Nutrafin Co2 Basic User Guide

[nukeonekitty]

I still haven't thought of a good way to warm it up. I figure I will change everything in mine tomorrow.

 

[geemacd]

I still haven't thought of a good way to warm it up. I figure I will change everything in mine tomorrow.

I have to keep my cannister on top of the light hood to get the bubble rate up, but even then its :

a/ not good enough IMO
b/ damn ugly

wish there was a way round this !!!!!

 

[nry]

There is - pressurised kits. Yeast-based works well but it can never get to the super-stable situation that you can get with pressurised. Using two bottles of yeast/sugar/water and changing the mix in alternate bottles every 3-4 days is the best way of getting a fairly stable bubble rate, as using one bottle always gives major peaks and troughs in bubble output. With two bottles, one mix is speeding up bubble production as one mix is slowing down.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Well I'm not about to put pressurized Co2 or 2 NutraFins on a 20 gallon set up...

 

[nry]

I have pressurised on my 15-gallon and 2x Nutrafin cannisters on my 5-gallon. I use less yeast in each bottle than described in this thread, otherwise I am likely to run far too much CO2 overall.

Pressurised is way way way easier once setup - unless you are willing to use two cannisters for stable CO2 levels, there is no other way to acheive stable CO2 with DIY setups.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Well until my plants stop growing so fast I guess I will worry about it.

 

[nry]

I thought I was getting two threads mixed up - is the tank with BBA also the one with the DIY CO2? BBA loves unstable CO2, which you will get with only one DIY CO2 cannister, it is also the main reason (along with staghorn) that I ditched the DIY cannisters from my 15-gallon and went for pressurised, CO2 levels were just not stable enough to keep them both at bay. You can have fast growth of plants and still have BBA, so plant growth in itself is not always the reason to consider pressurised or go for two cannisters.

 

[nukeonekitty]

Okay sounds good, but you did mix up the two posts... oops.

 

[mcdanielnc89]

how often should we chance the mix and stuff? liek puit new in it...

weekly, every two weeks, montly?

 

[nry]

Weekly - if you have two bottles of mix then change alternate ones every 3-4 days to keep an even output.

 

[mcdanielnc89]

mm okay.. just making sure..

Thanks,
-Nathaniel...

 

[J.H]

hi one of my canister's got knocked over last night and i only found out this morning I did a 60% water change and have air stones running is there anything else i can do have lost quite a few fish. The water is still murky whens it safe to do another water change?

 

[mister-t]

been reading this subject with great interest,got my nutrafin co2 injector on saturday,using supplied mix that came with it,bubble every 4 seconds,seems to be working very well,i may need to get another one tho as im not sure if it will be good enough for my 36gal tank,when should you notice any difference in plant growth,colour,and was also thinking of using 2 sets of bubble ladders one at each end of tank,would this be ok,
thanks for any info on this
mister-t

 

[I Love my fishies]

Here's a basic guide to using the popular Nutrafin yeast-based CO2 units, based on my own experience.

1. Fill canister with regular granulated sugar to the first line.

2. Add 1/2 teaspoon of dried yeast (available from supermarket).

3. No need for "Stabiliser" unless you have v. soft tap water.

4. Top up to second line with tepid (approx 30C) tap water.

5. Stir.

6. Fix lid tightly.

7. Attach tubing tightly.

8. Watch the bubbles appear after 10 to 30 minutes.

Ambient temp. affects bubble rate, cold = less output, warm = more output.

More yeast = more CO2 for shorter time.
Less yeast = less CO2 for longer time.

1 teaspoon of yeast will give you around 30 bubbles per min. for about 7 days. This should be good for up to a 100 l. / 30 gal. tank.

Aim for 30ppm CO2. Change mixture regularly to avoid unstable/low CO2, this causes algae. Test for CO2 using pH and KH kits and this table - http/www.tropica.com/article.asp?type=aq...stic&id=445

Clean ladders may clog bubbles up for a while. The bubbles will run up smooth after a few hours or so.

Use multiple units for larger tanks. Change mixtures alternately for stable CO2.

Enjoy your plants!

What is a good Co2 set up for 200L

 

[Colonel Mustard]

This method really is better than using the activator that the unit comes with. I bought one and used the activator to begin with (well since it's there and it can't be that bad) and had it all set up. i set it up a 3 in the afternoon. after a thrilling rugby match revisited the tank to see where the co2/ water level was. it says in the instruction that you should see your first bubbles in the first 2- 10 hours, well it had been 7 and the level where the co2 met the water was only about 3 cm from where i last saw it. not good.

so this morning i was fed up with the slow co2 production and opened the lid and added 1 teaspoon of yeast. within 3 mins bubbles where coming out of the diffuser.

wow!!