co2 in Discus Tank

[BK]

What do people think about co2 unit for Discus tank. I've not used co2 before so unsure what will happen. Read that pH will drop and hardness increase. Does anyone have one running in there own Discus tank? Your throughs??

[suphew]

CO2 is fine with Discus, just watch if you are planning on a yeast type cause it is hard to get the output stable which might cause the PH to swing.

[BK]

Yeh this is what I'm concerned with pH swing. Yeast would be what I'll start out with and I'll take it from there. What can I do to make system staff. Constant flow of Co2 with tap? What happens when yeast runs out. Have down load heaps of info. Whats It like to use. Do you use it? what do you do to make for safe operation. May be try out on Angel tank fist.

[suphew]

Yeah if you have another tank to try it out on that first. I tried the yeast method for a few months but gave up cause I got sick of fiddling with it to get it run right and having to make it up so often. So I build a DIY unit that used a sodastream bottle, this worked well and I used it for a couple of years. One day I realised that I was putting alot of effort into making my plants grow fast then spending an hour each week removing them! So I removed the CO2.

Making it safe just takes time and fiddling, there is a posting under technical with instructions for making the system safe from putting yeast into your tank. To stop the PH swing you just have to make sure you have a constant supply of CO2, i.e. make up another batch before the first runs out etc.

[Luke*]

Check your general and carbonate hardness before adding CO2. You want about 6KH (carbonate hardness) to keep a constant pH. Most places in New Zealand have soft water. Here i have 0-1GH and 0-1KH so I add baking soda to raise the hardness and keep the pH stable. CO2 leads to quick pH crashes without any buffer if you have soft water.