where to find ISTA mini CO2 ceramic diffuser

[hebi]

hi guys,

im looking for the ISTA mini CO2 ceramic diffuser because i broke one this morning after just accidentally letting it fall from a height of just a few centimetres. currently using an airstone and i need to find one of this urgently. or rather, do you guys know any good and cheap diffuser? my tank is just 20cmx20cmx20cm so i need something small.

i also want to ask something different from the topic. when using ceramic diffusers, how do you really consider a good distribution of CO2? as in must the bubbles be circulating around the tank to be considered distributed. because im having a dilema. if i face the rainbar of my eden501 toward the front of the tank, the current will be pretty strong and is able to push the bubbles from the diffuser place at the front corner of the tank to the back of the tank and when seen from the right side, the bubbles are travelling in a anti-clockwise direction, passing by the leaves of hairgrass. but with such a current , i cant keep fishes , they will be struggling.

on the other hand, if i face the rainbar towards the back of tank, flow rate will be reduce as the bubbles just rise up, only small percentage get blown slightly. can i say this means less CO2 is dissolve and not circulated? someone please enlighten me on this. thanks

[sunnydaze]

C328, Seaview.....i love it......hide nicely "in" Juwel filter.

[hebi]

sunnydaze, C328 refers to the famous on the right side right? cause i went to polyart just now to find it but cant. really desperate for one now.. argh. seaview is far.. lol. anyone see NA selling them?

[sunnydaze]

Clementi Floral lah.....hang above head level near the "Koi pond".

[hebi]

okok will go down tomorrow. haha if dont have i find you ar jkjk..

[FishFan]

I've been out of town for a year but back then NA used to have their own ceramic diffusers for sale. Some of them are pretty small but I am not sure how does the performance compare to that of an ISTA diffuser.

[hebi]

you mean they have their own ceramic diffuser? or is it their external reactor? im not sure about this but i just want to get one soon. my plants havent been getting a constant supply of CO2 for 3 days already, either due to tubing problem or breaking of the ceramic diffuser.

anyway, are bubbles suppose to come out from all part of the ceramic plate or only a small section? does increasing bubble count ensure bubbles come out from all part of the ceramic plate? my old diffuser usually only have bubble coming out from half of the plate.

[oblivion]

NA sells some branless mini ceramic diffusor
look almost same as the ista one
y618 sells those too

i used before - performance wise about same as ista
price not much different either

for both these diffusors, you'll usually see bubbles coming out around half the plate unless you up the bubble count
and the bubbles won't be that fine and small

i think performance is fair enough since they are cheap
we get what we pay for so i bought these not expecting super fine bubbles from the whole plate machiam ada diffusors
but they work fine enough (better than ocean free one imo)

[hebi]

haha ok. lets pray that i can get the diffuser at C328 later. so lee, ADA diffusers does perform better and not just the looks ar? and last but not least not as fragile as taiwan brand right? haha really feel like getting a ADA mini pollen one, but so expensive

[oblivion]

i've seen the ista one (in some plastic packaging right?) at both c328 and y618
but c328 will be a better bet
you can try polyart as well if you going there
they carry this too

ada diffusors will give you much finer and smaller bubbles - the better for them to dissolve into the water
but if you don't want to invest in one but wish for more co2 to be dissolved into the tank water, then compensate by increasing the co2 bubble rate
more co2 coming out = more gets dissolved = more wastage (of course )
but then co2 is cheap

as for how solid they are.....errrhmmm glass is still glass, i won't count on them being too solid..maybe a little stronger than taiwan ones? (im just taking a wild shot in the dark here)
but they can still break if you drop or use too much force

[hebi]

yup its the plastic packaging one. went polyart yesterday but no stock. but im still wondering about the question i ask in the first post.

when using ceramic diffusers, how do you really consider a good distribution of CO2? as in must the bubbles be circulating around the tank to be considered distributed. because im having a dilema. if i face the rainbar of my eden501 toward the front of the tank, the current will be pretty strong and is able to push the bubbles from the diffuser place at the front corner of the tank to the back of the tank and when seen from the right side, the bubbles are travelling in a anti-clockwise direction, passing by the leaves of hairgrass. but with such a current , i cant keep fishes , they will be struggling.

on the other hand, if i face the rainbar towards the back of tank, flow rate will be reduce as the bubbles just rise up, only small percentage get blown slightly. can i say this means less CO2 is dissolve and not circulated? someone please enlighten me on this. thanks

