Nutrafin plant system any good?

[Def]

Spotted this in a shop today for £20:

http/badmanstropicalfish.com/products/plant_system.html

Anyone have any comments/thoughts on it? My plants seem to be growing just fine at the moment (apart from one unhealthy looking ivy), but I think my riffled java fern could do with some help.

Main concern is adding yet another thing into the tank, there's more gadgets than plants at the moment

 

[rvm]

All it is is a yeast reactor, the same as I made on 2 of my tanks for less than £2!!!
Here's a couple of good links on what I have set up!

link 1
link 2

The only thing that is different is that it has a stabiliser for the yeast so it produces CO2 in a more even rate, but you could use their yeast and stabiliser in a DIY set up. And it has a diffuser that makes sure the bubbles dissolve in the water, but speak to your LFS, and they should be able to get you one for £8!

 

[George Farmer]

I have two in my 125 litre (34 US g). I use supermarket yeast and bi-carb instead of the sachets of "activator" (yeast) and "stabiliser" (bi-carbonate of soda). I've found them to be excellent (see my tank in my signature).

 

[Def]

Great, thanks for the info. I'll buy it, for the difference of a tenner I'd rather just get a premade one

Do I need to worry about C02 level -v- Oxygen levels in the tank, especially when the lights are off? I have pretty good circulation and movement from a fluval 3+...

 

[konrad05]

I wouldn't be too concerned about it, just have the CO2 injecting at all times and never worry about oxygen levels

 

[Def]

Thanks for your help. Last question: Should I put the C02 injection canister at the same corner or opposite corner to my filter/pump (in my sig you can see the fluval in the back right, to the left of the heater)?

 

[Def]

*bump* Anyone able to give me guidance on where to site the diffuser part?

(I bought it )

 

[Def]

Never mind, found the comment in rvm's links, put it next to the filter intake.

 

[Lateral Line]

Is that an internal filter? If so, you may want to try to angle the return down wards, too much surface agitation will allow the CO2 to come out of solution before the plants can use it rendering the whole exercise useless.

I feed my CO2 into the inlet of my filter trains, but they are external canisters with additional chambers on them and a modified return to minimise loss.

 

[Def]

Hrm, that's a good point. I have really good flow from my fluval, I don't know if you know this system but it comes with a plastic diffuser tray that keeps the C02 in the water longer (ie: it's not straight out the C02 line). There's no other easy place for me to site the diffuser than next to the filter.

More worrying, I set it up last night but have only seen a couple of bubbles coming out the co2 line this morning....... Hrm.

 

[Discomafia]

I have two in my 125 litre (34 US g). I use supermarket yeast and bi-carb instead of the sachets of "activator" (yeast) and "stabiliser" (bi-carbonate of soda). I've found them to be excellent (see my tank in my signature).

So can I just buy the system and insted of keep on buying the activator and stablilzer packets, can I just use my own yeast and bicarbonate of soda instead?

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> night but have only seen a couple of bubbles coming out

Depoends on the yeast and the temperature, often takes a while to get going, indeed, some people make a starter culture of the yeast before adding it to the reactor.

>>> can I just use my own yeast and bicarbonate of soda instead?

Yes. You will learn to adjust the quantities with experience. There is no "one size fits all" recipe, it depends on so many things, the quality of the yeast, the sugar solution, the temperature, the pH and mineral content of your tapwater, etc. etc.

 

[Def]

Seen a couple more bubbles in the diffuser this evening... I'll check again in 24hours. Noticed also that when the diffuser line is slotted into the diffuser tray "properly", the co2 bubbles shoot straight out the front... I needed to pull the line out a little and rotate the end so it was pointing back into the tray.

One question, when this is up and running should I see a fairly steady stream of CO2 bubbles entering the diffuser and pushing each other up the ladder type thing? Or is it 1 bubble an hour type thing...

 

[mike5531]

yer u will see a steady stream of bubbles, i have the same system when i first set it up the bubbles were just comin out of the front then after a day it worked properly.

 

[Def]

Nearly 48 hours, still no stream of bubbles... The co2 line is firmly fixed to the canister and the canister lid is closed very tightly.... Anyone have any ideas?