Just A Quicky Regarding Co2

[JenCliBee]

Hey all me again


Ive going to be setting up a heavily planted tank, it's a rio 125 will have external filter etc etc, probably now akadma as substrate, however a few things have changed and ive been told for the time been im not allowed to go pressurised CO2 we wont go into that just yet but i understand the whole reason behind it lol.

So was think of doing DIY CO2 through 3x 2 litres pop bottles all link into 1 through a glass defuser chnaging each bottle seperatley throughout the week... ie.... 1 every 3 days.

question is would this work, i know not ideal but at the moment i cant do anythink else.

BTW the lighting equates to roughly 2.2 WPG through a 3 tube luminair.


thanks

jen

 

[Geoff1991]

Could you not just sneak a fire extinguisher setup in?

 

[JenCliBee]

Could you not just sneak a fire extinguisher setup in?

LOL, i doubt it , nothink gets past my other half and tbh it's more of a saftey thing than anythink else and another matter may also be a future problem but again thats for another thread lol probably infact another forum but we wont go there just yet.

 

[Geoff1991]

Tell her its not pressurized, just a container full of yeast sugar and water

But seriously... i have a nutrafin co2 kit for sale if your interested

 

[keenonfish]

Could you not just sneak a fire extinguisher setup in?

LOL, i doubt it , nothink gets past my other half and tbh it's more of a saftey thing than anythink else and another matter may also be a future problem but again thats for another thread lol probably infact another forum but we wont go there just yet.

I guess that makes two of us then

I recently went bottled CO2 and had a nightmare of my 5 year old daughter coming downstairs to a sea of CO2 that had leaked Soon got over that especially when I could only find one story of a co2 canister that went wrong and that was due to miss-handling.
The fire extinguisher method I can understand being very risky but I think bottled CO2 is about as safe as they come really - Look at the soda stream bottles in supermarkets - Oooh, could these actually be used?

 

[JenCliBee]

Tell her its not pressurized, just a container full of yeast sugar and water

But seriously... i have a nutrafin co2 kit for sale if your interested

LOL, she knows probably more about the CO2 setup than i do lol, so i dont think she can be swayed


The nutrafin isnt really feasable tbh m8, i think using the 3 CO2 bottles may actually works better for the high CO2 count i actually want, but thanks for the offer though m8

I guess that makes two of us then

I recently went bottled CO2 and had a nightmare of my 5 year old daughter coming downstairs to a sea of CO2 that had leaked Soon got over that especially when I could only find one story of a co2 canister that went wrong and that was due to miss-handling.
The fire extinguisher method I can understand being very risky but I think bottled CO2 is about as safe as they come really - Look at the soda stream bottles in supermarkets - Oooh, could these actually be used?

LOL, it seems at the moment the safest option and my son amongst OTHER things is always tarting in the cupboards of my tanks, i know a lock/chain can be put on but that would just encourage him to try get in there more lol not the best really so this really is the other option... and tbh i think with 3x 2ltr bottles i can get it pretty stable (within reason)

 

[Geoff1991]

Could you not just sneak a fire extinguisher setup in?

LOL, i doubt it , nothink gets past my other half and tbh it's more of a saftey thing than anythink else and another matter may also be a future problem but again thats for another thread lol probably infact another forum but we wont go there just yet.

I guess that makes two of us then

I recently went bottled CO2 and had a nightmare of my 5 year old daughter coming downstairs to a sea of CO2 that had leaked Soon got over that especially when I could only find one story of a co2 canister that went wrong and that was due to miss-handling.
The fire extinguisher method I can understand being very risky but I think bottled CO2 is about as safe as they come really - Look at the soda stream bottles in supermarkets - Oooh, could these actually be used?

I cant see that its that dangerous... As long as you set it up correctly and it doesnt get knocked over you should be fine...

 

[JenCliBee]

Could you not just sneak a fire extinguisher setup in?

LOL, i doubt it , nothink gets past my other half and tbh it's more of a saftey thing than anythink else and another matter may also be a future problem but again thats for another thread lol probably infact another forum but we wont go there just yet.

I guess that makes two of us then

I recently went bottled CO2 and had a nightmare of my 5 year old daughter coming downstairs to a sea of CO2 that had leaked Soon got over that especially when I could only find one story of a co2 canister that went wrong and that was due to miss-handling.
The fire extinguisher method I can understand being very risky but I think bottled CO2 is about as safe as they come really - Look at the soda stream bottles in supermarkets - Oooh, could these actually be used?

