Switching To Presurised Co2

[kjb66]

I am a little confused about setting this up I am going to switch to presurised co2 on my 112 litre tank i am currently using 2 nutrafin systems and the stats are kh 11 and ph 7.2 which gives me co2 level 20.8 ppm.I was counting the bubbles on my ladders and they are producing about 20 bpm and i was wondering if i set the presurised system to approx 20bpm would this give me approx the same co2 reading? is this a good starting point or is there another way of easily setting this up.

 

[IovaykInD]

Well either way, they are still pure co2 so I guess 20bpm will give you the same co2 reading. However, bubble size might be different if the tubing is a different size, just keep that in mind.

Isaac

 

[kjb66]

thanks isaac think ill set it at 20bpm to start with,does anyone know how long will it take after injecting the presurised co2 to get an accurate ph and kh reading

 

[craynerd]

Just wondering, is bubble size not related to the water pressure/tension as well as tube size

Eg. If you get 20bpm now, then if you increase the tube size, u`ll get bigger bubbles but less of them and vice versa. So in actual fact the amount of CO2 coming from your delivery system is only dependent on the pressure expelling it from the system rather than size of tubing?

 

[IovaykInD]

Craynerd, you're right about that fact, it is purely dependent on the pressure of the system, not tubing size. However, with bigger bubbles, it'll take longer to diffuse because the surface area will decrease. That is why people use diffuser that get the bubbles really tiny, which increases the surface area of the bubble, therefore diffusing more co2 into the water.

 

[kjb66]

ok thanks for the help but im really confused now ill just have to keep testing the water how often should i test any idea anyone

 

[craynerd]

iovak...cheers mate! good point about surface area..i get you!

KJB...i`d personally just keep testing the water until you find its stable at 30ppm. I was advised to test before lights on... and near to lights off.
Cuz the plants are giving off O2 during photosynthesis this drives CO2 out of the water. therefore the water will be less acidic when the lights have been on a while. It will be most acidic when lights are off the for the opposite reason.
However, some people turn their CO2 units off during the night..so will this effect the system....ummm maybe someone with experience could tell us!

Chris

 

[kjb66]

cheers for the advice Chris my co2 will be coming on and going off with the lights as i have a solenoid valve,yes 30ppm is what i am aiming for want to start the EI ferts method im just trying to get all the info im reading into my head I will get there in the end

thanks for the advice all advice is welcome

karl

 

[donkey]

what i do with my co2 is have it coming on about an hour before the lights go on .this give the co2 time to build up in the water before the lights come on .i then have the co2 turn off about an hour before the lights go off as there will be plenty of co2 in the water to last for that hour

 

[kjb66]

Hi cheers donkey that is exactly what i was going to do im off to get another timer today as the co2 was coming on and going off with my lights

 

[donkey]

nice one mate . i think i got my timer from argos got 3 ofthem in a pack for about £10

 

[kjb66]

Thats where i went good old argos but i went for the digital ones as they have battery backup so if you get a power cut (or the kids turn the main socket off) its going to have the correct time etc when you get the power back on i had some already they really are good timers at £14.99 for 2 and easy to set up

 

[donkey]

me to tight to buy digital .is this your first time useing co2

 

[kjb66]

I had 2 nutrafin systems on my tank but i was getting fed up changing the mix so when the mrs was not looking i bought a pressurised set up only a cheap one D&D got it for £90 delivered i also got a aqua medic 500 co2 reactor with it and a high pressure gauge as the set only comes with a low pressure gauge but im using the ceramic co2 difusser which came with the kit as the aquamedic needs to be used with a pump i think
any way im well pleased with it

 

[donkey]

sounds good mate .the only problem with pressurised set up is all the hard work that comes with it