CO2 Questions

[tupiddog]

I'm a total newbie soo forgive me for asking silly questions .

Tank Setup:
I currently have my tank set up for the past month with a variety of fishes ( guppy and tetras ), shrimps ( those $1 for 20 transparent type mainly used for fish food ) and plants in my tank ( 17" by 11" ) on a 11w Pl light .

I would like to introduce CO2 to the tank but frankly after reading soo many threads i'm still at a lost.. as its seem there are a couple of items to get just for doing it to work.

1. As i'm having a small tank,my plan is to get the 2L tank. any advice on size?

2. Where should i go to get the co2 setup ? i'm living in SengKang. Was planning on NA as i understand they have 1 for 1 exchange for refills.

3 Price? was quoted from $100-160 (100 for manual adjust -160 for auto) Dunno what that even means.

Any other advice of info is of help to me . please feel free to reply thanks .

[ghim]

First thing first is, what is your current setup? Filtration, substrate, ferts regime, plants. Given your current light, you may want to increase it. But also depends on the plant selection. If there is no ferts regime, then better forget about CO2. Keep it low tech, will be much easier.

2L CO2 tank is good enough for a 1.5ft tank.

Auto means with soleniod, which can be used together with a timer. So you can set when you want to on it, and when you want to off it.

Manual means, everyday you need to turn on the CO2 yourself.

[tupiddog]

Thanks for the quick reply. Currently using some ADA substrate without fert . LFs says don't need so never buy . Ehmim 2011 filter with some bio circular thing added . plants totally no idea what they are .... but they are growing taller and taller each day like 'Tao Gay'
and some carpet looking mini leaves plant . thinking of going for hair grass as we speak.

So you regarding auto and manual . It means auto i can link it up with my lighting timer while the manual one i gotta turn the knob myself every day .

Are the prices reasonable?

[Viper007]

Can you post some picture of your current tank.

[Philosophos]

If you're just starting, it might be worth reading for a while if you haven't done so already. In my experience, reading first saves a lot of money and frustration. Are you new to aquariums and fish keeping, or just to aquatic plants? I've found it easier to learn fish for a while first, before trying advanced plant keeping with a Co2 system. The fish and plants effect each other, and not all live well in the same conditions.

[Mizu World]

Learning and understanding more about this wonderful hobby will allow you to really appreciate what you are doing and why you are doing it for.

Do you know why you want to add CO2 into your aquarium in the first place and how it will affect your current/future setup?

I will highly recommend reading up and asking here before you venture further.


Cheers,
Ben

[tupiddog]

Thank You all for the very frank answers.. will try to do more reading up .. have been doing soo for like a month in this forum but still blur like sotong.. just wanna see my plants grow happily hahaha .. so trying to give them what they need ..

[ghim]

Giving yourself more time would be good No point investing hundreds of dollars and giving up within months.

You would find heartaches when your fishes and plants start dying. And you don't know why.

Adding more equipment does not shorten the learning process. It actually add on more time to learn. At your current stage, try reading more. Some of the forumers here provide very detailed journals on how they setup their tanks.

I would suggest staying low-tech for now, forget about the CO2. Get plants that are easy. I always asked 3 things when I get plants that I don't know. 1 - Temperature required, 2 - Ease of growth, 3 - Light requirement.

[Philosophos]

A month? I'm impressed. Most people just trust what ever the fish store tells them to buy their first time, even if the employee can't pronounce "cichlid" properly. If you're finding the research hard, or are getting impatient, low tech might be an easier start. With low tech, you can get away with just having a decent substrate and a little bit of fertilizers. I did this for a long time, and it gave me time to learn the basics of plant keeping.

On the other hand, if you want to go high tech, feel free to dive in to the deep end. It's more work at first, but it's pretty hard to resist some times. I've found the biggest help was reading articles and books from people with a reputation within the hobby, then researching the concepts my self, and taking them to the forums for verification, or for that matter clarification. In all consideration though, I'm pretty new to high tech plant keeping my self.

Good luck with you're new planted tank.

-Philosophos

[tupiddog]

Thanks for the advice bro ... my plants have been alive and thriving for the past month without CO2 .. but low growth .. fishes are well and alive as well .. thats why wanted to try planting with CO2 . Went down to NA and purchase a setup from them,so far so good after a day hahah .. just waiting to see if anything happens.. currently doing 4 hrs on 2 hrs off and 4 hrs on again ..followed by night time...Co2 at 1 BPS.. keeping fingers crossed..

Thanks again

Will be in Shanghai for 2 weeks will be back again to see how things are advancing ..

[Philosophos]

Glad to hear you've got the system running stable. I've been thinking on using the 2 hour break my self. Let us know how it's looking when you get back.

-Philosophos

[subxero]

I'm running the CO2 and lights 8hrs straight. Is there an advantage to turn the CO2 off for 2hrs in between? What about the lights?

[Philosophos]

It's more the light than the Co2 that gets a 2 hour break in the day. I've heard it helps to reduce algae, I think it got popular from "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" by Peter Hiscock (the name makes me giggle every time). I'm wanting to read more about concept to see if it's scientifically valid.

[tupiddog]

FYI Co2 power switch is connected to my lights... thus no light no Co2 .. Pri sch science lesson .. posting from Shanghai ... results will be known when i get home hahhahhaah ...

[wrearry]

I've same setup no light no CO2, seems ok so far v minimal algae, occasionally on ceramic of diffusor.
2ft tank, ADA soil , 110w, COS 2bps, 8hrs...

[Aquaboyy]

bro don't say u feel silly.... everyone got their first attempts...

welcome to the hobby.... i think u get your co2 set from NA

they got good service

[Wackytpt]

Guys,

Kindly refrain from using sms lingo or short form.

Thanks

[Philosophos]

Use the solenoid to time your CO2 with your light cycles on a timer. It makes it so that you can't gas your tank out by forgetting to turn things off. Regular cycles are better for the algae factor. Only things it will effect are pH and Co2; it won't do anything to KH or GH.

-Philosophos

[lighthouse]

Hi. Sorry to hijack your thread, but being a newbie to CO2 systems, I have some questions to add-on ;-)

1) What should the typical pressure of the CO2 canister be set at? I got the 5l type.

2) I'm using the Max Mix reactor via an internal setup. But while the top impeller or fins spin when water runs through it, the 2nd fin or impeller (looks like one) doesn't move at all. Is this normal?

[deon]

I'm running the CO2 and lights 8hrs straight. Is there an advantage to turn the CO2 off for 2hrs in between? What about the lights?

I am interested to know if switching off the lights in-between does help too..

lighthouse,

I am using the Max Mix reactor too so I can answer your 2nd question...

Yes it is supposed to spin (if you are talking about the 2 top fins), i noticed that if i reduce my flow rate by a lot, it does not spin too.. so maybe your flow rate is not high enough...
however if you are referring to the bottom fin,it does not spin as i think it is just to direct the water flow..