New CO2 kit, need help

[Kribman]

Hi guys, I recently purchased an Ista Waterplant CO2 system with the refillable aluminum cylinder. It comes with a regulator equipped with a solenoid, a bubble counter and a ceramic diffusor

I have a 20 gal tank lightly planted with a coralife t5 lamp. The instructions that came with the kit were very informative as far as setting it up and recommended a flow rate of 1 bubble per second.

I managed to set the needle valve to just under that rate.

What i want to know is whether I should turn off the system at night?
How do I do this? do I simply unplug it, or do I have to turn the valves off as well (not the needle valve)

Can I leave it running?

The plants have been in the tank for just 2 days, although I was running it without lights or plants and just kept the HOB filter going and a pleco doing 25 % water changes every month...I did a 100 % water change and rinsed the flourite, cleanded the filter and installed new filter pads. I got new lights, driftwood, plants and a few fish to get the tank going again..

 

[Old Scales]

NO, you want the CO2 off when the lights are off. If it is like other solenoid CO2 systems, when the power is off the solenoid shuts the CO2 off. Get a timer and set so it comes on one hour before your lights come on and off 1 hour before your lights go off. Visually check that your solenoid does shut your CO2 off. OS.

 

[Kribman]

Hi Oldscales,

Thank you for your reply you have got me thinking of purchasing a decent timer to run the lights and CO2,

I have one more question though, If I simply unplug the solenoid will that be sufficient to cut the flow of CO2 on my system? I did that last night without fiddling with any of the valves and after a few minutes it seemed to stop. would it be advisable to to turn the valve on the tank all the way off or just leave it alone and prevent wear?

 

[Old Scales]

No, you leave the main valve alone once you get it set. The solenoid turns it on and off. OS.