Some question on water chemistry

[fai]

Hi all,
Let me just get straight to my 1st question. How long will it take for ammonia level to drop to 0 ppm? I did a start up on Sunday 12Jul15. I did 50% water change every day. This morning when I checked, the ammonia level is at 4 ppm.
Here are more info which may help:
Tank: 35x21x23 cm
Substrate: ADA Amazonia
Conditioner: Prime (dose as per instruction)

My next question, is pH affected by CO2? My pH reading is around 6.6 this morning. But my drop checker which I install last night is still blue even after injecting CO2 for around 1.5hrs at 1bps. Should I increase the bps? Will it affect pH?

Thanks.

[Urban Aquaria]

Depending on tank setup, filtration efficiency, plant types/density and ratio of soil used, it can take anywhere between 4-6 weeks for the tank to complete cycling.

The overall cycle can be accelerated if you use seasoned bio-media from an established tank to seed the new filter.

ADA Amazonia aquasoil is designed to release alot of ammonia and nutrients to boost plant growth during tank start up, therefore its best to take advantage of all those nutrients to grow out your plants, otherwise its abit of a waste to pour out all the nutrient-rich water.

Though if you are running a shrimp-only tank with few or no plants and you are only using the soil for its pH buffering abilities, then you'll just have to keep doing more large water changes to flush out all the released ammonia and nutrients.

Yes, pH is affected by Co2... Co2 will make the water more acidic and lower the pH. The indicator solution in a drop checker is actually a form of pH measurement, it measures the Co2 content in a tank based on the KH vs PH relationship.

You can read more about it in this link: http://www.littlegreencorner.com/tipsdropchecker.html

Btw, did you mix aquarium water with the Co2 indicator solution? Because it should only be mixed with 4dKH water or else the measurements will be inaccurate. The alternative is to use pre-mixed indicator solution, those can use directly without mixing.

[fai]

Hi UA,
so I should stop the water change and continue growing the plant? Is it necessary to add fish during the cycle stage?

Anyway I'm using the premix solution from OF

[Urban Aquaria]

Hi UA,
so I should stop the water change and continue growing the plant? Is it necessary to add fish during the cycle stage?

Anyway I'm using the premix solution from OF

If you have a good amount of plants in the tank, then its not necessary to do so many large water changes, can just do the regular weekly water change regimen. Let the plants soak up the available nutrients and use them to grow.

Don't add any fishes during the cycle stage, the ADA aquasoil is already releasing sufficient ammonia to feed the beneficial bacteria, which enables them to multiply and grow. Once the tank is fully cycled, then can add fishes and shrimps.

As for your Co2, since you are using pre-mixed solution, then the readings should be correct. The drop checker does take a while to register changes in Co2 levels and change color so you just have to wait and see (usually a 1-2 hour delay).

How much BPS rate depends on the efficiency of your Co2 diffusion system... less efficient = more BPS needed, more efficient = less BPS.

If the drop checker color is still blue, then slowly increase the injection rate in small stages (each day increase abit), then watch the drop checker color change. Once you see the drop checker color become green (and maintains that way during active photoperiod), then that is the ideal injection rate. You'll have to adjust the injection rate periodically as and when your plant density (and their Co2 requirements) change over time.

Also experiment with the Co2 on/off schedule too, as that affects how the Co2 levels build up and get used up by the plants.

[fai]

��thanks UA.

[Ingen]

BPS also depends on the bubble counter that you are using... Example, those that comes with the check valve releases very tiny bubbles, the 1 bps is likely 1 bubble per few seconds for ista bubble counter.