Re: NANFA-- amano

Bruce Stallsmith (fundulus_at_hotmail.com)
Mon, 12 Nov 2001 23:02:32 -0500

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>I've been using a DIY CO2 setup for awhile. Though regulation of the flow
>is
>tricky it does regulate the pH well. I'm using a canister filter and have
>the co2
>bubbling into the intake. By the time the water flows out the other side
>it is
>thoroughly dissolved.
The daily pH spike to which Martin is something typical of natural waters in
the summer. When I was working on continuous pH monitoring of two ponds in
Massachusetts, hot sunny day could push the pH in these ponds from around 6
up to 10 by around 2 p.m. By 5 p.m. the pH would usually be back around 7.
These were ponds with poor bicarbonate/carbonate systems, so that
photosynthetic demand for CO2 (and bicarbonate HCO3-) would push the mass
balance of the buffer system way up to the basic end (pH 10). At the same
time, one of these ponds was prone to acidic spikes down to pH 3.3. Both
ponds had healthy plant growth, and healthy fish populations.

So, I guess I doubt that this kind of pH cyclicity is inherently stressful
to plants. A permanent pH shift due to other chemicals could be harmful... I
dunno. My skeptical side always wondered if people who achieve tremenjous
plant growth in their tanks are doing something more important than fighting
gas solubility constants, i.e. they create better conditions for plant
growth by choice of substrate etc. I'm sure that Amano (and Casper?!?) are
doing some such other twist.

>Amano's stuff is really quite beautiful. It would go well with some
>rainbow
>darters or a few red shiners.
Yeah, my red shiners look good just with my non-injected lush growth of
Elodea plants. Darters as a group just don't seem to hang out with plants,
either in nature or in aquaria.

--Bruce Stallsmith
Huntsville, AL, US of A

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