FoundMoney
Fish Crazy
I recently purchased a Fluval 88g pressurized CO2 kit and wanted to share my experiences with the community as I didn't see much posted on this product in the forums.
First, let me state that I don't always run my tank "by the book". I have 30 gallon that has been running continuously for about 10 years. From the beginning, it's been a planted tank but I've had varying degrees of success with plants. It took me about 2 years to get the tank to the point where I could get plants to grow fairly well. Although to put it in context, with the exception of a couple of plant types, growth was slow and it seemed like after a year or so a lot of plants started to die out. I had a couple of changes in my tank that had negative effects on my plants. First, I had to replace my lights as my old standard fluorescent fixture died. I replaced it with a T5 HO fixture and went from about 50 watts to 78 watts. Then I had to move my tank to another room and remove most of the water and livestock. I don't really think moving the tank had much effect but more likely the lights. After going to the higher wattage, algae become much more of an issue. Limiting the lights only had the effect of not providing enough light for the plants to grow, while allowing the algae to continue thriving.
Currently the tank is stocked with 2 Juripari, 1 Parkinson's Rainbow Fish, 8 Rummy Nose Tetras, 2 Otocinclus, and 1 small Pleco type catfish (about 3 inches - not really sure what it is). Current plants are Ludwigia Repens, Cabomba, Vallisneria, and Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze. Everything but the crypt I recently added. With the tank conditions and the Juripari, which like to uproot my pants, I got rid of the last of my plants with the exception of the crypt. While it didn't look good and had very few leaves, it still had some fairly robust roots so I decided to leave it.
I had read a lot about adding CO2 to a tank over the years, but had never thought it was something for me. Although I do regular water changes, I don't get very technical with my tanks. In the past, full pressurized CO2 systems were more money than I wanted to spend, and the idea of a DIY system seemed like too much work to assemble and maintain. However, I wanted to put plants back in my tank but was afraid that I'd have algae problems again, so decided to look into CO2 again. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Fluval CO2 kits. They seemed like a compromise between a full CO2 system and putting together a DIY system (either with a yeast mixture or from paintball or similar equipment). I purchased the 88g kit for about $60.
The kit contains a regulator, 1 88g canister of CO2, bubble counter, diffuser and tubing. Everything seems to be of fairly good quality. The regulator is not a full fledged dual gauge professional model; it only has a pressure gauge for the canister, but output is fairly easy to control with the bubble counter, although it can be a little finicky if you try to start/stop it. The bubble counter and diffuser are plastic but seem to function adequately. The only thing that I needed to add was a check valve between the diffuser and bubble counter so water didn't get sucked back into the regulator, potentially damaging it or shortening its life.
So far I'm still on the first canister and the pressure gauge has just dropped below 1000 PSI and is currently at 850. Not sure how much longer it will last but its feasible I'll get another week or two out of it. I've already purchased a 3 pack of replacement cartridges at about $10 each. That should last me for the next 3 months or so.
I've now had the CO2 running for about 3 weeks at a rate of 1 bubble/second on the bubble counter and so far, so good. Plant growth seems to be better than my previous experience, even when things were going fairly well. The cabomba, which I had some success with in the past, is doing better than I've ever seen. The plant is less brittle with fewer needles breaking off and clogging the filter intake tube, growth is faster, and I'm even getting some triangle leaves and possibly some flower buds. The ludwigia is also growing very fast, and I've already had to trim it back a couple of times. The val seems to be taking a bit longer to settle in but one plant has very robust growth. A couple of others are doing OK, but they aren't rooting very quickly. My Juripari probably has a lot to do with that.
As I said, I don't do things by the book and generally try to keep things easy in terms of maintenance. However, I did realize that too much CO2 is not good for the fish so I decided to also get the Fluval drop checker as well. It took a little experimentation to get levels close but I know how have the checker at a pretty consistent green color. I let the CO2 run all night but I do turn it down a little bit when the lights are off and raise it a little when they're on. So far, I've had slight algae problems, especially green hair (string? never can get my algae types straight) algae growing on the highest leaves of the ludwigia, cabomba and val. I've done a little trimming and some manual removal and things seem to be getting better. However, some of the larger ludwigia leaves also have some green (spot?) algae that can't be removed manually. As I trim the plants, I remove some of the most egregious leaves. New growth doesn't seem to be affected by this algae at all.
So far I'm pretty happy with the purchase. The system is very easy to set up and maintain and my plants have been responding well. I have it running at about 1 bubble every 1-2 seconds. Compared to other pressurized systems, the cost of entry is very low and it was easy for a relatively non-technical person with limited time to get up and running. Long term the cost per ownership is probably higher than a DIY system or larger pressurized system. If CO2 usuage holds up, 88g cartridges will cost me about $10/month, so a year of operation will probably run around $170. However, the initial outlay was fairly low and I can certainly afford $10 a month (less than the cost of Flourish Excel). I do have some concerns about the longevity of the regulator and understand that I probably won't get more than 2 years out of it. That said, if I find in 2 years that CO2 is something I need to have, I can consider a more robust system.
