 liter bottle, so I may have to put my pump on a timer if it drops my pH alot.  I think the pump works well at injecting CO2....better than airstones that some people use with DIY.


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## girth vader (Apr 24, 2006)

turning off CO2 at night is NOT a must pressurized or not. It depends on the PH and CO2 values in the morning. I know plenty of ppl that have their CO2 running 24/7 and half the info you will find on different sites come from these guys. If your sustem is high tech, which yours isn't, then you always have the option if your PH levels are dropping low. If your PH is stable then it's not an issue at all!
Let your water parameters dictate your actions, they usually lead you down the right path


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