aquqclear filters and co2

[danski]

well i took the co2 plunge today and picked up one of the hagen ladders for my 29gal tank. I spoke with one of the fellers at aquabotanics after placing an order for some more plants and he had said that i should be fine with only one co2 ladder in my 29gal but they are made for up to 20gal. My question is i read that too much surface aggitation can cause a loss of co2. So should i run my filters on the lowest flow rate and will this cause any filtration problems since i noticed on high flow it kickes up alot of the grime off of the sand. im only at 2wpg but thought the co2 might be beneficial anyway. so with that -high flow or low flow-and will a combination of both cause problems. I like to run them on high after feeding to collect up the left overs if there are any. thanks

 

[zig]

Yes the addition of co2 will definatly benifit your setup, now the trick is to keep the co2 in the water long enough for the plants to take advantage of it, so you are correct in that less surface agitation will retain the co2 longer, this is one of the reasons why external cannister filters are preferred as a method of filtration in planted tanks because the outflow can be directed into the tank below the surface and thus reduces surface agitation , this does not mean that you dont want a flow or current throughout the tank, you do.

Basically if you are turning over 3x your tank volume by your filter per hour (in your case a 29g tank is 110 litres so 3x110 per hour) that would be sufficient for a planted tank, you dont need an awful lot of filtration as the plants do a lot of that work for you, they act as very good biological filtration.

As to your other question of turning your filter high for feeding and then low the rest of the time, i have heard of people doing this, but i would keep it to a minimum, only feed your fish once a day would be my suggestion.

And try and keep your co2 as constant as you can, 25-30ppm should be your target.

Im not familar with aquaclear filters but i presume they are internal filters, try and position the filter in such a way that the outflow is directed beneath the surface of the water, not skimming along the top and then this should work fine for you.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Your AC will outgas your co2- if you can switch to internal or canisiter you are much better off. I would consider using Flourish Excel on your tank as it is set up- it may be enough w/o the ladder system and wont outgas.

 

[danski]

thank you but what exactly does outgas mean? are you saying that i can safely remove the co2 and just use flourish excel? im currentky using just flourish. id really rather not have to worry bout the co2 injection if possible but id like to see what would happen with the plants and good co2.

 

[danski]

bump ^^^^anyone^^^^^

 

[danski]

im kinda puzzled by this outgas thingy. anyone know exactly what this means? i wouldnt want to try and get some co2 running only to have it all cancellel out by my filters.

 

[zig]

What is the rating of the filter lph, tank turnover rate liters or gallons per hour, in other words how powerful is the filter ? and can the filter be directed below the water surface?

 

[danski]

sorry just got back.well im running two filters one at 100gph and a second at 200gph tota; 300gph. does any of this mean im running the co2 for nothing? i hope i didnt spend the money for nothin.

 

[zig]

With the 2 filters running you have more than 10x the tank volume turning over every hour, way to much for a planted setup, like i said you really want to target somewhere around 3x, minimiseing surface agitation is the key to keeping the co2 in the water to make it available to the plants, my tank is larger than yours and i have 3.25 water volume turnover per hour with minimal surface agitation and my water is crystal clear its not a problem having this amount of turnover.

 

[abstract]

to answer your question, no you did not purchase the co2 setup for nothing...just do the best to minimize surface agitation....raise water levels, find a way to minimize the flow from the HOB filters, etc so that the water isn't splashing on the surface - creating o2 bubbles, which in turn could lower your co2 concentration

 

[danski]

thanks zig and abstract. I just did a whole water param check and heres what i come up with.
kh=6 degrees (if i did it right) or 107.4ppm
gh=7 degrees (again^^^^^) or 125.3 ppm
ph= 7.6
so i think my co2 is at 7.2ppm low
nitrate=10 ppm
nitrite=0ppm
ammo=0ppm
abstract im on my way now to raise the water to barely below spillway to reduce losses
zig thanks again.I thought that overfiltration was a good thing.At least thats what i read in some of my posts,but now it sounds like it could be a hinder. Should i just take off the 100gph?
I really thought i could just put the co2 ladder in as a supplement so the plants might benefit in some way. So is it a bad thing if the tank is not at a straight 30ppm or is that the ideal range that even has an affect on plants.
as usual thanks again p.s i now have a photo up if you click on my screen name. Its the best i could do.

 

[abstract]

well it is all about balance...the higher light you have and the more nutrients you use, the higher dose of co2 your plants will use up...any co2 at all will help, but as your tank becomes more planted you will notice the co2 content drop...at that point it may be wise/necessary to buy another nutrafin kit to add even more co2

 

[danski]

thanks again abstract i am gonna look into another ladder today. gotta do some returns with my wife and since its right next the lfs i offered to help her out
little does she know...

 

[zig]

Try adding more yeast to your existing unit when you make up a mix, this will rise your co2 level and maybe save you some money, just a thought.

Id be careful getting rid of the other filter, although it would be preferable, the problem is that the filter will contain benificial bacteria that is breaking down your fish waste, if you remove it you are also removeing the bacteria, and you will go into a mini cycle situation as your other filter plays catchup as it reproduces more bacteria to deal with the new load placed upon it.

Just something to be aware of, if you do remove it i would test for a while to make sure everything is ok.