DIY Co2 and air bubble wands

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themox

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Oct 7, 2011
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193
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Sydney, Australia
hey there guys,

i'm about to set up a java moss wall and have other ferns and mosses at the forefront of my tank. i'm considering setting up a DIY C02 set up (nothing too elaborate) but was wondering if anyone has had any luck or experiences with these and bubble wands.

my idea would be to have the wand placed all the way underneath the wall, and was hoping the Co2 would be released all the way along the moss wall evenly (or as close to even as possible). in this manner i hoped that the escaping bubbles would struggle getting to the surface and dilute in the tank better.

with such low pressure however from DIY, would this be fruitless? or would the bubbles come out from a very small portion of the wand?

thanks.
 
The thing about air stones or bubble wands is that their aeration properties come from the bubbles breaking the surface tension and not the actual bubbles themselves. Larger bubbles rise quicker and have a lower surface to volume ration, so you wouldn't get appreciable diffusion between the time the bubble leaves the want and breaks the surface. This is especially true if the bubbles are large. Normal diffusion methods like ceramic disks breaks up larger bubbles into very small bubbles, therefore increasing CO2 diffusion.
 
thanks for the quick reply mate.

i assumed the bubbles would come out of the wand quite small (perhaps i'm confusing my items). i'll have to think of something else.

thanks!!! :)
 
i think i misunderstood the diffusion method. thank you for explaining that.

so technically, it shouldn't necessarily matter WHERE the Co2 bubbles are released into the water, provided they are small enough and can last around longer in the water so the diffusion is more potent than if the bubbles simply rose and popped at the surface?

in this way, even if the bubbles were over the other side of the tank, they should theoretically have an effect on the moss wall in much the same way as all the other plants scattered throughout the tank?
 
Thats precisely correct. Once the co2 dissolves in water, it will be distributed throughout the tank by normal flow, and plants can "harvest" it from the water. Plants have no particular need to get co2 directly from bubbles.
 
It similar to how ammonia would work. If a fish dies in one corner of the tank, the ammonia isn't localized just to that corner. Rather, it can affect anything in the tank because once it's dissolved in water it travels with the water, eventually equally distributing itself.
 
yeah i see what you're saying. thank you again.

i still thought somehow that the "holding" or catching of the bubbles by the moss wall (similar i suppose to how my java ferns pearl from under their leaves) would mean that the bubbles of Co2 would diffuse better as they would stay in the water longer.

i guess this is correct also but not really needed?
 
just another quick one for you guys, if you're able to answer this for me.

with my own diy c02 set up i'm currently placing my airstone (my only outlet currently) underneath my filter - Internal Aquarium Filteration .

it's my understanding that the smaller c02 bubble stream from my airstone are being sucked into the filter's intake and then *blank*, doing something, inside the filter and it's bio wheel and then being ejected into the water through the filter's outlet which i now have submerged to prevent agitation.

what is that something? is it helpful? i cannot afford a diffusor at the moment so is this the best process or would it be better to place the co2 directly into the filter's outlet so it gets pushed along the water?

sorry, i know these questions are probably quite silly. i know the c02 needs to stay in the water as long as possible, but i can't seem to find a way to really get them to stay in (that doesn't have me adding something huge and ugly looking to hold all the bubbles under

thanks in advance!
 
The impeller pulls the water into your filter and will chop up larger bubbles. Is that what you're asking?
 
just another quick one for you guys, if you're able to answer this for me.

with my own diy c02 set up i'm currently placing my airstone (my only outlet currently) underneath my filter - Internal Aquarium Filteration .

it's my understanding that the smaller c02 bubble stream from my airstone are being sucked into the filter's intake and then *blank*, doing something, inside the filter and it's bio wheel and then being ejected into the water through the filter's outlet which i now have submerged to prevent agitation.

what is that something? is it helpful? i cannot afford a diffusor at the moment so is this the best process or would it be better to place the co2 directly into the filter's outlet so it gets pushed along the water?

sorry, i know these questions are probably quite silly. i know the c02 needs to stay in the water as long as possible, but i can't seem to find a way to really get them to stay in (that doesn't have me adding something huge and ugly looking to hold all the bubbles under

thanks in advance!

Im currently doing almost the same concept with my DIY CO2. I have a diffuser I picked up from E-bay for $3 bucks and I have it placed right under my intake of my HOT Marineland Canister Filter. It hangs right on the back of my tank and the diffuser's bubbles go right into the intake and then it gets broken up in the can and right back out and works great! I also have a 20 gallon hang right next to it so the extra bubbles that make it past the intake get pushed right back down and broken down into the water so minimum CO2 is lost.

You can also put the tube right on the outtake of your filter and have it broken up as it is pushed in. Some bubbles still might reach the surface with this. If you can get your CO2 into your fliter it would be best, just make sure that your filter does not have any airpockets or has some type of still water that the CO2 can reach and be lost. With the internal filter I don't think that would be a issue? But not sure.

Hope this helps :D and Good Luck!
 
Here's a budget friendly idea. Wedge the tip of a wood chopstick into the end of your co2 line and put that either in your filter's intake or right under it. That will break up the co2 into little bubbles, which will get sucked into the filter to be further chopped up and the available subjected to turbulence inside the filter, helping further dissolve you co2.
 
all three of you have answered what i asked...thanks a lot!!! much appreciated. the chopstick idea is pretty sweet also. i'll see if i can post a pic once it's all set up.

thanks for the answers guys.
 
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