Comments on: Determining CO2 levels by testing the pH and KH of your aquarium http://aquadaily.com/2009/01/29/co2-ph-kh-chart/ Tips and news for aquarium owners Tue, 20 Dec 2011 01:53:32 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Mary Leonard http://aquadaily.com/2009/01/29/co2-ph-kh-chart/comment-page-1/#comment-779 Mary Leonard Thu, 07 Apr 2011 03:09:21 +0000 http://aquadaily.com/?p=785#comment-779 Does anyone carbonate their water daily using a Fizz Giz? If you siphon off a 16.9oz (1/2 liter) bottle of water into an appropriately sized soda bottle, at a given temperature (say, 75-d F), a specific amount of co2 can be introduced into the bottle at a specified pressure. The amount can easily be determined in grams. If you know the volume of water in your tank, in liters, you can determine the number of grams of co2 you wish to introduce into the tank and infuse that amount into a common PET soda bottle at a specified pressure. High pressure levels offer the advantage of more thorough and instantaneous infusion. Using this sites PH/KH chart, you can determine the amount used up by the plants EVERY day because you KNOW precisely how much you are putting in. Bubbling co2 through a vertical column of water transfers some co2 to the water as each bubble rises to the top. The larger portion of co2 remains undissolved as it reaches the surface. I would imagine some of it sits there on the surface of the water and is slowly dissolved into the tank water. But it seems likely that most of it dissipates into the air in the room and is lost. I think I would like knowing exactly how much co2 I put into the tank daily and knowing that it is thoroughly dissolved into the water when it is introduced. I'm sure some of the co2 will break the surface of the water and be lost from the system and some will stay. But if the loss at the surface is minimal compared to that comsumed by the plants during photosynthesis, you could pretty much keep a finger on the pulse of your plants' daily consumption of co2. I think that would be cool to know. Anyway, just my 2-cents worth. Maybe someone's already looked into this and has some answers in the form of empirical data to share. Does anyone carbonate their water daily using a Fizz Giz? If you siphon off a 16.9oz (1/2 liter) bottle of water into an appropriately sized soda bottle, at a given temperature (say, 75-d F), a specific amount of co2 can be introduced into the bottle at a specified pressure. The amount can easily be determined in grams. If you know the volume of water in your tank, in liters, you can determine the number of grams of co2 you wish to introduce into the tank and infuse that amount into a common PET soda bottle at a specified pressure. High pressure levels offer the advantage of more thorough and instantaneous infusion. Using this sites PH/KH chart, you can determine the amount used up by the plants EVERY day because you KNOW precisely how much you are putting in. Bubbling co2 through a vertical column of water transfers some co2 to the water as each bubble rises to the top. The larger portion of co2 remains undissolved as it reaches the surface. I would imagine some of it sits there on the surface of the water and is slowly dissolved into the tank water. But it seems likely that most of it dissipates into the air in the room and is lost. I think I would like knowing exactly how much co2 I put into the tank daily and knowing that it is thoroughly dissolved into the water when it is introduced. I’m sure some of the co2 will break the surface of the water and be lost from the system and some will stay. But if the loss at the surface is minimal compared to that comsumed by the plants during photosynthesis, you could pretty much keep a finger on the pulse of your plants’ daily consumption of co2. I think that would be cool to know.

Anyway, just my 2-cents worth. Maybe someone’s already looked into this and has some answers in the form of empirical data to share.

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