[TorontoPlantMan]

Hey everyone,

So I finally saved up enough to put together/build a pressurized co2 system and have a few questions regarding water changes.

Generally in Brampton our water has a PH of 7.5/7.6, so I can assume that with using pressurized CO2 my PH will now be at 6.5/6.6 which I confirmed with a test kit.

Now here is where I'm a bit confused...most of us run CO2 only when our lights our on, (hense the solenoid), but others use solenoid simply as a way to turn off the CO2 if the power shuts off and let it run 24/7. So i'd assume they'd have a constant PH where-as the people who turn it off at night have a fluctuating PH.

My question really is if I'm only using pressurized CO2 during the day, when is the best time to do a water change? Is it at night because the PH is already rising due to the CO2 not being on? or should I change the water anytime? Also I'm worried about changing too much water at once now and drastically changing the PH.

I'm using the pressurized CO2 on a 37 gallon tall aquarium, 30X12X22.

I'd appreciate any inputs and/or tips on how you do your water changes if you're using pressurized CO2.

 

[hendy8888]

I asked this when I started pressurized co2 as well. I was told on other forums that the pH swing due to co2 does not matter. I run my co2 during the day only, I have done water changes at random times. I have not witnessed any stress on my fish including Discus. A lot of people recently post about better growth in plants on water change days and do them a couple hours into the light schedule to maximize this. I personally have not tested this. The new water from the tap is rich in co2 and 02 which the plants thrive with is how I understand it.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Ryan s]

Co2

When using co2, and you do a water change, and the pH changes, it does not matter, and will not do any harm to your fish. I do my water changers any time during a specific day I do my water changes. My co2 comes on two hour before the lights, then one hour before lights off. I use a timer for lights and co2.

 

[Kimchi24]

Glad to hear you are doing pressurized now, mate! Now I know pH swings are a concern. When I got my first pressurized system I had worries that pH swings would piss my fish off haha. From experience, I do all my water changes nearing the end of the day anyways due to school and work. It has worked out for me so far. If you do a Water change mid day, the co2 levels should regulate themselves after a while. If you are worried about a ph swing, the best thing to do would be to either run co2 in the new aged water or not it run co2 for water change day.

 

[TorontoPlantMan]

Thanks everyone for the help, I'll try doing the water changes mid-day or maybe in the morning/night. I've still yet to do a water change and it's been close to 3 weeks, just too nervous I'm going to kill my fish

 

[10G]

Sweet, pressurized CO2. I've ran my pressurized CO2 on timers and 24/7 and did water changes whenever I wanted. Plants and livestock were fine in both cases, maybe the fish/shrimp I'm keeping are just very hardy. Neon tetras, platy fry, otos, ghost shrimps, and one cherry shrimp. Just speaking from my experience.

@ approximately 2 bubbles per second, I know all equipment are different and the size of bubbles are different blah blah blah, but approximately 2 bubbles per second using a DICI regulator and bubble counter. Just in case the CO2 police come and yell at me, haha.

A.