My Co2 System!

[JasonMichael]

Yayyy!

I finally ventured out and got my first C02 system, pretty excited, and they guy at the LFS said he gets his replacement cylinders from Super Gas here in Australia which are cheap, so pretty glad I found a good one! I've attached a photo so you guys can have a look

A couple of quick questions.
1) Is there anything we can add to the tank to keep a stable pH level as the C02 will make it go down?
2) How often should I be dosing my ferts now? On the bottle it says once or twice a week, but do I need to do it more often now?
3) Is there anything else I should be looking out for now that I've added C02?

Thanks!

 

[DrRob]

1, Don't worry too much about the pH, it's not the sort of change that will bother the fish a lot unless you overcook it.

2, Depends on how things go. Increasing CO2 makes the plants grow faster, which makes them use more ferts. Personally I use EI, which is likely to be much higher dosing than you're doing.

3, Flow. You need better flow (the more complex things get and the faster stuff gets used up, the more you need the water over the plants being refreshed).

 

[RossC]

Nice system, pH I would just leave it if you can get away with it using buffers can cause more problems than they solve. I alwaysed dosed the same ferts with and without CO2 just watch how your plants react. Lastly just keep a close eye on how much you inject as it can go horribly wrong in the matter of an hour if you over shoot it. Keep the rate consistent and safe

 

[JasonMichael]

1, Don't worry too much about the pH, it's not the sort of change that will bother the fish a lot unless you overcook it.

2, Depends on how things go. Increasing CO2 makes the plants grow faster, which makes them use more ferts. Personally I use EI, which is likely to be much higher dosing than you're doing.

3, Flow. You need better flow (the more complex things get and the faster stuff gets used up, the more you need the water over the plants being refreshed).

Great, so if the pH drops to around 6.8 / 6.6 it should still be okay for the fish? (currently 7.2/7.0). The flow rate for my filter is 1450 L/H, do you think that is suffice? Or should I look into buying a spray bar to disperse the C02 more over the plants?

Nice system, pH I would just leave it if you can get away with it using buffers can cause more problems than they solve. I alwaysed dosed the same ferts with and without CO2 just watch how your plants react. Lastly just keep a close eye on how much you inject as it can go horribly wrong in the matter of an hour if you over shoot it. Keep the rate consistent and safe

Great, thanks again Ross! I've got it set to 1 bubble per section, plants look fine The drop checker is in the tank as well and its on green, so far so good!

 

[RossC]

Spray bars work great with CO2 mine fills the tank full of bubbles with hardly any ever reaching the surface so less wasted

 

[JasonMichael]

Spray bars work great with CO2 mine fills the tank full of bubbles with hardly any ever reaching the surface so less wasted

Awesome! Hmm, now the challenge to find a spray bar that fits 17mm tubing for my external lol

 

[Ps3Steveo]

1, Don't worry too much about the pH, it's not the sort of change that will bother the fish a lot unless you overcook it.

2, Depends on how things go. Increasing CO2 makes the plants grow faster, which makes them use more ferts. Personally I use EI, which is likely to be much higher dosing than you're doing.

3, Flow. You need better flow (the more complex things get and the faster stuff gets used up, the more you need the water over the plants being refreshed).

Great, so if the pH drops to around 6.8 / 6.6 it should still be okay for the fish? (currently 7.2/7.0). The flow rate for my filter is 1450 L/H, do you think that is suffice? Or should I look into buying a spray bar to disperse the C02 more over the plants?

Nice system, pH I would just leave it if you can get away with it using buffers can cause more problems than they solve. I alwaysed dosed the same ferts with and without CO2 just watch how your plants react. Lastly just keep a close eye on how much you inject as it can go horribly wrong in the matter of an hour if you over shoot it. Keep the rate consistent and safe

Great, thanks again Ross! I've got it set to 1 bubble per section, plants look fine The drop checker is in the tank as well and its on green, so far so good!

How big is the tank as you wanna aim for 10 x the full volume turnover per hour at least with a planted tank.

 

[JasonMichael]

1, Don't worry too much about the pH, it's not the sort of change that will bother the fish a lot unless you overcook it.

2, Depends on how things go. Increasing CO2 makes the plants grow faster, which makes them use more ferts. Personally I use EI, which is likely to be much higher dosing than you're doing.

3, Flow. You need better flow (the more complex things get and the faster stuff gets used up, the more you need the water over the plants being refreshed).

Great, so if the pH drops to around 6.8 / 6.6 it should still be okay for the fish? (currently 7.2/7.0). The flow rate for my filter is 1450 L/H, do you think that is suffice? Or should I look into buying a spray bar to disperse the C02 more over the plants?

Nice system, pH I would just leave it if you can get away with it using buffers can cause more problems than they solve. I alwaysed dosed the same ferts with and without CO2 just watch how your plants react. Lastly just keep a close eye on how much you inject as it can go horribly wrong in the matter of an hour if you over shoot it. Keep the rate consistent and safe

Great, thanks again Ross! I've got it set to 1 bubble per section, plants look fine The drop checker is in the tank as well and its on green, so far so good!

How big is the tank as you wanna aim for 10 x the full volume turnover per hour at least with a planted tank.

Tank is 350 liters, 4 foot.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Ideally you want a filter running 3500 LPH or grab a good power head like a koralia to get the movement up, best thing to do with the drop checker is move it around your tank, I'd put it in an area with least flow and if its lime green there then you should be fine every where else.

 

[JasonMichael]

Ideally you want a filter running 3500 LPH or grab a good power head like a koralia to get the movement up, best thing to do with the drop checker is move it around your tank, I'd put it in an area with least flow and if its lime green there then you should be fine every where else.

I'll prob end up grabbing a powerhead, what LPH should I be looking at for the power head? would 2800 do or should I go for the 4000? When I get it, where abouts should I be placing this, near the CO2 to pump it around more?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

2800 will do it, depends where your inlet and outlet are too, if your outlet is below your inlet so they are one above the other then put the power head on opposite end facing downwards slightly and the CO2 below it, that way the flow goes round in a circle through the whole tank.

 

[JasonMichael]

2800 will do it, depends where your inlet and outlet are too, if your outlet is below your inlet so they are one above the other then put the power head on opposite end facing downwards slightly and the CO2 below it, that way the flow goes round in a circle through the whole tank.

I have the outlet and inlet on opposite ends haha, the co2 is currently below my outlet and goes around in the circle through the tank, should I be placing the powerhead near the outlet again but directed a little more at the co2?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Yeah if your not gonna move the outlet and inlet then I'd put it right above the diffuser as low as possible as you can.

 

[JasonMichael]

Yeah if your not gonna move the outlet and inlet then I'd put it right above the diffuser as low as possible as you can.

Awesome thanks Steveo!

 

[RyanV]

What regulator is that and how much did you pay? Do you still like it and does the Solenoid work well on a timer?