# Change over to ADA Amazonia



## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Just wondering....Changed over to Amazonia three weeks ago and the plants have never been growing better.

The question I have is, since changing over to the ADA, my PH has lowered from 6.6 tp 5.7. i have the CO2 on a meter which the setting at 6.3. HOWEVER.....

Since the setting is at 6.3 and the PH stays around 5.7 -5.8 the CO2 never comes on.

Should I leave it alone or lower the PH setting to 5.5 -5.6? Plants are growing well, but they have been without CO2 for 2 weeks, except on the weekends when I do a wate change. They get the CO2 for the day on Sat, but after that the PH goes back down to 5.7


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

You can't use a pH controller with Aquasoil. Well, you can, but not in the conventional manner. The pH / KH chart becomes irrellevant due to the buffering properties of the Aquasoil.

Most people set a bubble rate of 1-3 bbs (bubbles per second) using their bubble counter. If this is for your 150 gallon I would suggest using 2 bbs and upping it only if you see a need.


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

*Sooooo*

So what r u saying? As long as the fish are not stressed keep the CO2 going? Maybee Jeff S can chime in on this........


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## MrSanders (Mar 5, 2006)

If it were me I would loose the controller and run with the CO2 on a timer. I turn mine on about an hour before the lights come on, and shut it off about an hour before the lights go out. it runs all day through the photo period at a set bubble rate.

You can use it with the AS, but i feel you may very well run into problems, mostly around WC days when pull out all of that soft low PH water, and replace it with tap water with a much higher PH, your CO2 is going to turn on and its not going to shut off until it hits that low PH, however it is probably going to take a day or two for the AS to lower the PH in the water at all.... so basically what your going to end up with on WC days is much much more CO2 than during the rest of the week.... enough that it may or may no cause problems with your live stock. You can try to work it out and get a set PH point with the lower PH, but I would be aware of the possible problems you can run into when changing out a large amount of the water


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## Avalon (Mar 7, 2005)

I noticed the drastic drop in pH when I first added AS. I run CO2 24/7, and all is well. The buffering properties have been reduced some, but the pH still runs pretty low. The numbers from test kits can throw you for a loop, but if you just watch the fish and adjust your CO2 by their breathing habits, coloration, finnage (clamped or not), you can get a good feel for a 'healthy' enviornment. There's really a fine line between enough CO2 for plants and too much for fish, so you really just have to adjust day by day, and in small amounts, regardless the way you inject CO2. One thing I have noticed, the tetras are much happier and much more colorful in soft water (RO w/ AS) than in the old hard tap water I used to use. Plants like it too!


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## danepatrick (Sep 18, 2006)

jdigiorgio said:


> So what r u saying? As long as the fish are not stressed keep the CO2 going?


yep. i've learned that over time.


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## jdigiorgio (Jan 29, 2004)

Well, I turned on the CO2 yesterday since it has not been on for days and now as I write this, I see around 10 dead cardinals. The ph only dropped to 5.6 so that should not have killed them..

Does anyone add Equilibium with there AS?


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

I would like to know about the Equilibium with AS too.


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