Discus died over night with new co2 setup

[axl]

Hi,
i woke up this morning to find all my 8 beautiful discus dead and can't believe whats has happened. I setup co2 last night for the first time on the tank with all the co2 gear brand new.

ph set on co2 controller - ph 6.89
KH - 5
ph when i went to bed was 6.9 with the green drop checker dark green
ph this morning was 6.91

The kH was 0 last night and i have raised it to 5 with bi carb soda and there were smaller fish gasping at the top but still alive.

I'm very nervous about using co2 now as Im in the planning stages of setting up a 6x2x2 and i was only setting up the co2 on this temporary tank to get a fill for it and look what has happened. The drop checker was at the bottom of the tank with the fluid out of it as well

This is obliviously co2 poisoning and I want to why this has happened.???? Should i have run a air stone last night when the lights went out.???

i need serious help on this matter

Cheers Axl

[ILLUSN]

YOUR LIDS ARE TOO TIGHT AND YOU HAVE NO SURFACE AGITATION.

Basicly (especially in WARM discus water) water can only hold so much gas, as you increase the levels of disolved co2 it tries to reach equilibrium but diffusing it into the atmosphere (space above the water line below the lids) as this space fills with CO2 (or increases its partial pressure) it makes it harder for co2 to leave the system, it also makes it harder for o2 to enter the water.

leaving your lids slightly ajar and running an airstone will speed up the exchange of co2 out and O2 in.

In DENSLY planted tanks (ie more plant then water) you dont have a problem as the levels of disolved O2 are constantly saturated day and night.

I had a planted guppy tank with so many plants the fis bearly had room to swim. With CO2 at 30ppm+ every morning the guppys were gasping, ottos couldn't survive in this tank. nor could anything else but it was a nursery tank for some super RARE swords.

In normal tanks that you actually have to clean you need a system to vent the co2 at night and keep up the O2 levels. concider installing an air pump to turn on when lights turn off, if you see your fish gasping through the day leave it running 24/7 this is how my planted display tank runs. I know it seems counter intuitive to load the water with CO2 then gas it off, but remember its a just a nutrient and you need to strike balance between the needs of your plants and your fish.

Raisning your kh wasnt a good idea, now you will need MORE co2 to maintain 6.89 (as the bicarb buffers the water towards alkaline you'll need more carbonic acid to lower the pH), hence you'll have a bigger problem tonight.

[Ghoti]

Just about to head down this path myself with new CO2 gear for Christmas but yet to be hooked up.

Adrian (Exotic Aquatic) also advised me to be wary of this outcome and advised an air pump overnight. As I run two canister filters I will have one with a CO2 atomiser for the lights on period and one with an atomiser for air (O2) during the night.

Cheers,
Scott

[axl]

Hey Scott,
what a day of i have had including needing 4 new injectors on my mazda 6 diesel $3,500. Are you going to run your co2 on a controller?? If i run a air stone on at night with a timer, will this push the ph up and keep the co2 turned on all night????

What else can you do to raise your kh if you have got tap water of 0 -1 ????

[BigDaddyAdo]

Just about to head down this path myself with new CO2 gear for Christmas but yet to be hooked up.

Adrian (Exotic Aquatic) also advised me to be wary of this outcome and advised an air pump overnight. As I run two canister filters I will have one with a CO2 atomiser for the lights on period and one with an atomiser for air (O2) during the night.

Cheers,
Scott

You don't need an atomizer for O2. The point is not to make the bubbles dissolve. It is to create water movement and surface agitation.

[axl]

Hey,
running a air stone on a timer when the lights go out is that the way to go????
will this push the ph up and keep the co2 turned on????

[ILLUSN]

you want to keep up the disolved o2 levels start using the airstone at night BUT IF you see your fish gasping through the day run it 24/7.

my display tank has CO2 on a ph controller set at 6.8. Controler turns on CO2 when ph gets high, my CO2 rate is 3bps into a diffuser.

I run an airstone 24/7 to keep the O2 level high. this keeps fish and plants happy as CO2 is always high enough for the plants to go nuts and excess is vented as it accumilates. down side i use 3.5kg of CO2 every 6-8 months.

[axl]

thanks for the info mate, do you run the air pump on low with an air stone so there is only small bubbles coming out?? or run it fairly steady with consistent air coming out???

[Nev]

Most o2 is absorbed on the surface, the air stone just helps by agitating the surface.

[BobbyBruce]

Hi Axl,

Sorry to hear about your losses.

Another point to remember is that plants only use CO2 during hours of light when they are photosynthesising and release the oxygen component of the CO2. During hours of dark they use O2 and release CO2 same as all other living things. Injecting CO2 during lights off will promote this problem.

As suggested by others adding an airstone and allowing the surface to vent to atmosphere by cracking open your lids will assist.

Regards,

Bob

[ILLUSN]

I RUN MY PUMP OF FULL NOISE (SHEGO 350 FROM MEMORY)

ASsaid above its the agitation on the surface that causes the gas diffusion.

if your using a ph controller you'll want to leave your co2 system on to keep the ph stable.

[SLS]

Axl - PM Sent.

[Merrilyn]

Axl, I'm so sorry mate. I have to confess I did the same thing. Wiped out a tank of valuable fish with a new CO2 system.

I feel your pain.