CO2 tornado or ladder?

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frostby

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jun 9, 2006
Messages
94
While experimenting with my DIY CO2, I had used the hagan ladder, with minimal change in water parameter (unmeasurable before/after), I tried piping the co2 into my whisper filter and noticed how much it busted up those bubbles... but, I can dial back the water flow, and by doing so, I accidentally discovered the entire CO2 bubble doesn't reach the impeller, instead, these bubbles form a swirling vortex right above the impeller intake.

I'm sure somebody has seen this before, do you think the CO2 tornado, or the impeller smashing CO2 bubbles be more effective!?

I guess my other question is, how effective are these ladders? Or are they best for 10gallon size tanks and under?
 
My 10g NanoCube has a CO2 tornado effect on the ADA diffusor. Here is a picture:

CO2_tornado.JPG


As for effectiveness, measure the CO2 levels from one method, and compare it to the other. If you have the bubble count/flowrate the same under both methods, and one measures higher CO2 levels in the tank ...then you know which works better.
 
I have a hagan ladder and my small fish keep getting trapped inside it :/
Havent thought of a way around this yet... but i have to keep checking. In the 1 week i've had it, 3 fish have been trapped in it.
 
The hagen ladder pretty much sucked for me too. I got about 15ppm out of it.

I then put an airstone under the intake of my AquaClear filter. I can turn down the flow, but I don't get the tornado you're talking about. I do see some bubbles collecting under the foam filter pad though. I figure that's good as it has water flowing past it, so there should be some good absorption going on.

I'd like to hear the results when you find an answer.
 
the more you can get those bubbles completely dissolved, the better.

I get good rates plumbing into my AC filters and letting the impeller break em up.
 
I thought the CO2 can corrode the impellers in the filter?

The hagen ladder worked well for me, most of the CO2 is fully dissolved before it reaches the top. Actually it caused too much CO2 to be dissolved in the tank and the fish were having a hard time breathing. Could also be due to the heat - less oxygen in the water. Anyway i had to pump oxygen into the tank. I guess it depends on the size of your tank.
 
I'm not too worried about the corrosion, it's on a $20 filter... the XP2 will be a CO2 virgin!!!!even if the HOB gives me a year of use, with improved #'s I won't gripe. I'm gonna take a picture later, maybe if you can see through the algae(ha ha) you'll see the tornado above the impeller I'm referring to. In a couple of days I'll recheck ph and kh... Only my ph rides between the high and low colors on my cards - can never really tell if it's above 7.6 or below 7.8 on the Aquarium pharm kit...

Zezmo, is that eco-complete in your pic? Love your water clarity, plants look nice too!
 
I have 2 hagen bottles tee'd into one ladder on my 29. I have no idea what my C02 level is because I have high PO4 in my tap water. However, the plants are pearling, so they must be happy.
 
Zezmo, is that eco-complete in your pic? Love your water clarity, plants look nice too!

Yes, that is ECO complete. I have only good things to say about it. Very nice substrate.
Thank you for your kinds words about my wee tank. That is the same one from my 10g Nano journal.
 
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