Had It With Diy Co2

[scouse_andy]

I've been trying to set up my CO2 kit this week

I siliconed in the tubing to my pop bottle tops, left it 3 full days to seal properly and then started to set things up this evening. I then tried for ages to poke the bubble counter into the airline tubing but it refused to go. I tried putting the tubing in boiling water to soften it but this didn't really do much good. I could only just push it onto the first few millimetres of glass. In the end I was pressing so hard that I shattered the bubble counter. I then tried to push the CO2 tubing leading out of the bottle top into the non return valve and in the process pulled the tube clean out of the bottle top so my sealant certainly wasn't up to the job.

At this point I decided to give up!

I have been searching around on here looking at past topics and have two alternatives. Alternative 1 - go the pressurised CO2 route. Alternative 2 - just buy some flourish excel to dose.

I am thinking method 2 as I am fairly low light (1.25 WPG) and I'm not trying to grow very difficult plants just promote steady growth in mainly easy growing plants and win the algae battle.

What do people think?

My plan is probably to get some Seachem Flourish Excel to dose daily, plus some Seachem Flourish to dose twice a week and some Tetra Crypto root tabs for my crypts and swords at the front. Do you think I need any other ferts for my low tech tank considering that the 50% water change required for EI on my 240 litre is going to be a bit of a struggle for me to do every week. If so, which other ferts would make a real difference?

Just out of interest, how much would a pressurised system cost? I hear the setup is quite expensive but then routine costs are reasonable. I don't really think this is viable as I am only running at about 1.25 WPG and have fairly undemanding plants.

Please let me know what you think is the best way to go, I've had it with DIY. I should have known really, you should see the state of repair of my house!

By the way, if anyone is after a couple of rhinox diffusers (1000 and 2000) plus a gamba bubble counter, a load of non-return valves, a 3 way gang valve and a load of CO2 tubing then PM me. I'll ebay it if nobody is interested.

I'm off to regain my composure! Andy.

 

[nry]

Now he offers a Rhinox 1000 after I just bought one How much for it though? It may be worthwhile using my old yeast-setup in my 5-gallon.

My pressurised setup (D-D) was £100 delivered via www.aquatics-online.co.uk . Complete set, cylinder, tubing, solenoid, bubble counter, even had a powered pump to smash up the bubbles into the water flow (though I certainly didn't think I was getting this bit and am not using it for my 54litre).

Only thing it doesn't have is a pressure gauge for the cylinder, it only has one for the flow, so I can't tell when the cylinder is getting empty: apparently when a cylinder is close to empty it just dumps the remaining contents of itself into the tank which is not good.

For 1.25wpg you should be fine with Flourish Excel, on my smaller tank I add it daily based on the weekly amount/7. Seems to work well.

 

[vic]

Now he offers a Rhinox 1000 after I just bought one How much for it though? It may be worthwhile using my old yeast-setup in my 5-gallon.

My pressurised setup (D-D) was £100 delivered via www.aquatics-online.co.uk . Complete set, cylinder, tubing, solenoid, bubble counter, even had a powered pump to smash up the bubbles into the water flow (though I certainly didn't think I was getting this bit and am not using it for my 54litre).

Only thing it doesn't have is a pressure gauge for the cylinder, it only has one for the flow, so I can't tell when the cylinder is getting empty: apparently when a cylinder is close to empty it just dumps the remaining contents of itself into the tank which is not good.

If you have a needle valve it will very likley forestall the "dreaded dump". If not, I would either get one or change your regulator so that you can monitor the tank level. My choice would be the needle valve as I don't trust myself to regularily check the content level guage and the needle valve accomodates the fine tuning of the CO2 inflow.
Vic

For 1.25wpg you should be fine with Flourish Excel, on my smaller tank I add it daily based on the weekly amount/7. Seems to work well.

 

[nry]

The D-D kit has a needle valve, working very well so far.

 

[scouse_andy]

I've decided to go the Diana Walstad method of natural planted tanks.

Therefore I have quite a few items which have never even been in the water and are still in the parcel I received up for grabs.

See my advert in the buy sell swap forum if interested.

Cheers, Andy.

 

[rsands]

i bought a turb biosystem...it comes with a bottle....a pre-made yeast sugar mix that is all ready to go. All tubes into a motorised diffuser that creates tiny tin bubbles in a burst every min or so.

Once out of CO2 just unscrew the top...add more mixture you buy in tubs and thats it.

all for £36

 

[scouse_andy]

Thanks for the advice but I've decided to go with a natural planted low-tech approach.

 

[DevUK]

Best of luck andy. Would be interested to see how your natural tank goes Also interested in some of the CO2 accessories your now getting rid off

 

[scouse_andy]

Cool, thanks for the encouragement, I'm updating my plant journal with my future plans today so you can keep up with things there if you like.

The more I read up on it the more sense it makes so we'll see.

PM me if you're after some of the CO2 gear. It's going quickly!

Cheers, Andy.