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Thread: Recommend Co2 system

  1. #1
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    Recommend Co2 system

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    Hi, I have a low tech planted tank for about a year now. My tank is doing well with no algae outbreak or issue with all living things in it.

    Interested to add co2 system for my little tank and need some advices

    Equipment
    Tank 2ft - 60x30x36
    Eheim 2215
    Sunsun canister prefilter
    Eheim spray bar and inlet
    Eheim auto feeder
    Inert Black Sand
    Chihiros A601 without dimmer (10:30am to 2pm and 7:30pm to 9pm) no direct sunlight

    Plants (tank has about 20% area left for new plants)
    Rotala Rotundifolia
    Hydrocotyle Tripartita
    Java fern / Needle Java Fern
    Various type of Anubias NaNa
    Micranthemum Micranthemoides
    Alternanthera Reineckii mini
    Subwassertang
    Rotala Sp Vietnam or Mayaca Fluviatilis or Limnophila sessiliflora (Unsure.... got 3 types of similar looking stem plants)

    Livestock
    Cardinal Tetra x30
    Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow x5
    Lamp Eye fish x3
    Otocinclus x3
    Panda Cory x4
    Yamato Shrimp x9
    Fire red Cherry Shrimp x 40
    Pest snails from plants (love crushing them and feeding it to my shrimps)

    Ferts (dosing half of recommended)
    Seachem Flourish
    Seachem Flourish Trace
    Seachem Root Tab
    No test kit

    Initially I am tempted to get the ANS co2 package but after reading some threads in this forum. Seems like there is issue with its solenoid regulator durability.

    Budget max $300 but wish to keep it as low as possible.

    Intention of co2 is to keep plants happy and healthy. Not speeding up growth. Probably will be inject co2 at lowest possible rate during lighting period (still researching on this)

    1. Currently looking at Intense Solenoid Regulator but will this be too much for my little tank? Any other recommendation?

    2. Cannot decide on the type of co2 reactor/diffuser to use. (As I will be spending huge chuck of my Budget in above regulator, hopefully this won’t cost me an arm also.

    Currently looking at inline co2 reactor but cannot find any that is suitable. Any suggestion?

    3. Do I need to change my aquarium light if I add co2?

    4. Any other ferts I need to consider due to co2 injection?

    Thank you





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  2. #2
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    How long have you had your 30x cardinal and 40 cherry shrimps in your tank? Are they 1 year old?

  3. #3
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Cherries, Minnow, Corys, otos and lamp eye all about 10months . I bought 10 of each and 6 otos after Cycling the tank

    I bought 50 cardinals from seaview 7 months ago. 6 dead shortly after I put them in my tank. 14 jumped! Not together tho.... days or weeks apart. My fish like to do suicide jump......

    Forced myself to make a temporary tank cover........ its ugly

    Tempted to get the redsea net cover but I wonder its effectiveness for small fishes like mine







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  4. #4
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Plenty of second hand sets on Carousell. Just be aware of the retail prices.
    Suckerfish no eat poo poo.

  5. #5
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    Cherries, Minnow, Corys, otos and lamp eye all about 10months . I bought 10 of each and 6 otos after Cycling the tank

    I bought 50 cardinals from seaview 7 months ago. 6 dead shortly after I put them in my tank. 14 jumped! Not together tho.... days or weeks apart. My fish like to do suicide jump......

    Forced myself to make a temporary tank cover........ its ugly

    Tempted to get the redsea net cover but I wonder its effectiveness for small fishes like mine


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I did the online calculation on your tank spec and there were several warnings. Not sure if I read this correctly, seems you are cramming all your fish/shrimps into a small 2 feet nano tank. Hope I am wrong and that you have a large tank. I have only 20+ cardinal tetra in my 185L tank, which is 3 times your volume.


    If you are really doing this, then that would explain all the deads, jumps and suicides. Probably would want to get this right, before moving to decide whether you need co2 or not. No idea, what's going to happen when you start adding co2 to an already overloaded tank. I can only say that plants health will be the least of your worries in the coming weeks/ months.


    In case, people here dispute that Aqadvisor is too conservative in it's calculation is because it stresses alot more on responsible fish keeping.


  6. #6
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    I think it’s reasonable assumed the deaths was due to transport and bad health or having difficulty adapting to the new tank rather than overload.

