Help Resting ph of 5.7 during dark start

[flex]

Hej,

I have been in the hobby since 2006, recently I got a co2 reactor with an inline ph probe for the first time.

I am doing a dark start on this tank, using the full ada substrate system and the object this time is a dutch scape. I have never really paid any attention to ph during a dark start, but this time I have the probe and controller so I can see it has gone from 5.9 to 5.7 in 2 weeks with no co2 being added. I am using ro water with kh0 dk3 30tds.

If I go for 1ph drop to get 30ppm dissolved co2 but thats going to be super acidic. Maybe the ph will swing back to a normal level when the tank is cycled? Should I add some kh buffer to bring i up to 3kh? Any advice?

 

[Naturescapes_Rocco]

I ran this tank with ADA Amazonia, 0KH, and a lowest CO2-injected pH of ~5.2pH every day for about a year. Up to ~6.2pH every morning, then back down to 5.2pH every midmorning for the entire photoperiod.

pH, especially with aquasoil-based tanks, is just not that big of a deal. Your pH of 5.9 is totally fine. Let the cycle do it's thing, you should be fine!

 

[Koan]

using the full ada substrate system

Welcome!

ADA Aqua soil is famous for releasing extremely large amounts of ammonia into the water column for quite a while. This will have the effect of lowering your pH significantly.

As @Naturescapes_Rocco says, your plants will not care More info here

Is pH important in a planted aquarium ?

What is pH? Does it matter in a planted aquarium and what range is a good target if so ? This page explains what pH reading means to your planted tank setup.

www.2hraquarist.com

If you do want to mitigate this pH drop, to benefit livestock for example, potassium carbonate is a good way to buffer this effect.

You can calculate how many degrees KH° a given quantity of potassium carbonate will raise your tank using the calculator here

 

[flex]

Thanks for all the responses, I appreciate greatly the level of experience available on here, it reminds me of the old days on APC and plantedtank forums!

I was planning to run my co2 24hrs per day since I have the controller on there, does that sound like a good idea?

I do have a timer plug I can put between the gate from the controller and the powerstrip but I am wary of having multiple levels of plug plugged in is there any fire risk?