Will Airstones Cancel Out The Co2- Just Set It Up

[shelaghfishface]

have set up my nutafin co2 canister as per instructions, filling it to the first line with sugar the 3/4 spoon of yeast then to second line with tepid water.....still waiting for my 1st bubble ( that was 15 mins ago)

i have 2 large airstones running in the tank, so want to know if i should turn these off in order for the co2 to have any effect, or do i need to run them in the dark etc
i only have 1 unit of co2 running at the moment, have been kindley offered another from another member, the tank is 48x14x15 ( if i remeber correctly)
i have also added the rec dose of nutrafin plant gro which i was using alone before now anyway

also i have the cannister sitting on the top of the tank,and the light is under it,is this ok?? and there also is quite a bit of excess tubing, is this ok to??


your help on this would be fab

shelagh xxxxx

 

[DevUK]

You would need to switch off the air stones as the surface movement they create will drive off the CO2 much quicker. What you could do is turn them on at night when the CO2 isn't needed, and this helps to avoid too much CO2 building up (though with the size of tank I don't think that will be a problem).

The length of tubing doesn't matter too much. CO2 tubing is stiffer than air line, so reduced pressure shouldn't be too much of a problem.

The canister sitting on top should be OK too Just avoid tipping it else you end up with the mixture getting into the tubing and clogging stuff up. Also, if you notice white stuff comming from the end of the tubing in the tank, it means you've over filled the canister a bit and its mixture escaping, nothing serious but needs to be removed ideally.

Hope that helps

 

[Eclecticoldsod]

Hi, Shelagh. You want the CO2 bubbles to be in the water for as long as possible, so it can be absorbed. It they rise to the surface too fast they are wasted. I have a DIY set up with a glass defuser. Mine is placed beside the powerhead that runs my UGF, and the water flow picks up the CO2 bubbles and pushes them down the length of the tank, keeping them in the water for the longest time.
As I understand it, plants only take up CO2 when the lights are on, so at night it is only the fish that breath it in – which is not good for them. The airstone at night idea is to give the fish extra oxygen to combat this. I unplug the top with the tubing when I turn out the lights, put on another top and shake up the sugar/yeast mix vigorously, and then replace the top with the tubing again. As it takes around four hours to build up the pressure enough to produce bubbles, it is just about up and running when the lights go on the next morning.
I am dead new to this myself, so someone will probably tell you to ignore me because I'm doing it all wrong... Anyway, good luck.

 

[DevUK]

Shelagh has a Nutrafin kit, with ladder diffuser, so the CO2 bubble contact time is pretty fixed.

 

[shelaghfishface]

hmmm, i messed it up surprise surprise
the mix is in the tank now,was so chuffed to see my first bubbles to, actually thort i had done something right for a change

help please

 

[shelaghfishface]

SORTED THANKYOU DEV XXXXX

 

[DevUK]

No probs Maybe a little less yeast in the mix this time perhaps?