corrosionjerry Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 Is there someone out there that has CO2 injection set up on a 70-75 Gallon setup? What would be a base line setup for CO2 in a tank this size aprox 50% planted as far as bubble count goes per second.... Trying to get some of the guess work engineered out of this on the co2 kickoff...... then I will start meauring PH etc.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 My co2 is on a 58g tank. I have my tank running at about 1-2 bubbles a second. It brings my ph from 7.8 to 7.2ish. My plants are growing great I love my CO2 cannister Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted February 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 My co2 is on a 58g tank. I have my tank running at about 1-2 bubbles a second. It brings my ph from 7.8 to 7.2ish. My plants are growing great I love my CO2 cannister Thanks Val... 58g is simular... so if I set mine at 2 should be about right.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 On the 55 I used to have (the one you have ) and the 90 I have now, which were choked with plants, I bubble between 2 and 4 bubbles/sec. You'll be fine at 2/sec. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted February 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 On the 55 I used to have (the one you have ) and the 90 I have now, which were choked with plants, I bubble between 2 and 4 bubbles/sec. You'll be fine at 2/sec. Yep still have that 55 / and happy that I have that one... looks great (one of my better used purchases)... that one isnt planted LOL .... God forbid me if I plant that one as well! not sure if my budget will alow me to do that or the fish that live in it:wacko: its to far away from the 75 to run another tubing and CO2 from my regulator So it seems that 2bubbles should be about perfect estimate for a 75G.... One last thing on this topic.... I have about 340watts above that tank 4.6 watts per gallon... as it is a deep tank 48 x 18 x 21/ 1/2" so I am a little concerned about getting enough light pennitration to the bottom of this tank as I want to plant a ground cover ............. Is this going to be a problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 18, 2008 Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 If you have that much light, I'd go with a higher bubble rate - CO2 is going to be your main weapon against algae. You'll also want to make sure your ferts are in balance. If you're using normal flourescent light (T12 or T8/T6) you may have trouble growing some of the shorter, light-loving plants (Glosso. Hemi. etc.). But, if you've got PC, T5 or MH you should be fine to grow about anything nice and low. The light-lovers will grow, they'll just be a bit leggy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted February 18, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2008 If you have that much light, I'd go with a higher bubble rate - CO2 is going to be your main weapon against algae. You'll also want to make sure your ferts are in balance.If you're using normal flourescent light (T12 or T8/T6) you may have trouble growing some of the shorter, light-loving plants (Glosso. Hemi. etc.). But, if you've got PC, T5 or MH you should be fine to grow about anything nice and low. The light-lovers will grow, they'll just be a bit leggy. The lighting source is Coralife compact flourescent 6700K bulbs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 IS there a special way to count bubbles/second. Because once it gets past 1-2 bubbles I can't keep track. Is everyone jsut kind of estimating or is there an actual way to count them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam Chicklets Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 You can get a bubble counter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 Set a timer to 10, 20 or 30 seconds, then count the bubbles and divide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted February 19, 2008 Report Share Posted February 19, 2008 You can get a bubble counter. I do but the bubbles go by so quickly in the small 2-3" of the bubble oc*nter. Set a timer to 10, 20 or 30 seconds, then count the bubbles and divide. Thanks I'll keep that in mind if I ever need to do higher amounts. Right now I have my tank going at a fairly slow rate, about 1-2 b/s from what I can count/estimate, so its not much of a problem at the moment. I was always just wondering how people counted 3-4+b/s as it goes by faster then you can count. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted February 27, 2008 Report Share Posted February 27, 2008 You can get a bubble counter. I do but the bubbles go by so quickly in the small 2-3" of the bubble oc*nter. Set a timer to 10, 20 or 30 seconds, then count the bubbles and divide. Thanks I'll keep that in mind if I ever need to do higher amounts. Right now I have my tank going at a fairly slow rate, about 1-2 b/s from what I can count/estimate, so its not much of a problem at the moment. I was always just wondering how people counted 3-4+b/s as it goes by faster then you can count. Not something a green thumb will hear every day, but you are playing w/ fire...Assuming you are not involved in a drastic buffering regimen your Co2 levels are completely calculable. Co2 introduction is one thing but I find consistent absorption to be the vital component. That is, getting it to stay in the tank is the tricky part. You could blow bubbles in there day and night and not raise the levels of CO2. A store bought reactor is the rich mans solution; a little time alloted for research, imagination and inventing to build your own will be much more rewarding. A still surface is is the next aspect to address. When my water level (volume) runs low the filter outputs stir up the water and this allows CO2 to escape. Airstones are out too. Get every thing right and there will be plenty of oxygen. The only way to truly know the actual level of C02 is to measure it. Saturation is revealed by observing the Ph drop off factored against the Carbonate hardness already present. In conclusion back to the fire part. After ( over successfully ) tinkering with my DIY reactor within two hours my water "held" enough C02 to drop my Ph by THREE full points !! This was NOT an adjustment in CO2 output , it just wasn't escaping the water as fast. Take a look at the calculator on Chucks Planted Aquarium site. A drop of 3 Ph increments with water @ 110ppm Kh put the CO2 levels in the tank well over 100ppm. Twenty five ppm is to much,,, over thirty can be lethal :boom: Stay safe and have fun! Jewels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 IME, there is no direct correlation between CO2 concentrations and fish health. High CO2 does not equal low O2. That being said, if the CO2 does errode your buffering capacity (ie. Carbonate Hardness), then keeping everything in check can be difficult. I have had a 14oz CO2 bottle empty completely into a tank a couple times. The 1st time it happened (I thought it was jsut b/c of temp change), it just bubbled out my CO2, and pH was low. Carbonate was still acceptable. The 2nd time it happenedn (same week, no WC), fish were quite stressed b/c the carbonate buffer was used up by the CO2. This is why it's important to do weekly WCs. Our tap water has a fairly high carbonate hardness, so keeping the buffer is easy. If you do weekly 50% WCs, you will never have a problem with your buffer, and fish will be fine. This is my experience from the past 8 years of using pressurised CO2, and understanding from my University Chem. Hope this helps! Have plants, have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trixie Posted March 1, 2008 Report Share Posted March 1, 2008 To get better consistent absorption reduce the tube as it goes into your pump . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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