I cant see that its that dangerous... As long as you set it up correctly and it doesnt get knocked over you should be fine...

But thats the whols point m8, dangerous IF knocked over..... 2 year old son always in fishtank cabinets messing.... dog bounding around like a wild one, baby in toe chasing... only takes 1 accident and either someone gets very hurt or i have a whole in the wall ... plus the matter of the original concern ... basically it's all adding up to an air on the cautious side and what do i love more my son or my tanks.... hmmm... pretty much can guess that

 

[keenonfish]

ok how about putting a false panel in the cupboard? Stick or tac some beading round the cupboard interior about halfway toward the rear then you can place a board over that and latch it into place, with bottle behind this?

regarding diy co2 I used 2 bottles on my 180 which was great for about 3 months (really healthy and very fast plant growth generally) before I had all sorts of algae! The worst was BBA which I still have on the 3d background. At the end of the day I just couldn't regulate and maintain a steady state of CO2 some mixtures would produce more than others for some reason (even though identical!) and if I used three bottles my fish started to suffer and I couldn't regulate!

If I were in your shoes I would be tempted to go down the low light route tbh because I think you will get algae and once that sets in it is a nightmare and very disheartening

 

[JenCliBee]

ok how about putting a false panel in the cupboard? Stick or tac some beading round the cupboard interior about halfway toward the rear then you can place a board over that and latch it into place, with bottle behind this?

regarding diy co2 I used 2 bottles on my 180 which was great for about 3 months (really healthy and very fast plant growth generally) before I had all sorts of algae! The worst was BBA which I still have on the 3d background. At the end of the day I just couldn't regulate and maintain a steady state of CO2 some mixtures would produce more than others for some reason (even though identical!) and if I used three bottles my fish started to suffer and I couldn't regulate!

If I were in your shoes I would be tempted to go down the low light route tbh because I think you will get algae and once that sets in it is a nightmare and very disheartening

Not a bad idea m8, just one flaw doing this way will prevent the external filter been able to go in the cupboard and been out of the cupboard is a very big NO NO!!! , and i doubt even this would convince the other half to let me do it... the only way that may work would be buying the all in one kit with the small canisters..ie 500g this way it's semi safer could well be hiden and work much better than the DIY route.... drawback would be the replacement time of the CO2 bottle i cant imagine it lasting long on a 125ltr tank.


On a side note, i will be using a drop checker and i am home pretty much all the time, so i think if drop checker is monitored i would be able to keep on top of the levels dropping etc etc (to a certain degree that is).

The 3 bottle and gassing fish may be a problem i do agree there but at least i could try regulate over the time, fish probably wont be added for a few months anyways.

I guess i could always try, and see what sort of results are gotten and see if i could make it work..... i guess time would tell.

 

[keenonfish]

Ok what I used to do with the bottles was count how many bubbles they produced in 30 seconds. I kept a log and when things started to change I would prep another bottle a couple of days ahead to let it settle. Trouble with relying on the drop checker is in my opinion it just doesn't really have the resolution or reactionary time to show fluctuations clearly, so counting the bubbles at least give me a base to work on so I knew what was entering the tank.

Regarding pressurized bottle life I am using a JBL system 500g bottles into a 180 litre tank, and because I am not getting 100% diffusion ATM (despite using a diffuser into a 700lph pump and entering a circulation bottle) I am seeing a rate of 3-5 bubbles p/s I have just changed my bottle for the first time in 6 weeks so not too bad at all. Cheaper than the huge bags of sugar I used to have to buy that's for sure! If I ever sold the setup I would get most if not all my money back as it was second hand off ebay. Anyway I am not trying to persuade you lol just showing you the advantages of pressurized over diy!

 

[JenCliBee]

Ok what I used to do with the bottles was count how many bubbles they produced in 30 seconds. I kept a log and when things started to change I would prep another bottle a couple of days ahead to let it settle. Trouble with relying on the drop checker is in my opinion it just doesn't really have the resolution or reactionary time to show fluctuations clearly, so counting the bubbles at least give me a base to work on so I knew what was entering the tank.

