CO2 Kit Usage

[Shai]

I have the Red Sea CO2 standard kit (no solenoid). This is my first time using pressurized CO2 so I'm starting out slow--1 bubble/2.5sec or so for the time being. I don't have a whole lot of light so I don't need a whole lot of CO2; I'm just tired of dosing Excel in my 55g and watching certain plants melt.

Anyway, since I don't have a solenoid, I see from the instructions that I can use the needle valve to stop the flow of CO2 at night. My question is this: Should I also unplug the reactor pump at night? If there is no CO2 flowing I don't see any reason to keep it going, and the bubble counter has a check valve. But, I did have to briefly unplug the reactor today and when it started up again there was a huge cloud of bubbles. Is this bad?

Edited February 7, 2010 by Shai

[werner]

I'd just let the whole thing run all of the time rather than mess with the needle valve twice a day. You should have the little drop checker to help you find the right amount of CO₂.

[Shai]

I do, but since the pH in the tank is 8.0 I don't want to drop it too quickly. I'm also a fan of not wasting electricity and CO2 that won't get used at night anyway.

[Jaykit]

Instead of adjusting the needle valves on mine to turn it on/off, I just turn on/off the bottle that way everything is dialed in to the right amount and a quick 1/4 turn gets everything going/stop.

[Shai]

Hmm. That's a good alternative I think. Less monkeying around with the valve.