co2 bubble counter

[jrizza]

I purchased the below kit from dr. Foster smith. It's a semi-automatic system with a solenoid. It came with a co2 bubble counter and unfortunately it is made of significantly lower quality than the rest of the kit...

After pressurizing the system, I put a little tank water on the connections to check for leaks. Sure enough, the bubble counter is leaking on the top. It has a cheap plastic screw connector (the blue piece) on the cap. It is leaking right on that connection.

So, my question is- is this piece required? I have bypassed it for now but It's a little unclear now how much CO2 i am actually putting into my tank. I can kind of count bubbles going into the diffuser- but how accurate is this count compared to the bubble counter? I heard 2-3 bubbles per second is a good number- but depending on what piece of hardware you are looking at the bubbles could be different size- right?

 

[ImACoolguy]

I've learned that typically you can eyeball what's coming out of the diffuser. If it is a small flow of bubbles your fine. On mine, it goes from small stream of bubbles to volcano in less than a quarter turn.


Caleb

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[PerfectDepth]

I heard 2-3 bubbles per second is a good number- but depending on what piece of hardware you are looking at the bubbles could be different size- right?

Very true. Bubble count should only be used as a comparison when making your adjustments. Don't rely on counting bubbles, instead I would advise using a drop checker, along with measuring pH and comparing it to pH of degassed tank water as a double-confirmation of your daily pH drop.

Regarding the leaky bubble counter, have you tried tightening the hex nut on the bulkhead fitting? (Sorry if this seems obvious.. some people don't realize it can be tightened.)

If you've already tried tightening it, I would just toss it out and get a different one. They're available in a very large price range, from super cheap to ridiculously expensive.

 

[jrizza]

Very true. Bubble count should only be used as a comparison when making your adjustments. Don't rely on counting bubbles, instead I would advise using a drop checker, along with measuring pH and comparing it to pH of degassed tank water as a double-confirmation of your daily pH drop.

I will get one.

Regarding the leaky bubble counter, have you tried tightening the hex nut on the bulkhead fitting? (Sorry if this seems obvious.. some people don't realize it can be tightened.)

I only tightened it by hand. It seemed pretty tight, but the blue piece is "L" shaped, and when turning was actually hitting the other plastic connector on the top and couldn't be tightened any more. GREAT design. Perhaps it may be worth fiddling with it some more tonight. It probably wouldn't hurt to trim off a small bit of the other connector so I can tighten it some more. Its useless to me as is, so I might as well try. I'm a little nervous of the plastic threads on it though. I don't want to over tighten it.

I'll play with it some more tonight. Thanks.

 

[mikem691]

Use Teflon tape on the threads.

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[jrizza]

Well, the cap cracked when j tightened it more. Oh well

Thanks for the help anyway


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[Rpeinhardt]

Bubble counters are helpful if you're using an inline diffuser like my atomic one. It makes calibrating them for the right flow rate a lot faster and easier.

For in-tank setups like yours, you can squirt a little water into the diffuser and it will actually double as a bubble counter.

That said, as has been pointed out, in-tank diffusers are easy to eyeball and, ultimately, you should be testing against your pH, rather than trying to hit a specific flow rate.