[oblivion]

i might be wrong on this but let me just give my opinion in a very layman manner
pardon on the expected lengthy post thats going to come next

lets talk about dissolving of co2 here first
based on the bubbles that come out of the diffusor, the less that reach the water surface, the more is dissolved (thats why lesser bubbles reach the surface since if a bubble of gaseous co2 dissolved then theres obviously no bubble anymore)

same goes for bubble size. bubbles come out bigger and get progressively smaller as they travel upwards since some of the gaseous co2 is dissolved thus bubble gets smaller

thats why good diffusors like ada's are prized since they produce finer smaller bubbles, making it easier for the gaseous co2 to dissolve before hitting the water surface ==> more efficiency and less wastage

now regarding co2 circulation - good dissolving rate (as mentioned above) is not necessarily equal to good co2 circulation
you can have your co2 nicely dissolved into the water but it must still be carried evenly around the tank for all the plants in all areas to benefit

thats why we use the misting method for one to blow the co2 all over the tank
seeing the bubbles blown all over is just a visual aid in helping us to judge if the co2 is being circulated and distributed well

note that extra water agitation on the bubbles does help in increasing dissolving rate as well though

in your case, for case 1, you may have good dissolving + good circulation
for case 2, dissolving efficiency is unknown but circulation may probably be not so good

all in all, what i just mentioned is all simply layman theory
sometimes you have to use your own visual judgement as to how well plants are doing etc to gauge rather than base on any set 'formula'

no offense meant but to be honest, imo i don't see why you need to really worry since for your tank size, its small enough that co2 distribution and circulation shouldnt even be a real issue
what plants are you growing in there? you might not even really need co2 in the tank in the 1st place
for such a small tank, imo sometimes adding co2 just gives you more factors that you can't really control and ends up as more trouble than its worth
you might as well use excel. better and simpler dosage control. cheaper too for your tank size. a bottle will probably last you ages.

and in your small tank size, maybe you should try using the lily-pipe thingy output attachment that comes with the eden rather than try to stuff the rainbar inside. seems like a VERY tight squeeze. makes for better visuals as well
have the output on the front and the input at the back (both on same side of the tank) and there you have it ==> output goes one round around the whole tank and back into the input. viola! round the tank circulation for you

if flowrate is still a problem maybe you can tie some sponge or whatnot to the output to break the water flow as it comes out into the tank
i havent tried this before but why not worth a try.
or you can plan to keep some fauna that likes a current?

cheers and don't fret over this.
its supposed to be a relax hobby afterall.
everyone (or maybe just me ) starts off from trial and error and numerous tests (and failures )
happy fishkeeping and merry xmas!

[hebi]

many thanks lee haha really enlighten me. haha im kiasu mah, and want to make a successful iwagumi setup. currently using just hairgrass, which i think is eleocharis acicularis, which i think needs CO2 to grow well according to others and my own 3ft tank, and some floating plants to absorb nutrients. and i believe providing 'real' CO2 for the plants are definitely better than just excel. my 1ft moss tank use to bubble alot when i use DIY CO2 to sort of kickstart it, but after i got lazy and never use it, i dont see it pearling, but still growing well, mainly due to the cool water i think and i does excel occasionally .

regarding using just the lily-pipe thing, i tried but circulation isnt as good as bubbles, assuming i place the diffuser at the other corner, will at most travel to the other corner and reach the surface, so very little bubbles is seen at the side where the input and output are placed. btw, i cut my rainbar so that it can fit in nicely, hence the strong current due to higher pressure.

but im quite free now since major A level is just over and waiting for my job, so i can experiment with stuff. just love to see how my tank progress over time and how my cherry shrimps breed like crazy.

regarding fauna, i actually started a thread for schooling fish. now that you mention it, is there any fauna that actually likes current?

[oblivion]

e. acicularis doesn;t necessarily need co2 to do well
many have grown them well in low-tech setups without needing to use co2
and excel is actually pretty efficient for a liquid form carbon supplement

and as i mentioned, for your tank size and with and eden
imo, i dont' think circulation is a worry at all
and its up to you really but for me i wouldnt use co2 in this small a tank
real estate is valuable and stuffing things in makes the whole scape look cramped

and i think i mentioned on your schooling fish thread that green neons will be a good choice
i have a small school and they do like a current, occasionally flitting in front of the filter output and 'playing' around there

see these 2 threads on a forummer who did a no co2, occasional excel dosing really nano tank with e. acicularis
the tank did terrifically well so its proof excel on a nano with hg does work

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=30409

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ad.php?t=29544

[hebi]

haha ic, but since i have bought it, i will just take it as an investment for maybe my future upgrades( thats for sure!). i think it will still grow or propagate, its just a matter of how fast. for me, i hope to be able to see a nice complete scape before next year april, which is the time i have to enlist for NS. anw, will keep a lookout for green neon and see how they look like. haha

[oblivion]

haha ic, but since i have bought it, i will just take it as an investment for maybe my future upgrades( thats for sure!). i think it will still grow or propagate, its just a matter of how fast. for me, i hope to be able to see a nice complete scape before next year april, which is the time i have to enlist for NS. anw, will keep a lookout for green neon and see how they look like. haha

april! thats a good few months lol
if it doesnt grow out by then sometihng's really wrong

green neons look like neons except the red strip less pronounced
check out biotope, they have good healthy specimens