    As for the jump.... from what I observed. They are afraid of object moving object like us moving pass them. Hence some jumped especially lamp eye and minnow since they tend to swim on the upper level. Most of them jump during day time when my kids running around. Hardly any jumped at night time.

    I did not notice any fish grasping for air or shrimp moving to higher ground due to lack of air.. With the temporary cover, no more deaths from jumping and no fish died. I cant tell for shrimp because any death I probably won’t even notice as it will be eaten by other shrimps within an hour.

    I think my current live stock is reasonable other than the shrimps... however, shrimps have extremely low bioload

    I don’t doubt experts recommendation. I too was worried about the load and delicate the whole canister to help with the bioload. Weekly water change and cleaning of prefilter is a standard routine. Maintenance takes like then 10mins thanks to prefilter

    Will not be adding more livestock in as I think current population just nice for my tank.

    My intention of adding co2 serves as additional ferts for my plants and probably will grow more demanding plants. Given the amount of plants in have inside the tank now. A low injection of co2 for 4-5hours per day shouldn’t impact the tank much I hope


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  7. #7
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    I think it’s reasonable assumed the deaths was due to transport and bad health or having difficulty adapting to the new tank rather than overload.

    As for the jump.... from what I observed. They are afraid of object moving object like us moving pass them. Hence some jumped especially lamp eye and minnow since they tend to swim on the upper level. Most of them jump during day time when my kids running around. Hardly any jumped at night time.

    I did not notice any fish grasping for air or shrimp moving to higher ground due to lack of air.. With the temporary cover, no more deaths from jumping and no fish died. I cant tell for shrimp because any death I probably won’t even notice as it will be eaten by other shrimps within an hour.

    I think my current live stock is reasonable other than the shrimps... however, shrimps have extremely low bioload

    I don’t doubt experts recommendation. I too was worried about the load and delicate the whole canister to help with the bioload. Weekly water change and cleaning of prefilter is a standard routine. Maintenance takes like then 10mins thanks to prefilter

    Will not be adding more livestock in as I think current population just nice for my tank.

    My intention of adding co2 serves as additional ferts for my plants and probably will grow more demanding plants. Given the amount of plants in have inside the tank now. A low injection of co2 for 4-5hours per day shouldn’t impact the tank much I hope


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    The general consensus is fish jump because condition is not right, not because they are spooked. Cardinal Tetra are mid level swimmers and they don't stray to the surface unless it is feeding time. Unless of course you intentionally spook the fish, causing them to jump. For my 3 feet planted tank, my cardinal tetras dart into the heavy vegetation to hide when I walk pass. When I sit infront of the tank, they swim out and greet me. That's normal behavior.

    I have never lost a Cardinal Tetra because it jumped, neither did any of experienced hobbyist on the various platforms like fishlore or The Planted Tank forum. Threads I see with Cardinal Tetra jumping out of their tanks have similar setup as yours, overload tanks which is why I am sharing. Overload tank does not mean fish gasping for air, in case you didn't know that as well.

    The last few guys who added 50 cardinal tetras to their tanks all experienced massacre (fish jump), again just citing past experience. If adding a cover helps to minimize your fish death, then by all means, even it meant that the cover is ugly and block light spectrum. The rest of us don't need do this and have no absolutely no issues.

  8. #8
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    Recommend Co2 system

    Thanks torque6

    Learnt an important lesson.

    I thought it will be fine as long as I diligently maintain the tank.

    Btw... no lights is being block as the temp tank cover is higher than my lights


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  9. #9
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    Thanks torque6

    Learnt an important lesson.

    I thought it will be fine as long as I diligently maintain the tank.

    Btw... no lights is being block as the temp tank cover is higher than my lights


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    If you have decided on co2, do note that the intense solenoid regulator has only 1 gauge reading. It only shows output pressure and does not measure the remaining co2 in your tank. The fastener on the intense solenoid to the cylinder is by hand, so you cannot use wrench to further tighten it. Not sure if like that co2 will leak out slowly. Intense solenoid (Germany, not OEM) comes with 1 year warranty. Taiwan brands, if get from EOA should be close to 6 months only.

    You already have a pre-filter, so if going the co2 reactor route will reduce your output flow. The pros however is that reactor = no bubbles in the tank, but since reactor is external, than it is going to be 1 more item at risk of leaking next to the canister.