Regarding pressurized bottle life I am using a JBL system 500g bottles into a 180 litre tank, and because I am not getting 100% diffusion ATM (despite using a diffuser into a 700lph pump and entering a circulation bottle) I am seeing a rate of 3-5 bubbles p/s I have just changed my bottle for the first time in 6 weeks so not too bad at all. Cheaper than the huge bags of sugar I used to have to buy that's for sure! If I ever sold the setup I would get most if not all my money back as it was second hand off ebay. Anyway I am not trying to persuade you lol just showing you the advantages of pressurized over diy!

Can you fit a solenoid to JBL kit regulators?, maybe an option i could work with at least lol

 

[SuperColey1]

LOL, i doubt it , nothink gets past my other half and tbh it's more of a saftey thing than anythink else and another matter may also be a future problem but again thats for another thread lol probably infact another forum but we wont go there just yet.

I am guessing at your other matter but I think that DIY will be as much of a problem as pressurised. I can imagine Soda bottles laying across floors with stinking yeast water soaked into the carpets or stuck in the seams of laminate.

Either way I solved the issue by fitting a cheap cabinet lock on the front of mine. It needs it as I have Formaldehyde and all other manner of chemicals in there too Deadly when consumed!!!

Doesn't need to be fire extinguisher if you are worried about the FE DIY setups. I currently use the 600g disposable bottles on my 125Ltr (although I have considered getting the adaptor and using FEs for quite a while)

They last me about 3 months each. £30 for 3 bottles from Welder's Warehouse or £17 each in Halfords.

But thats the whols point m8, dangerous IF knocked over..... 2 year old son always in fishtank cabinets messing

Surely thats a cue to get a lock on it CO2 or not!!! Filter pipes pulled out/unscrewed, test kits consumed, fish food eaten etc....!!! My bottle is secured upright by an MP3 player velcro armband that cost a mere £1 from a PC World sale Solenoids don't need to fit the regulator. If the regulator is without one then you just put it in line as you see in the pics below:

I have a similar problem but was pro-active. The lock is on there and it was only open while I took this picture. He is one of 2 and four years old now. He was 3 years old in this picture (the other is 3 years old tomorrow!!!) However locks on the cabinet did not stop this one pouring washing up liquid into the tank and killing everything a week or so earlier!!! That was cured by a bolt on their bedroom door!!!:

Trouble with relying on the drop checker is in my opinion it just doesn't really have the resolution or reactionary time to show fluctuations clearly, so counting the bubbles at least give me a base to work on so I knew what was entering the tank.

Maybe I am reading this statement wrong but with yeast setups the CO2 is 24/7 and therefore the DC is already reading pretty accurately at lights on. Will be reading how much CO2 build up there was a couple of hours before lights on but a good indicator all the same

AC

 

[JenCliBee]

Cheers for the reply supercoley ... just to answer a couple of things lol.....

Surely thats a cue to get a lock on it CO2 or not!!! Filter pipes pulled out/unscrewed, test kits consumed, fish food eaten etc....!!! My bottle is secured upright by an MP3 player velcro armband that cost a mere £1 from a PC World sale Solenoids don't need to fit the regulator. If the regulator is without one then you just put it in line as you see in the pics below:

Nothink in my cabinets other than filter and light switch.... im very saftey consious and everythink ..ie... food, test kits etc etc are all in a well out of reach cupboard ...... filter suprisingly enough he never touches however he HAS to turn the tank lights on every morning for me lol(if i dont let him all hell breaks loose ).

Going back to the CO2, that is actually a really good option on the dispossable bottles m8, are they able to fit most regulators then? or just certain one's?.

Where did you get yoyr reg from and solenoid?

 

[keenonfish]

Trouble with relying on the drop checker is in my opinion it just doesn't really have the resolution or reactionary time to show fluctuations clearly, so counting the bubbles at least give me a base to work on so I knew what was entering the tank.

Maybe I am reading this statement wrong but with yeast setups the CO2 is 24/7 and therefore the DC is already reading pretty accurately at lights on. Will be reading how much CO2 build up there was a couple of hours before lights on but a good indicator all the same

AC

Hi Andy what I was trying to point out is that with DIY the CO2 levels will fluctuate on a daily basis by small amounts that I figure would not occur with pressurized system and regulator. If JenCliBee was expecting to see these small fluctuations on the DC to see when to change bottles it could lead to algae problems... Does that make sense?