Co2 - Switching On And Off?

[adrianborg]

Hi,

I set my canister CO2 system on a timer so it only works when the lights are on. But I notice with some other CO2 systems you can't can't control when it's on or off.
Am I doing this right? If you can control the CO2 diffusion times as you like, would you have it on all the time, only when the lights are on, or something else?

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[DrRob]

Ideally you want good CO2 in the system while the lights are on, so general practice is to turn it on a couple of hours before the lights and off an hour or so before.

 

[adrianborg]

Ideally you want good CO2 in the system while the lights are on, so general practice is to turn it on a couple of hours before the lights and off an hour or so before.

Great - thanks! This makes sense.

 

[deftuch]

Ideally you want good CO2 in the system while the lights are on, so general practice is to turn it on a couple of hours before the lights and off an hour or so before.

i dont have a top end co2 system but i know this advice is correct.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

That's the best idea yes,mine doesn't have a solenoid so I leave it on 24/7 with no problems, only thing is it wastes CO2.

 

[adrianborg]

That's the best idea yes,mine doesn't have a solenoid so I leave it on 24/7 with no problems, only thing is it wastes CO2.

but does that not cause ph fluctuations - CO2 build-up when there's no photosynthesis?

..or maybe that happens in nature anyway?

 

[DrRob]

In nature the water is frequently refreshed by rainwater or flow from the original water source, resulting in areas of high dissolved gas and areas of low. The fish aren't bothered until it gets way outside normal.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Mines working fine lol,its more laziness on my part really, I can't be bothered to switch it on and off manually every day.