Which Is Best?

[Truck]

as the title states, which is best for CO2 diffusion,(most time for CO2 to disolve in water.

a CO2 ladder or diffuser?

 

[SuperColey1]

Firstly a ladder is a diffuser.

By diffuser I assume you mean a glass ceramic one.

The answer (controversially to many) is that following several recent test I have read on forums that the ladder is the more efficient as long as the circulation is good.

However weighing up the efficiency difference (both in the 90%+) then for the extra few percent do you want a large ugly ladder or a smaller and better looking piece of glass!!

Remember though that efficiency is also allied to good flow. No matter how good your diffuser wether it be ladder or glass/ceramic if your circulation is no good the bubbles will not get CO2 to the all areas of the tank in sufficient quantity.

the important thing wether it be a ladder or glass / ceramic is how long the bubble will be in contact with the water.

With a ladder the bubble is forced to stay in contact with the water while it travels up each step.

With a glass/ceramic diffuser you are relying entirely upon the the flow otherwise the bubbles (albeit smaller) will go straight up to the surface. It isn't a problem if the bubbles do get to the surface BUT you want them to travel a bit first so if they get ½way around the 'circumference' of your tank (or 2 walls) before hitting the surface this is usually OK. If they are dissolved and don't hit the surface then great stuff.

Same with the ladder. the ladder is making sure the water around it is CO2 saturated but if there is not enough circulation then this CO2 saturated water will not dilute to the rest of the tank.

So the answer if getting picky then the ladder is slightly more efficient but without good flow then neither are of much use.

I would also put better titles on your threads as I will hazard a guess why no one has bothered answering it so far. People tend to ignore generalised titles whereas they respond to things if they ask a question about something in particular.

AC

 

[Truck]

thanks for your detailed answer.

i left the title open in the hope to get more views

 

[SuperColey1]

Always better to put brief detail in there. I am as guilt as many. I ignored it several times. A lot of people don't even bother reading anything that just says:

What should I do?
What do you think?
Help please?

A brief bit of detail will get you more readers and therefore more replies.

AC

 

[limerickbandit]

I use a glass ceramic diffuser then when the bubbles get near the top they get sucked into a power head and shot across the tank

LB

 

[jonnyf84]

I use a glass ceramic diffuser then when the bubbles get near the top they get sucked into a power head and shot across the tank

Does this work?

 

[Truck]

yes

 

[SuperColey1]

There are many different ways. Some (like me) put it opposite a flow source and then let the flow push the bubbles sideways.

So mount it under the filter intake or under a powerhead and let it then make it's way out of the outputs.

AC