CO2
- Thread starter Texas321
- Start date
You can kill your fish if you do not use CO2 injection properly. Plants release CO2 when light is not available (night time), that plus CO2 being injected can harm your fish. What most people do is use a regulator with a solenoid to hook up to a timer so that the CO2 injection stops the same time the lights turn off. You could also turn it off manually, but that leaves room for forgetfulness and potentially harming your fish. I have also heard of people running an air pump at night to combat the CO2 saturation when the lights are out.
Thanks for the reply. I have the set up with a timer and used to have it where it would shut off an hour before the lights went off. The lights are on a timer as well. If it's done right there shouldn't be any ill effects toward fish?
As long as it's done correctly I don't see why it would have any ill effects. I'm not a CO2 expert so hopefully someone with more experience can chime in. Of course too much CO2 can be harmful so providing your bubbles per second of injection and tank size can help determine if you are using appropriate levels.
Honestly, if you don't turn the Co2 Levels up too high, then there is no real need to turn the Co2 off at all... i've always run my Co2 on 24/7 till the bottle is empty, then rinse and repeat... but the trick is definitely knowing how much is going into the tank.. If you want to be safe, invest in a drop checker to place into your tank, that will help give you a visual indication of approximately how much Co2 you are pumping in and give you peace of mind...
Thanks I will do that. I'm wanting to start running it again but don't want to harm my fish at all.
We used to sedate our fish with CO2 at work. It is definitely a problem if the levels are too high, but you probably won't be able to see the full effects in the amounts used in a fish tank. I would say that mild inebriation and stress is the most likely issue that could happen in most planted tanks.
Then definitely invest in a drop checker, and look up online how to corretly mix up the solution inside, so you get the most accurate results
You can definitely kill all your fish with too much CO2.
A drop checker will help, as pointed out above. Keep in mind that a DC only gives you information about one particular place in the tank. Especially in larger tanks, CO2 content can vary widely.
Unless you are keeping very demanding plants, you may not need to maximize your CO2. So if your plants are doing fine, there is no algae, and the fish are happy but your DC is not green, you likely don't need to increase your CO2 any further just to achieve a green color in your DC. Low light = less CO2 demand.
On the other hand, if your DC looks yellowish, keep a close eye on your fish.
A little surface agitation can be helpful.
Regards.
A drop checker will help, as pointed out above. Keep in mind that a DC only gives you information about one particular place in the tank. Especially in larger tanks, CO2 content can vary widely.
Unless you are keeping very demanding plants, you may not need to maximize your CO2. So if your plants are doing fine, there is no algae, and the fish are happy but your DC is not green, you likely don't need to increase your CO2 any further just to achieve a green color in your DC. Low light = less CO2 demand.
On the other hand, if your DC looks yellowish, keep a close eye on your fish.
A little surface agitation can be helpful.
Regards.
Once I stopped using I did get an algae problem that I ant get rid of. I got rid of some plants and that seemed to help but I still see some of that long stringy algae on some stuff.