    Based on the output of chihiros A601 without dimmer, so it's power level 7/7, you may not need change the light. Am actually quite surprise you have no algae for 10 months now, because at full power running at 35 watts (113 led x 0.3 w), it is considered very high PAR, even if you split the photo period. It should also run pretty hot, will definitely warm up the tank, now that you mentioned the cover is on top of the lights instead of below, trapping heat.

    I've read good review on ANS on this forum last time, but turns out it's solenoid does not last in reality. I also found out recently after doing some test, that their popular 4DKH solution is not accurate, it's 3DKH instead of 4. CO2 readings will be wrong if you use their solutions in the drop checker. I have since black listed them for all products.

    Hope this information help you.

  10. #10
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Thanks again for the valuable information regarding regulator especially with intense solenoid regulator. Somehow I’m having trouble finding useful information about it. Even tried searching in YouTube......

    Like to ask what brand/type of solenoid regulator you are using. Probably will purchase the co2 system a month or two later.... when I have a better understand of those solenoid regulator available in Singapore.

    For the A601 led lights. I did faced algae problems at first and changed the original light holder to the adjustable ones and set it about 4-5cm higher than the original holder. This slightly reduced the par strength but did not solve the algae problem until I changed the cheap China made lily pipe back to Eheim spray bar. Ugly but it’s working.

    Lastly, the tank cover. It’s made from PP corrugated board from popular bookstore. I made a big opening on top of the cover. Won’t be trapping any heat. This material is strong, light and easy to cut.









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  11. #11
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    I use JBL solenoid last time and it lasted me until I gave up the hobby a decade ago. Am back now and is using UP AQUA, warranty backed by EOA. However, do check with Chang from NA aquarium to see if they sell solenoids that can be taken apart, because most of the time when it fails, it is usually the electronic solenoid, and can easily be replaced by getting a new solenoid, instead of throwing away the whole valve (if tested already that it does not leak).

    My A series didn't come with the adjustable metal stands and I had to buy them separately. However, I found them too flimsy even after securing them tightly on the tank. So I changed back to acrylic stands.

    I understand what you mean now by ugly tank cover. Those PP corrugated board is best suited for preventing aquascaping slope from sliding off, not so much as tank cover. Wasn't aware PP board came in clear+transparent.

  12. #12
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Can your UA solenoid be replace if it break?

    Quite a few sites listed it as one of the better regulator in the market.

    https://modestfish.com/best-co2-regulator/

    https://aquariumadviser.com/best-aqu...lator-reviews/

    I can’t find anything about replacing the spoiled solenoid tho

    Will be getting ista turbo co2 reactor. If it affects the flow too much. I Guess either i change it to inline diffuser some similar or shorten the spray bar to increase the flow


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  13. #13
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    Re: Recommend Co2 system

    Quote Originally Posted by Cire View Post
    Can your UA solenoid be replace if it break?

    Quite a few sites listed it as one of the better regulator in the market.

    https://modestfish.com/best-co2-regulator/

    https://aquariumadviser.com/best-aqu...lator-reviews/

    I can’t find anything about replacing the spoiled solenoid tho

    Will be getting ista turbo co2 reactor. If it affects the flow too much. I Guess either i change it to inline diffuser some similar or shorten the spray bar to increase the flow


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    UP aqua should be one piece. Those links you provide are non-local, so recommendations for what brand is best may not be available at our LFS.

    Inline ceramic diffuser will be hard to clean. JBL has one that can be taken apart to soak the ceramic disc, but it is prone to leak.

    The intense boozooka is not bad. I have 2 sets which I interchange on a monthly basis. The cons is it is pretty hard to setup as the screw on is a tight fit even with heating the inlet tubes.

  14. #14
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    Recommend Co2 system

    True about the brands not available locally but searching through www and local forum not giving me much help either

    Example, if I search solenoid regulator and limit it to Singapore in Google.... results quite limited and as if non existent.

    Folks in forum do talk about the co2 system they are using but do not provide much details/review.

    Yet to have time go around finding out the brands available as my children are having their CA1 in pri school. Busy at the moment but plenty of time at home.

    Definitely will try out atomizer if I find out reactor cannot work well for my tank.

    Thank you
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