Properly working CO2 Diffuser ?

[mandoborg]

This morning I finished up switching my 29 gallon tank over to Eco-Complete. Everything looks great and there was minimal cloudiness to the water that cleared up nicely after a few hours. I went ahead and planted some Java Ferns, Moss, and an Amazon sword. I hooked up the Aquatek Paintball set-up to a spiral diffuser and the bubble counter it came with. I have a couple of simple questions. First, i've read where you should have the bubble counter reading 1 BPS, but if i do this, the diffuser, which has a built in counter by design, registers much slower. If i go 1BPS at the diffuser, it's like 3-5 at the counter which is mounted to the top frame of the tank. Which should i go by ? Should i scrap the el-cheapo plastic counter that came with the regulator and just go with the diffuser? Also, a video is worh a thousand words so i can actually see the amount of bubbles coming off the diffuser, but even if i crank it up to 5 BPS, there is so little coming out of the diffuser, is this the way it's supposed to run, or should there be a good flow of bubbles ?? Last but not least, i took out the air wand as i've read they're not really needed. Was this a good move or should i put one back in ?? I was thinking of even hooking one up to a CO2 diffuser as my burried one used to get clogged all the time and slow down to almost no bubbles after a month or so.Sorry for the silly questions, this is new to me and i fear gassing my lil buddies . Thanks in advance for any advice !!
Jim

 

[mandoborg]

I should also add that i that i noticed i'm only getting bubbles out of one little section of the diffuser, right along the edge where the ceramic disc meets the glass, not even 1/8 inch worth of area. The bubbles are fairly large and rise all the way to the top which i gather is bad ? They are supposed to dissipate in the water before reaching the surface , is that correct ?? I'm starting to think this diffuser, a $10 e-bay deal by 'up-aqua' might be no good ?? If that's the case, can somebody recomend a better diffuser for my application ? (Paintball tank )

Thanks again.............

Jim

 

[foster53]

I diffuse co2 in my tanks through a cheap TopFin powerhead from petsmart. It has a fitting in the very top that goes directly into the impeller. The co2 is chopped very fine, and pushed throughout the tank very nicely. For me, this is the best diffusion method I have tried.