Advice please

[bennyviet]

Hey need some advice if anybody can help.

Ph-7.5
Ammonia -0mg/l
Nitrate- 10mg/l

I have just bought a co2 set up but not sure if I need it and what bubble count I should be running at. I was thinking about 2 or 3 every 10-12 seconds.

Any advice would be warmly welcomed.

Thx Ben.

 

[Delapool]

From memory I was at 1 or 2 bubbles per second before I bought a reactor. A drop checker is useful.

Beginner's Guide to CO2 Injection in the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice

 

[bennyviet]

Thx delapool. I did a test on KH and it is at 5 drops with my sera test kit.
So by looking at that chart from the link it says 6ppm
Is that correct?


Thanks. Benny....?

 

[bennyviet]

I Also have 1 big problem and that is i live in vietnam so that language barrier is a issue. My local Aquatic shop is good but asking for things and somethings I asked today like a co2 test kit will need to be ordered and that is 2 weeks.

They play things by trial and error over here

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[Delapool]

Sounds right. The chart just assumes there are no other buffers or acids. Any acids from driftwood or phosphate buffers would muck it up for example.

I have a similar kh and starting ph. I run a ph controller that turns it off when ph gets down to 6.9 so it is kind of set and forget for me.

I have a drop checker as a just in case but the fish do fine with the ph changes and increased level of co2 in the water.

 

[Delapool]

I Also have 1 big problem and that is i live in vietnam so that language barrier is a issue. My local Aquatic shop is good but asking for things and somethings I asked today like a co2 test kit will need to be ordered and that is 2 weeks.

They play things by trial and error over here

Thanks. Benny....?

True, true. I've ordered a lot of stuff online now and generally had little trouble with stuff making it into Western Australia.

 

[bennyviet]

Thx mate. Newbie at this and the only people to ask is on the Internet. So am I getting this right. 6 bubbles per minute is correct?

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[Delapool]

Thx mate. Newbie at this and the only people to ask is on the Internet. So am I getting this right. 6 bubbles per minute is correct?

Thanks. Benny....?

Generally it is 1 to 3 bubbles per second - search on bps rates for c02.

I was at 2 bubbles per second (bps).

If fish start gasping at surface then reduce flow rate.

 

[bennyviet]

Thank you very much for advice.

What do you have at the momment. Aquariam wise


Thanks. Benny....?

 

[bennyviet]

How did you count your bubbles per second?

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[Delapool]

Tank here is 4ft with the co2 going into a tunze c02 diffuser on one side and there is a ph probe on the other side. The ph probe connects to an ISTA controller/regulator on the gas bottle. The probe turns off the gas once ph drops to 6.9 or so and then re-starts when ph lifts again.

Yourself?

I believe most just have a co2 ceramic stone - I had this at the start. It sat under an internal filter so the bubbles got sucked into the filter to mix around more.

I bought the lot as a package deal from a lfs. If you can find someone at the shop that does c02 injection then they can explain/help as well. It seems complicated but once up and running is little work.

Make sure you get a regulator with a fine needle valve. The ISTA doesn't have this and I find just changing the valve a fraction changes the gas flow rate a lot.



http://www.istaproducts.com/product/co2-controller/

http://www.aquaristiconline.com.au/p/8551449/tunze-co2-diffuser.html

http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-A7551-CO2-Indicator-Kit/dp/B0052M9886

http://aquatic-art.blogspot.com.au/2011/02/drop-checker-in-planted-aquarium.html?m=1

 

[Delapool]

How did you count your bubbles per second?

Thanks. Benny....?

The air stone puts out fine micro bubbles and also a single large bubble. See link below. I just counted the number of large bubbles over a minute.

The reactor is a bit harder to see but I just look for the large bubbles coming out before they are chopped up in the reactor.

Bps is just a rough guide though. A drop checker is handy so you can check the co2 levels dissolved in your tank and cross-reference that to the ph/kh/co2 chart.


http://www.amazon.com/Fluval-Ceramic-88g-CO2-Diffuser-Ounces/dp/B004GCO35G

 

[bennyviet]

75 litres tank.

With co2 setup. See picture.
Got atomizer incase I did not like the glass diffuser

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[bennyviet]

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[bennyviet]

Sorry about the wrong picture still getting used to this site. Thx for all advice

Thanks. Benny....?

 

[Delapool]

Looks good. I have a non-return valve as well just in case. Let us know how it turns out - there seems a thousand ways out there to get c02 into the tank.

I have the c02 come on about an hour before the lights.

Also I picked up a hand-held digital ph reader. Something like below. They don't last for ever but can be used to check how much you are dropping ph. Strictly optional though - I just like water testing


http://m.ebay.com.au/itm/Premium-Aquarium-Water-SPA-Digital-PH-Meter-Tester-/321238408822