Fully Dissolved CO2 & Oxygen

BenFishin

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So I have switched over to the sealed wet/dry sump. I would say my favorite part is getting all of the hardware out of the tank. I went with a HOB Overflow 6-800 GPH and have it maxed out. I have my filters low and my water level high in the sump. The water crashes down from the intake onto the water below. This area is completely air tight sealed. It goes through three pond filters and then a polishing pad. The second chamber is where I keep my heater, pump, and power head breaking up my CO2. From the pump it goes out of the sump to an large external canister filter with 100 ppm filter and then into the tank.

My question is:

I am used to seeing CO2 and oxygen bubbles in the tank, but now there are very few small bubbles. I see air going into water in the intake portion of the sump, and plenty of co2 in the water in the output side. Can the co2 and oxygen get dissolved completely?
 

fablau

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If you are getting the correct PH drop anyway, that's good news. Looks like your canister filter is acting like a "cerges" and dissolves Co2 very well in the water, hence the almost lack of micro bubbles in the tank.

I have my needle wheel pump pushing water through an am1000 real tore first, and then into a cerges, and I barely see some bubbles. That's the way to go!
 

BenFishin

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Yes I checked that this afternoon and things checked out. Just didn't see pearling like before. But then I think maybe some of the pearling I saw before was co2 collecting. Plants are fresh and not rooted. The ones from my tank are shocked from time bare in plastic baggies. I am expecting too much. I'll keep things the same and be patient.
 

fablau

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You are very welcome. If you have a PH meter you can measure the PH drop caused by the Co2 injection or use a drop checker to have a better idea of the amount of Co2 you have. PH measurement via PH meter is always the best way to go.
 

BenFishin

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For checking my flow I hooked an open ended airline hose to my power head after the lights went out. Then I used a small flashlight to spot check areas using the air bubble mist. This helped me just see the movement in one spot at a time. Areas in the back that appear to have movement with lights on, actually did not. I saw movement in the water in front of that particular area. With the spotlighted area, it only shows me that areas movement.
 

BenFishin

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What I have right now is a power head chopping co2 through its impeller and spitting it into my main pump chamber. The sump sends it into the external canister.

What I did while the co2 was off was run an open ended airline hose from the Venturi on the power head into the sealed section of the sump. It pulls that air (some degassed co2 as well) into the power head and injects it into the pump chamber. Same effect as co2 injection however it is at a much higher rate and is more air than co2, and results in a higher count of micro bubbles.

This was done just because I am trying to see where my flow is throughout the tank. My co2 is fully dissolving during the day which makes it difficult to visualize the water flow.

Not planning on running this full time. Simply a tool/technique to fine tune water flow and find dead spots. I am sure there are many ways to do this, and I am open to suggestions of easier or more absolute techniques.