Co2 not getting to the plants?

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ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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Trying to figure this out and i guess i need to gauge your responses.

I have a inline co2 reactor, about 15 inches long, it dissolves about 100% until the water gets super saturated then it does purge small bubbles into the tank.

So here is the problem... lights are nice a mid range 65wx2 all day one hour burst with all 4, its a 60 gal.

If i run the co2 so that the bubble counter is verrrrry quickly streaming bubbles say >9bps i get good pearling/growth/no algae issues. I turn it down a bit to say
 
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tedr108

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Well, 3 bps is plenty for me on a 50G. Flow isn't only a matter of gph. Where does the output for your CO2 spray into the tank? Originally, I had my CO2 output nozzle at the water's surface of my tank. Because of the way my flow was set up, I do not think my CO2 ppms at the substrate level were anywhere near 30ppm. So, I put the output of my CO2 just below my filter's output spray nozzle. At that point, the CO2 was really getting into the flow and I was able to reduce my CO2 bps by at least 25%. I think you may have to play around with this to get it right. I totally agree with you that 9 bps should not be needed in a 60G tank. Since you don't have a sump, I don't see where you could possibly be off-gassing so much CO2.

Tom has been having success with glass diffusers pointing up toward a Koralia type of pump (I think). That is very simple and really gets the CO2 everywhere. I didn't have time to track down the thread where he mentions this, but you can probably find it easy enough.

I realize drop checkers aren't perfect, but it's the best we have to measure CO2 ppms at an affordable price. You don't mention using one. If you have one, put it down near the substrate where algae is growing and see if you register 30ppm there.

You might want to consider posting a photo or two to give people an idea of your setup.
 
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ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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Ill get some photos, but the co2 was comming out of my 2026 return from the inline down towards the substrate, just above the corner shooting towards my koralia 2. I switched to the mister today and will see how it goes. Also i have two drop checkers one in either corner towards the bottom. Both go dark yellow before the plants start shooting off visible bubbles. I dont see pearling unless the tank is i guess super saturated with co2.....

I guess a good question is how the heck do we know if we have enough co2 if we cant really trust the drop checkers and have to run a ton of co2 inline to get good pearling?
 
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tedr108

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Well, it sure does sound like your CO2 should be getting everywhere. You have better flow than I did.

In my 50G, I only got serious pearling in the afternoons. However, virtually all of my plants grew like 1" to 2" per day, so I'm not sure how much pearling we should look for. I didn't have any problem with algae. I had a little pearling in the mornings -- just not heavy-duty bubbles.
 
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ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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hmm it seems like a cylical thing with me i can NEVER get things going well i dont know what the heck can be going on... may be my tap water is poison.... i even tossed a bag of cuprisorb to lower the copper that is high in my tap.
 
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nickmcmechan

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Mar 15, 2008
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ccLansman;35225 said:
1) what is an HMA?
Click to expand...

HMA = Heavy Metal Axe . Filters tap water, removed heavy metals (e.g. lead, copper, etc, but not minerals. Most of them have a chloramine / chlorine reduction chamber. Very similar to RO but leaves the minerals in.

My tap has pH 7.2 and kH/gH ~1ppm, so I just use HMA for my Discus tank
 
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Panda

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Jun 14, 2008
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nickmcmechan;35235 said:
HMA = Heavy Metal Axe . Filters tap water, removed heavy metals (e.g. lead, copper, etc, but not minerals. Most of them have a chloramine / chlorine reduction chamber. Very similar to RO but leaves the minerals in.

My tap has pH 7.2 and kH/gH ~1ppm, so I just use HMA for my Discus tank
Click to expand...


Could you elaborate on HMA ??

Relating to this thread: it seems it's your diffusion method. I had a few problems on a tank and increasing the BPS rate seems to stop the algae issue. I ended up with a maxi jet ( with tiny holes on the impeller) on one of the corners.
 
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nickmcmechan

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Mar 15, 2008
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Panda;35238 said:
Could you elaborate on HMA ??

Relating to this thread: it seems it's your diffusion method. I had a few problems on a tank and increasing the BPS rate seems to stop the algae issue. I ended up with a maxi jet ( with tiny holes on the impeller) on one of the corners.
Click to expand...

he said in an earlier post that he thought his tap water was very poor quality
 
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Panda

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Jun 14, 2008
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nickmcmechan;35247 said:
he said in an earlier post that he thought his tap water was very poor quality
Click to expand...

I know, thanks. But I want to know if anyone has any info on this HMA filter. I've never heard of it.
 
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ccLansman

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Jan 22, 2008
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I guess a better question would be, does it make any difference how hard or soft my water is? Or how high or low my KH is? If i have high KH do i have to put any more co2 then somone with low kh?
 
VaughnH

VaughnH

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ccLansman;35272 said:
I guess a better question would be, does it make any difference how hard or soft my water is? Or how high or low my KH is? If i have high KH do i have to put any more co2 then somone with low kh?
Click to expand...

No, you don't need more CO2 depending on the KH. If you add 30 ppm of CO2 to any water, it will have the same concentration of CO2.
 
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