Co2 and Air Stone Question

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Matthew_Sample

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Feb 23, 2012
Messages
12
ok a little more reading it was hinted that air stones will cause the C02 to surface.

I have 2 small air stones lots of air... is it better for the over all fish and plants if i remove them ?

newbie when it come to the whole planted aquariums..
 
Any amount of major surface agitation will cause undissolved co2 to escape. If you are injecting any Co2 directly then major surface agitation (as is caused by airstones) is a bad thing. If you are not injecting co2, then do whatever you think looks coolest! ( a lot of folks on here snub airstones all together, FyI)
 
first time i have ever used them and only because i thought it would be better for plants...

TY for responding... removing them will make it much more peaceful
 
Is it bad to have surface agitation with your DIY co2 injector? Curious bc I want to build one. Does it hurt the fish?
 
It really Depends on if you plan to do a paintball type set-up (you will have more control over how much Co2 you are injecting) or a modest DIY Reactor ( uncontrolled injection rate). When the lights are off i.e. nighttime, plants do not use Co2. Because this gas will build in the water, it can lower ph significantly in a relatively short amount of time at high injection rates and cause fish to have difficult respiration. DIY reactors cannot be 'shut off' (pressure will build in the reactor causing iit to burst) and so will inject Co2 throughout the night, however Usually DIY reactors produce too little co2 to greatly affect ph.
My 5.5 gallon heavily planted set-up utilizes a simple co2 reactor (sugar and yeast) with little surface agitation and stays at a ph of around 8.

What is your set-up? ie tank size, stock, plants, lighting. All of these factor into whether co2 is even needed or would be beneficial to your set-up.
 
Gaddy said:
It really Depends on if you plan to do a paintball type set-up (you will have more control over how much Co2 you are injecting) or a modest DIY Reactor ( uncontrolled injection rate). When the lights are off i.e. nighttime, plants do not use Co2. Because this gas will build in the water, it can lower ph significantly in a relatively short amount of time at high injection rates and cause fish to have difficult respiration. DIY reactors cannot be 'shut off' (pressure will build in the reactor causing iit to burst) and so will inject Co2 throughout the night, however Usually DIY reactors produce too little co2 to greatly affect ph.
My 5.5 gallon heavily planted set-up utilizes a simple co2 reactor (sugar and yeast) with little surface agitation and stays at a ph of around 8.

What is your set-up? ie tank size, stock, plants, lighting. All of these factor into whether co2 is even needed or would be beneficial to your set-up.

I have a 55g planted tank with kitty litter substrate (all natural clay granules). T5 HO light. Right now has 2 gouramis, an albino rainbow shark, and a rubber lipped pleco, plants are java fern, anacharis, micro swords, bunch of amazon swords, Anubias, java moss, crypts, and a plant idk wat it is. I have a hob filter for a 55 and a canister filter for a 55 both in one tank. My ph is at 8.1 ish. It will have either a Texas map turtle or southern painted turtle or a ouchuita turtle soon as well. Right now it's being treated for ick so temp is at 88 degrees with high water agitation but will be done soon and have very little agitation soon.
 
DIY reactor wouldn't be an effective way to go on a tank that size. (too little co2 produced) A paintball set-up would suffice. Most of your plants should do fine without co2 injection though (cryps, ferns...).

And i hope the new resident turtle doesnt turn your fish into snacks!
 
Yeah he's gonna be a small guy max size will be same as fish or smaller so they should be ok. If not then the fish have other tanks at home they can go too. And won't just a little co2 be better than none?
 
Cool! Definitely post some pics of the little terrapin when ya get him!

As for the Co2, go for it! It's a fun little DIY project and heck, they make some pretty cool looking glass diffusers. Search online.
 
Running the airstone at night might not be a bad idea but during the day it will just off gas the CO2 you are working so hard to inject.

Some CO2 is better than none for plants but keeping things stable is the key for a happily planted tank. I would either pick less demanding plants or go all out and go pressurized. I never messed with DIY but it seems everyone who has, and is serious about going planted, goes with a pressurized set up anyway.
 
Definitely will. And I actually made the co2 diffuser earlier today because it looked fun lol. I guess it would work ok for my smaller tank at the least. Would running the airline through the filter piece on a power jet so the prop can smash it into tiny bubbles be a sufficient way to diffuse the co2?
 
I think I made the reactor. With the yeast, sugar, and bottles and airline tubing. I have a powerjet so I figured I might use that to smash the bubbles. I saw it online. That way I won't need the ladder diffuser or something like that right?
 
meegosh said:
Running the airstone at night might not be a bad idea but during the day it will just off gas the CO2 you are working so hard to inject.

Some CO2 is better than none for plants but keeping things stable is the key for a happily planted tank. I would either pick less demanding plants or go all out and go pressurized. I never messed with DIY but it seems everyone who has, and is serious about going planted, goes with a pressurized set up anyway.

I will definately look into it. I am going to see if I can get the plants to grow super sturdy for when the turtle comes. And get them to be faster growing as well for the occasional eating that will occur.
 
Hey guys ive heard of a paintball setup but never seen one being from australia paintball isnt as common or cheap is it any different to a normal pressurized setup like regulators and connection fitting id just imagine it would be smaller
 
Monkey Magic said:
Hey guys ive heard of a paintball setup but never seen one being from australia paintball isnt as common or cheap is it any different to a normal pressurized setup like regulators and connection fitting id just imagine it would be smaller

If you'd like, I can take a picture of mine when I get home
 
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