DIY co2 and PH?

[REEVESTA]

Im thinking about setting up diy co2 but am unsure about the ph fluctuations is there anyway to to stop it?

My tank is about 115l and has a large piece of driftwood in it with rams, angels, corys,barbs and tetras.

What do i need to know and have to set a diy system up?

Any tips?

[amtiskaw]

What's your kh? If your kh is high enough, it'll help prevent ph swings. My Kh is 3 and seems stable pH wise

Basically, once you know your kh, you adjust the CO2 flow to get the right drop in pH. The drop in pH tells you how much CO2 is being dissolved into the water.

Have a look at this chart.

If your kh was 3.0 and your pH was 7 you'd have CO2 dissolved at 8.7 ppm. For a well lit planted tank you want to aim for 30 ppm, so you'd have to increase the CO2 flow until your pH dropped to 6.4 which would give you 35 ppm

Since you're going DIY, I don't think you can use a needle valve to adjust the CO2 flow, so you'll have to mess about with bottle sizing to get the right CO2 flow.

[alanmin4304]

If you have a diy system you have to let it run 24/7 until it stops producing gass. Once running it will therefore not flutuate but will lower the pH and maintain it until the gas production decreases and it slowly returns to normal.

[amtiskaw]

Then the OP just needs to make sure there's enough buffering to prevent too big a pH swing

[the-obstacle]

I doubt you'd get a big pH swing with DIY unless it's a little tank and 2 x 3 litre DIY bottles.