Pros:
Cons:
First, let me state that I don't always run my tank "by the book". I have 30 gallon that has been running continuously for about 10 years. From the beginning, it's been a planted tank but I've had varying degrees of success with plants. It took me about 2 years to get the tank to the point where I could get plants to grow fairly well. Although to put it in context, with the exception of a couple of plant types, growth was slow and it seemed like after a year or so a lot of plants started to die out. I had a couple of changes in my tank that had negative effects on my plants. First, I had to replace my lights as my old standard fluorescent fixture died. I replaced it with a T5 HO fixture and went from about 50 watts to 78 watts. Then I had to move my tank to another room and remove most of the water and livestock. I don't really think moving the tank had much effect but more likely the lights. After going to the higher wattage, algae become much more of an issue. Limiting the lights only had the effect of not providing enough light for the plants to grow, while allowing the algae to continue thriving.
Currently the tank is stocked with 2 Juripari, 1 Parkinson's Rainbow Fish, 8 Rummy Nose Tetras, 2 Otocinclus, and 1 small Pleco type catfish (about 3 inches - not really sure what it is). Current plants are Ludwigia Repens, Cabomba, Vallisneria, and Cryptocoryne Wendtii Bronze. Everything but the crypt I recently added. With the tank conditions and the Juripari, which like to uproot my pants, I got rid of the last of my plants with the exception of the crypt. While it didn't look good and had very few leaves, it still had some fairly robust roots so I decided to leave it.
I had read a lot about adding CO2 to a tank over the years, but had never thought it was something for me. Although I do regular water changes, I don't get very technical with my tanks. In the past, full pressurized CO2 systems were more money than I wanted to spend, and the idea of a DIY system seemed like too much work to assemble and maintain. However, I wanted to put plants back in my tank but was afraid that I'd have algae problems again, so decided to look into CO2 again. I was pleasantly surprised to find the Fluval CO2 kits. They seemed like a compromise between a full CO2 system and putting together a DIY system (either with a yeast mixture or from paintball or similar equipment). I purchased the 88g kit for about $60.
The kit contains a regulator, 1 88g canister of CO2, bubble counter, diffuser and tubing. Everything seems to be of fairly good quality. The regulator is not a full fledged dual gauge professional model; it only has a pressure gauge for the canister, but output is fairly easy to control with the bubble counter, although it can be a little finicky if you try to start/stop it. The bubble counter and diffuser are plastic but seem to function adequately. The only thing that I needed to add was a check valve between the diffuser and bubble counter so water didn't get sucked back into the regulator, potentially damaging it or shortening its life.
So far I'm still on the first canister and the pressure gauge has just dropped below 1000 PSI and is currently at 850. Not sure how much longer it will last but its feasible I'll get another week or two out of it. I've already purchased a 3 pack of replacement cartridges at about $10 each. That should last me for the next 3 months or so.
I've now had the CO2 running for about 3 weeks at a rate of 1 bubble/second on the bubble counter and so far, so good. Plant growth seems to be better than my previous experience, even when things were going fairly well. The cabomba, which I had some success with in the past, is doing better than I've ever seen. The plant is less brittle with fewer needles breaking off and clogging the filter intake tube, growth is faster, and I'm even getting some triangle leaves and possibly some flower buds. The ludwigia is also growing very fast, and I've already had to trim it back a couple of times. The val seems to be taking a bit longer to settle in but one plant has very robust growth. A couple of others are doing OK, but they aren't rooting very quickly. My Juripari probably has a lot to do with that.
As I said, I don't do things by the book and generally try to keep things easy in terms of maintenance. However, I did realize that too much CO2 is not good for the fish so I decided to also get the Fluval drop checker as well. It took a little experimentation to get levels close but I know how have the checker at a pretty consistent green color. I let the CO2 run all night but I do turn it down a little bit when the lights are off and raise it a little when they're on. So far, I've had slight algae problems, especially green hair (string? never can get my algae types straight) algae growing on the highest leaves of the ludwigia, cabomba and val. I've done a little trimming and some manual removal and things seem to be getting better. However, some of the larger ludwigia leaves also have some green (spot?) algae that can't be removed manually. As I trim the plants, I remove some of the most egregious leaves. New growth doesn't seem to be affected by this algae at all.
So far I'm pretty happy with the purchase. The system is very easy to set up and maintain and my plants have been responding well. I have it running at about 1 bubble every 1-2 seconds. Compared to other pressurized systems, the cost of entry is very low and it was easy for a relatively non-technical person with limited time to get up and running. Long term the cost per ownership is probably higher than a DIY system or larger pressurized system. If CO2 usuage holds up, 88g cartridges will cost me about $10/month, so a year of operation will probably run around $170. However, the initial outlay was fairly low and I can certainly afford $10 a month (less than the cost of Flourish Excel). I do have some concerns about the longevity of the regulator and understand that I probably won't get more than 2 years out of it. That said, if I find in 2 years that CO2 is something I need to have, I can consider a more robust system.
Pros:
- Low cost of entry
- Easy to set up
- Quality is decent for the money
- Good way for a beginner to start with CO2
Cons:
- Long term costs cold be high relative to other methods and systems due to small CO2 canister
- Regulator is single gauge and has a limited life compared to more robust models
- No way to easily add a solenoid to control CO2 with a timer or add other accessories
- Regulator valve seems to be a little temperamental if you turn on and off or try to adjust the flow too much. (best to leave on continuously)
