PH/KH/CO2 Chart - Reliability | Aquatic Plant Forum

Menu Log in Sign up

• Home
• Forums
• General Interest Forums
• El Natural

mysiak M I was wondering what CO2 levels I could have in my natural planted tanks and I remembered that there exists this nice chart. I don't know if I missed something or my water test kit (test stripes) are so wrong, but per the chart I have ~40-50ppm of CO2 which sounds odd. Shouldn't be fish showing heavy discomfort at these values? Also it should be "plants heaven" at these levels of CO2, but I still can grow only "easy" plants. I am going to order fresh test kit, but it will take a few days to arrive. Is there another explanation..? For the second tank it's about 25ppm of calculated CO2, which sounds a bit high as well, but at least it's safe value. Source: https://gregthecrazyfishguy.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/screen-shot-2010-10-05-at-5-00-45-pm.png #1 · Feb 9, 2020 I was wondering what CO2 levels I could have in my natural planted tanks and I remembered that there exists this nice chart. I don't know if I missed something or my water test kit (test stripes) are so wrong, but per the chart I have ~40-50ppm of CO2 which sounds odd. Shouldn't be fish showing heavy discomfort at these values? Also it should be "plants heaven" at these levels of CO2, but I still can grow only "easy" plants. I am going to order fresh test kit, but it will take a few days to arrive. Is there another explanation..? For the second tank it's about 25ppm of calculated CO2, which sounds a bit high as well, but at least it's safe value. Source: https://gregthecrazyfishguy.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/screen-shot-2010-10-05-at-5-00-45-pm.png See less See more 1 Sort by Oldest first Oldest first Newest first Most reactions #2 · Feb 9, 2020 It's only reliable if you have very soft water and nothing in your tank that influence the pH & kH like driftwood, dirt, rocks, etc... a drop checker is more reliable since it's a controlled liquid (4dkH) in the drop checker but I doubt it's readable in a dirt take with less than 20ppm of co2. There's also a co2 test kit that's more accurate https://www.hannainst.com/hi3818-carbon-dioxide-test-kit.html #3 · Feb 9, 2020 Drop checkers can measure very low CO2 levels if you use low KH water in them: 0 Reply #4 · Feb 9, 2020 Ohhh, that makes sense but it'll be hard to make a low dKH solution, maybe. It might be easy to get a known 4dkH and add known volumes of distilled water to divide the dkH to the desired dkH. I'd go with that CO2 test kit though. #5 · Feb 9, 2020 Thank you gents, that explains it. I'll read more about drop checker method and look around for dedicated CO2 test as well. Once the virus outbreak is over, I will probably order what's cheaper from eBay/ali. #6 · Feb 9, 2020 Ms. Walstad mentions in her book that she used LaMotte® Carbon Dioxide Test Kit. It costs around 45 USD and it has a 1 ppm resolution between 0-50 ppm. More accurate details on the LaMotte website. I would be very interested to see similar measurements on NPTs to the one the book shows. (CO2 level vs time after lights switched on) Insert Quotes Post Reply

1. ?
2. ?
3. ?
4. ?
5. ?
6. ?
7. ?
8. ?
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. ?
13. ?
14. ?
15. ?
16. ?
17. ?
18. ?
19. ?
20. ?

posts 734K members 55K Since 2003 A forum community dedicated to aquatic plant owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about collections, displays, tanks, styles, troubleshooting, reviews, accessories, classifieds, and more! Show Less Full Forum Listing Explore Our Forums General Aquarium Plants Discussions Aquascaping El Natural Equipment New to Planted Aquariums

Top Contributors this Month

View All Dirtbag_Gentility20 24 Replies MrBland 22 Replies A animal1x 7 Replies

Recommended Communities

Cichlid Fish Forum 114K members The Planted Tank Forum 150K members Can-Am electric vehicles 40 members

• Home
• Forums
• General Interest Forums
• El Natural