Correct Timing Of Lights & Co2

[shadowhywind]

Will keep it simple, what is the correct Timing of Lights & Co2?

Currently I have the co2 turning on at 8am, lights turning on at 9am, co2 off at 5pm, lights off at 6pm. However I'm getting an outbreak of BBA again, so i just want to double check if I have the correct timing on everything.

Thanks

 

[RadaR]

CO2 to come on 2hours before the lights. Then CO2 to go off 2hours before lights turn off. Make sure injection rate is high enough and distribution is good throughout the tank.

 

[shadowhywind]

CO2 to come on 2hours before the lights. Then CO2 to go off 2hours before lights turn off. Make sure injection rate is high enough and distribution is good throughout the tank.

2 hours? I will have to give that a try. I have a glass diffuser at the bottom of the tank, and directly under the filter output, which should be good for the distribution right?

 

[RadaR]

Yes 2 hours.
Impossible for me to tell. Most CO2 tanks should have a minimum of 10x the volume of the tank turned over every hour. For example, a 60litre tank should have atleast 600lph of flow. The flow then has to be used efficiently to create good all round circulation.
Look to see if the CO2 bubbles reach everywhere and also if the plants are all swaying. A drop checker is quite handy for placing around the tank (change it's position every few hours) to see if CO2 is high enough in those areas. See the drop checker guide.
At the end of the day though (hate that saying), the plants, fish and algae are your best guide. Dead, gasping fish is obviously not good. Not enough CO2 will cause structural failures to the plants and you'll probably see types of hair algae, brush algae or even green spot algae.
Btw it's good to have some surface movement created by the filters. A ripple is fine but you dont want anything that "breaks" the surface.

Check out Mark Evans' tank and the flow it has.