Right now I've got two 2-liter soda bottles running, each one connected to a bubble ladder. Once I finish two more bottles, I think I'd like to connect two 2-liter soda bottles to each ladder, by using a T-connector and having a third bottle between the generator bottles and the diffuser. As I understand it, the bubbles will release into the water (plain water) of the smaller third bottle, and the pressure will then push the CO2 out of that bottle and into the diffuser. It seemed like this would function like a water pipe that the water would somewhat absorb the yeast scent and such before going into the aquarium. I wanted to get the CO2 running a little bit before testing. But I will check the CO2 levels.
Is it a good idea to turn off the CO2 when the lights are off? I have my lights on a timer, but it doesn't seem like a reliable timer. On Wednesday it turned on fine, but on Thursday it didn't. I leave for work at 6:30 and get home between 16:00 and 18:00 (4:00 and 6:00) and was turning on the light when I get home and off when I go to bed. But that leaves the light on for no more than 7 hours and usually more like 5 to 6 hours. I was considering getting a couple Zilla power strips with built in digital timers, but didn't read too many good reviews about them.
Anyway, I'm excited to see my plants grow better and greener, and hopefully rid the tank of algae. I've got some brown algae (diatoms?) starting to form on the glass, I think it's because I had a cave from my 29 gallon tank in the 75 gallon for about 2 weeks, even though I got as much off as I could get using hot water. But it came back and I assume it spread, but that cave got washed and put back in the 29 gallon tank this week. But I do have dark green algae forming on my large water onion, it looks kind of like dark green crystals forming. I think it's the kind of algae I read about that forms when there's either light or CO2 lacking, but it's a sign of good water levels and nutrients. I've got two dual T5 Normal Output fixtures (48-inch 28W bulb) Coralifes. I just added the second one a couple weeks ago and it looks great. But I think CO2 will help a lot.
