"Balance" 65 Gallon Dutch Aquascape, ((( Plants Are In!!! )))

If you can't lower the lights, I'd suggest some floating plants, even if they are temporary. Duckweed is one of my favorites for this, but can make a mess due to its small size. Sucks up a LOT of ammonia, etc, and shouldn't impact co2 levels much. You can use frogbit, water lettuce, etc for this. Just trim the roots so they don't snag the plants below. I also like hornwort for shade and small fish, but it gets its co2 from the water column instead of air.

Just curious, did you happen to measure the ph drop from co2? That would give the best indication if you're getting as much dissolved in the tank as you think. I'm too lazy to scroll back though the thread.

 

Ah ok. If your looking for ph tests, don't do the test strips. You'll never get a good reading at the co2 peak time as they degass that little pad in seconds, making them pointless for our purposes. Use a liquid test and try to prevent it degassing as you fill and shake the vial. You can see the difference.. just breathe into the tube and shake it.... More expensive but infinitely better is a ph meter.

Barring that there's my theory that if you can't gass the livestock you need a beefier co2 setup...

 

In theory 1.9 ppm of co2. I say in theory because in practice there are other things that affect ph and how much it drops with co2. So think of the chart as a theoretical maximum. So if your tank is at 6.8 on the drop checker and using 4kh at most you can have 18.7 ppm co2. And be sure to place the drop checker on the opposite side as the diffuser, any co2 mist making it into the checker will give misleading results.

On the left you select the kh of the drop checker solution, and the current reading of ph from the checker. The intersecting square gives the ppm. Keep in mind that the chart is really only good for a reference solution, not tank water.

 

I don't mind being cast aside!
Got broad shoulders I can take it.

All joking aside a reactor is a big win.
Bubble counter shows it going in and no bubbles come out.
Saturation at it's best!

It's kind of like PAR, electricity, etc...
If you don't test it you'll never know what you have.

 

My thoughts exactly! True power... when you can gass your fish, but don't.

 

Phish???

 

For reference here is the math behind that long winded chart.

 

Poret foam is the boss. I will never buy another canister. Shrimp live it too


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Back to the BPS thing, it's a rough idea of how much co2 your pumping. The main problem though is how much of that is actually being dissolved. If you look at the venturi reactor design, it will actually allow you to create some mist into the tank while still dissolving a good amount entirely. I made the internal version and it worked fantastically, however the way I had it setup there was no mist. I've only experienced green water once, and that was in a tank that was completely overwhelmed with bioload that the bacteria simply just couldn't keep up.

 

Why

Why do you say that? Canisters certainly have their place especially for larger aquariums

 

Oh well I can see that being the case maybe from a biological standpoint. Not a fan of equipment taking up space in the tank it drives me nuts. Can't wait to drill my 40B in the future.