Co2 starter kit

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Fishies86

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
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Location
Isle of Wight, UK
Has anyone used the co2 starter kit by T.M.C? I've seen it and am very interested. I know pretty much nothing about co2, and this seemed like a good basic kit to get me started until I have a better understanding (and better paycheck ;) ). If it's not very good, would anyone be able to recommend a better one that is basic and reasonably priced?
 
What is TMC?

A link to what you are looking at will help, and I can take a look.
 
I have never seen that particular system, but I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work fine. I don't see a cost associated with it. Are you sure it is cost effective? Also, what size tank are you planning on injecting with this system?
 
I don't see any mention of a way of controlling the flow of CO2
The can looks like it has a nozzle like those on computer compressed air cans
How do you keep it on and once it is on how do you turn it off or throttle the volume of gas injected
How long is that can of gas supposed to last and are replacement gas cans readily available at a cost you can bear over a year
A 5# bag of sugar lasts me a couple of months as does a set of yeast packets
It isn't too much of a pain recharging my DIY generator every other week and it is cheap
But I can't control the amount of CO2 I am injecting so get more than I need on a fresh charge and less than I would like at the end of it's cycle
I also can't turn it off at night when CO2 is not needed
 
Looks pretty cool. it has a regulator so there must be flow control. I bet the canister would last a month or two it is over a pound.
 
It's for a 48 litre tank. The whole set costs about £10, and the canisters which should hopefully last a month cost £6 to replace. I thought it'd be a nice cheap intro to co2 until I'm more competent an can upgrade a bit. Apparently you squirt the can which fills up the upside down cup bit (total noob, don't even know what it's called ;) ), and it fills up with water over the next couple of days, then you squirt the gas into it again. Or something like that. I haven't actually seen it yet, only in the catalogue at my lfs. He's getting some in so that I can see what it's like. I was a bit worried about whether I'd be able to turn it off at night. Will it be a major problem if I can't? Obviously I don't want to suffocate my fish :/
 
I run DIY CO2 in my 10 gal BioCUBE so have no flow controm other than setting the generator under the window where it is cooler to slow the reaction after a fresh charge and moving it away from the window when CO2 production falls off a week to 1 1/2 weeks later
My drop checker is yellow (too much CO2) right after a charge, turns green (right amount of CO2) for a while and then to blue (too little CO2) toward the end of the second week or in the third week when CO2 bubbles deminish
I can't see any change in fish behavior no matter what color the drop checker reads
I don't notice the color changing from yellow first thing in the morning to green after the lights have been on for a while
Whenever I calculate CO2 concentration based on hardness and pH (chart and formula somewhere on the Web) it is always in or below the recommended range
My plants directly under the lights are more likely to pearl just after the generator has been recharged
So I don't worry about suffocating my fish even though I have little control ofer my CO2 dozing
I would, however, like to have a pressurized system like the Fluval 88 that I could control
 
kc2ped said:
I run DIY CO2 in my 10 gal BioCUBE so have no flow controm other than setting the generator under the window where it is cooler to slow the reaction after a fresh charge and moving it away from the window when CO2 production falls off a week to 1 1/2 weeks later
My drop checker is yellow (too much CO2) right after a charge, turns green (right amount of CO2) for a while and then to blue (too little CO2) toward the end of the second week or in the third week when CO2 bubbles deminish
I can't see any change in fish behavior no matter what color the drop checker reads
I don't notice the color changing from yellow first thing in the morning to green after the lights have been on for a while
Whenever I calculate CO2 concentration based on hardness and pH (chart and formula somewhere on the Web) it is always in or below the recommended range
My plants directly under the lights are more likely to pearl just after the generator has been recharged
So I don't worry about suffocating my fish even though I have little control ofer my CO2 dozing
I would, however, like to have a pressurized system like the Fluval 88 that I could control

Doesn't that cause algae when it fluctuated like that?
 
Well, the guy at the lfs had been sorting through his shelves and found an old set by tetra. It was supposed to be £14, but he let me have it for £8, and he let me have a co2 indicator for £9 instead of £12.95. He also threw in a non return valve and a spare diffusion cylinder ;) (must remember to wear makeup more often ;) )
My brilliant bargains of the day :) I've installed it all in my tank and it's looking good.

I've found a way to stop it at night. But will take me a few days to perfect it. You fill up the cylinder with co2 and it gradually diffuses into the water. So if I work out how much it uses a day, I can just squirt in that amount every morning when I feed the fish and the cylinder will have run out by the evening :)

I can link cylinders together to allow more co2 to diffuse into the water if I need more too. My indicator is still blue at the moment but apparently it's about 2-3 hours behind so I think it'll need a bit longer yet. It only had a few hours before my lights went out.

I'm glad I bought it now, it's actually really simple when you've got the product in front of you :)

Just you wait for all my co2 threads now ;)
 
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