Which Co2?......

[Azaezl]

I've decided I'm gonna use co2 on my little hex tank(5 gal) and maybe my 15 gal as well. I was looking on ebay and saw these;

Electric co2

co2 tabs

Would either of these work or should I just go for the nutrafin kit? I'll prob get the nutrafin kit anyway but if you guys think the others will work I might get all 3 and see which is most effective.

 

[nry]

Buy all three? Pah, there are full injected kits for not much difference in price than buying all three, go for one of those as they are much better!

 

[lljdma06]

It really depends on what you want to accomplish with your tanks. Both systems are small and if pressurized isn't in your budget, high-tech tanks can easily be maintained in your systems using a Yeast-based reaction, which is the basis for the Nutrafin unit. Greater CO2 stability can be attained by adding additional canisters and alternating the mix, or changing the diffusor to a more efficient model. If your planted tanks have moderate or lower light levels, you would be fine with simply one unit and maintaining 30ppm isn't crucial.

If you've got the budget, then by all means, go pressurized. It is much easier keeping things stable when all you have to do is turn a knob. There is a lot more guess-work with Yeast-based reactors, but it's not that hard.

Nry is right though, why buy all three? Pick either the Nutrafin or pay some more and go pressurized.

llj

 

[Azaezl]

Thanks for the replies

I just want the plants I have to thrive, I don't expect vast amounts of growth, just healthy plants

The reason I was gonna get all 3 was to put the nutrafin kit on my 5 gal hex, the electronic one on my coldwater tank and the tabs in my cory tank(or a diff combination). Gonna save up and go pressurized on my largest tank(as well as some decent lighting) and then upgrade the smaller tanks to pressurized as and when I have the cash.

I think I'll go with some nutrafin kits

 

[Themuleous]

Of the three the nutrafin is by far the best and is tried and tested. The electric one reacts a carbon block with the water to create CO2, something which I'd never be happy about, although they are supposed to work ok-ish. The table one seems completely pointless to me, 'drop some tables in the tank' not only would this be hugely unstable as the CO2 level would be all over the place, but you'd have to remember to add new ones each time and the diffusion of the CO2 into the water would be massively inefficient, unless you put them in your filter.

GET THE NUTRAFIN! Can I say it any more clearly?

Sam

 

[Azaezl]

Thanks Sam, exactly the answer I was after, wasn't sure just how / if the other 2 would work, the tabs seemed a bit strange to me so thought I'd post and find out. I shall be ordering a couple of nutrafin kits once I get my cash from doing jury service