Sounds good. I am curious if the output flow would influence the bubbles adequately if it is 20+ inches away in my tank from the diffuser.
CO2 Purchase Advice
- Thread starter A&A
- Start date
Just watch your bubble flow. They should be really, really fine. Ideally they will be picked up by some strong current and outflow and dispersed throughout the tank. Basically you want to see more tiny bubbles circling around in the tank than reaching the surface. Mine is positioned about 12'' from the outflow of a much smaller canister. Keep in mind that Your tank is 6X the capacity and the FX5 is about 3X the output of the little Sun Sun that I use.
I should rephrase that.... The bubbles float up, directly into the downward aimed outflow current. I am at work right now or else I would send you a few pics.
Awesome, thanks. You have been a big help. All info that I have researched but was definitely looking to have my ideas confirmed by some of the experts on here. Keep the advice and hopefully some pics coming!
Thanks man, but I am far from being an expert. I asked the same questions that you did 18 months ago and got the same advice. I bought the equipment (all for under $160), set it up easily and got it dialed in first shot. Aside from adding new drop checker fluid every 2 months, cleaning the diffuser, and adding water to the bubble counter, I pretty much haven't touched it in a year. The difference is like night and day as far as plant growth goes. I am looking forward to see you make it work on the bigger tank.
Reactor already purchased. Thanks for the advice. Hope to be up and running in a week. I found a place that will fill a 10 pound tank for $20 dollars. One place told me $50 lol.
Just as an FYI- I ran a pressurized co2 planted 50g gal. tank for a decade +. My regulator and 5 lb bottle were purchased from a beer supply co. Because I am space limited and wanted minimal equipment in the tank, I ran my co2 output directly into the intake of the canister. This can be risky as one may have problems with gas bubbles inside the filter. For this reason I determined the only filter I would trust was an Eheim. It ran flawlessly for the entire time and is still running that waytoday. it is about 18 tears old.
I used a clippard inline needle valve, a bubble counter and that was it- no reactor, no diffuser. It took me a while o figure things out after setting it up. But I basically ran it 24/7. I was prepared to deal with any overnight co2 issues by putting an airstone in the tank on a timer, but it was never needed. I ran a somewhat lean co2 mix- right around 1 bubble per second. As the plants grew I would increase the rate slightly and after a big prune I would lower it a tad. Like everything in this hobby, there is a lot of overkill and there is always more than one way to get a desired outcome.
I finally broke down the tank and sold the co2 system for about $125. I should add at the time I was ramping down some from planted tanks as I was doing more and more pleco breeding and growing out. I had 13 planted tanks at my peak and today I am down to 7 (all low tech). One of these was accidental as I needed a place to park some plecos and I had a bunch of excess plants with no home.
I have two pieces of advice I can offer. Use teflon tape on all the conncetions in your co2 system. I started with the paste and, within the first two weeks, all my co2 leaked out. Talk about algae- I got my first degree in alage from this. The other huge outbreak occured when one of my power compact light bulbs failed and i had to order a replacement. I had half lighting for a week and that was how I got my graduate degree in algae. Ever since I kept spare bulbs on hand.
The scond piece of advice is when you get your bottle refilled rather than doing an exchange (or even is it is an exchange) bring a pair of winter type gloves. A newly filled co2 cyclander is colder than your freezer. You cannot carry it very far in your bare hands. Better to have the gloves and to not need them than the reverse.
I used a clippard inline needle valve, a bubble counter and that was it- no reactor, no diffuser. It took me a while o figure things out after setting it up. But I basically ran it 24/7. I was prepared to deal with any overnight co2 issues by putting an airstone in the tank on a timer, but it was never needed. I ran a somewhat lean co2 mix- right around 1 bubble per second. As the plants grew I would increase the rate slightly and after a big prune I would lower it a tad. Like everything in this hobby, there is a lot of overkill and there is always more than one way to get a desired outcome.
I finally broke down the tank and sold the co2 system for about $125. I should add at the time I was ramping down some from planted tanks as I was doing more and more pleco breeding and growing out. I had 13 planted tanks at my peak and today I am down to 7 (all low tech). One of these was accidental as I needed a place to park some plecos and I had a bunch of excess plants with no home.
I have two pieces of advice I can offer. Use teflon tape on all the conncetions in your co2 system. I started with the paste and, within the first two weeks, all my co2 leaked out. Talk about algae- I got my first degree in alage from this. The other huge outbreak occured when one of my power compact light bulbs failed and i had to order a replacement. I had half lighting for a week and that was how I got my graduate degree in algae. Ever since I kept spare bulbs on hand.
The scond piece of advice is when you get your bottle refilled rather than doing an exchange (or even is it is an exchange) bring a pair of winter type gloves. A newly filled co2 cyclander is colder than your freezer. You cannot carry it very far in your bare hands. Better to have the gloves and to not need them than the reverse.
Really great. I will put this to good use! Definitely going to start with about 2 bubbles per second and possibly work it up from there. CO2 is going off an hour prior to lights off and Air stones will go on overnight. What are some of your secrets for your low tech tanks? Are they dirted?
I am lazy. By this I mean I usually want to find the most efficient (least time required) solutions for anything. Part of this is i am a big fan of the KISS theory- "Keep It Sim[le, Stupid!" I mostly used small gravel for my planted tanks with some laterite mixed into the bottom layer. I also had bare bottom planted tanks ar tanks with a thin layer of sand and all plants still in pots etc. Finally, I use Jobes plant spikes as my substrate fertilizer. Very inexpensive but not for the constant replamter/rescaper. Upset the substrate around a Jobe's spike and you wll get lesson #1 in algae outbreaks. I will put them in the potted plants.
This 75 gal. tank was pressed into use for excess plants and to serve as quarantine for a box of inported redline barbs I got yo bring for sale as a vendor at the NEC weekend event. Today it has morphed into a real jungle and is still a temporary tank about 4 years later. And nothing is planted in the sand still.
To me low tech means plants that need minimal attention. I get good growth and little algae. My biggest problem are anubias growing to the surface. As they near the light source algae tends to form on the upper leaves.
Rooted plants are the best filters, especially when done in deepish substrate (about 3-4 inches). Unfortunately, they cannot be used in all tanks. Of coruse, one might o a veggie filter, but that is more work than I was willing to do. The next best filter, when plants wont do, is the Hamburg Mattenfilter.
This 75 gal. tank was pressed into use for excess plants and to serve as quarantine for a box of inported redline barbs I got yo bring for sale as a vendor at the NEC weekend event. Today it has morphed into a real jungle and is still a temporary tank about 4 years later. And nothing is planted in the sand still.
To me low tech means plants that need minimal attention. I get good growth and little algae. My biggest problem are anubias growing to the surface. As they near the light source algae tends to form on the upper leaves.
Rooted plants are the best filters, especially when done in deepish substrate (about 3-4 inches). Unfortunately, they cannot be used in all tanks. Of coruse, one might o a veggie filter, but that is more work than I was willing to do. The next best filter, when plants wont do, is the Hamburg Mattenfilter.
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