roundeyze - your theory doesn't jive. Your book is for a specific situation - a planted tank. Now your arguement, the way it's read actually agree's with orion. You state that it's balancing - if it's balancing then orions argument that respiration would have little to no affect of pH would be correct. Now everyone who has had a planted tank long enough knows that 0 surface agitation is best when using CO2. Why is that. Because it releases it from the surface. Therefore, the suggestion to add an airstone is actually good advice, if indead it could be a CO2 related issue. The reason that the chart is not all too significant to pH, is that those processes they are describing are spontaneous biological processes. They happen. Every fish in every tank respires, it can not account for those unexplained circumstances in which a person can not control the pH. An aquarium may seem like a closed enviroment, but on a molecular level it's not. So yes, the process happens, but like you said it's balanced. Like they teach you in basic chemistry - for every action theres a greater or equal reaction. Thats how we are able to live. That said - I believe that the buffering capacity is most likely the cause. However, if the airstone is added and the pH hangs at 7.2, I would certainly leave it alone.
Last edited: