How Do I Make Sure I Do Not Inject Too Much CO2?

[Metallic Sardine]

Hi all,

I am just trying to grow some riccia at the bottom of my tank and have built a home made CO2 system from a coke bottle.

I then connected the CO2 hose to a powerhead which smashes the CO2 bubbles into a fine mist.

I am concerned about the level of CO2 injected and wonder if it can thus resulting in the lowering the PH value of water? Will my fishies suffer? How do I ensure that there is not too much CO2?

Thanks,

MetaSard

[Metallic Sardine]

Hi all,

I am just trying to grow some riccia at the bottom of my tank and have built a home made CO2 system from a coke bottle.

I then connected the CO2 hose to a powerhead which smashes the CO2 bubbles into a fine mist.

I am concerned about the level of CO2 injected and wonder if it can thus resulting in the lowering the PH value of water? Will my fishies suffer? How do I ensure that there is not too much CO2?

Thanks,

MetaSard

[Metallic Sardine]

Hi all,

I am just trying to grow some riccia at the bottom of my tank and have built a home made CO2 system from a coke bottle.

I then connected the CO2 hose to a powerhead which smashes the CO2 bubbles into a fine mist.

I am concerned about the level of CO2 injected and wonder if it can thus resulting in the lowering the PH value of water? Will my fishies suffer? How do I ensure that there is not too much CO2?

Thanks,

MetaSard

[Metallic Sardine]

Hi all,

I am just trying to grow some riccia at the bottom of my tank and have built a home made CO2 system from a coke bottle.

I then connected the CO2 hose to a powerhead which smashes the CO2 bubbles into a fine mist.

I am concerned about the level of CO2 injected and wonder if it can thus resulting in the lowering the PH value of water? Will my fishies suffer? How do I ensure that there is not too much CO2?

Thanks,

MetaSard

[Simon]

the prob with DIY or the drawback is that DIY cant be controlled to stop flow.. so if u looking at a 24/7 supply of CO2 into yr tank.. if u see yr fishes grasping for air at the surface, means u better stop the injection.. usually due to CO2 poisoning.. but oso it depends on the method u using to dissolve CO2 into yr tank

[PeterGwee]

Make sure you test your KH level...raise it to 4-6 KH before injecting CO2 to prevent possible pH crash

[ZeRoC00l]

Sorry to "cut" in, but may I know how to "see" or tell if my tank have PH crash??

I dun have any test kits for PH, KH, GH ....... only a NO2 from last time... seldom use at all..

I inject CO2 at 1 bps [increased recently from 1bp 2-3 sec], and at night reduce to 1 bp 5-8 sec.

Filter got no carbon, coral just filter wool. Do not add any baking soda to water as well, just PMDD. Water change once every 2 weeks.

Thank you

[sherchoo]

pH and kH tester is quite important. I suggest you guys get it.

[PeterGwee]

Zerocool..I believe your CO2 unit is those without solenoid one right? About constant changing of bubble rate in the morning and night which you mentioned, I find it totally unnecessary. Since you on your CO2 unit 24/7...you should adjust your CO2 rate such that your plants can photosythnesis and achieve O2 saturation during the day so that there is less chances they will be gasping for air in the next morning. If not another way is to put in an air pump to outgas the CO2 in the night. Test kits imo are not very precise and can only be used as a guide. PH/KH/CO2 is out of the window for me since some people say that phosphate and other buffers other than bi-carbonate will render the relationship useless.

About the pH crash thingy..you can read up on this webby..http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

[timebomb]

[How do I ensure that there is not too much CO2?
---------------
There's a kind of CO2 reactor in the market that is cheap, effective and easy to use. I often wonder why it isn't used by more hobbyists. The reactor is made of plastic and consists of many spirals. Fish shops sell them for between $10 - $15 a piece. It looks a bit like the straws from 7-11 stores.

The spiralling reactor works by delaying the ascent of the CO2 bubble so that it can be absorbed by the water. The CO2 bubbles, however, can never be fully absorbed. They only become smaller as they rise through the bubbles. This reactor has 2 distinct advantages over all other reactors in the market.

One, you can never inject too much CO2. Even if you were to pump the CO2 full blast, the bubbles will simply shoot through the spirals and evaporate into thin air.

Two, there's no back pressure. If like me, you feed CO2 into many fish tanks from one gas cylinder, no back pressure helps to make things a lot easier.

Loh K L