Benefits of CO2?

[abw0004]

The times I can aquarium gaze tend to be from 7am to 9 and then 6 or 7 pm until whenever I go to bed, but I'm around most of the day.

I've been experimenting with a very long moonlight period. I've actually been thinking about starting my own thread about it.

When I bought the Current Satellite LED+, one of the reasons I picked it was because I thought you could program a 24 hour schedule. You can't. You can program colors. That was pretty disappointing. The other less-than-perfect aspect is how huge the transformers are, so they're kind of hard to plug into timers.

Other than that, I love it. I *really* like the cloud cover settings.

What times do you keep your light on?

 

[Brookster123]

My tanks are in the basement/fish cave. Blinds limit natural light. It's pretty dark down there for the most part. Ambient light allows the fish to see and move about.

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[nirbhao]

Mine are in my living room, where there is a ton of light. Our house is a converted carriage house, so two of the exterior walls are pretty much all window. The tanks are in the darkest area.



I turn the CO2 and moonlight on at 7. I turn the sunrise on at 8. I usually leave them on until 10, and then they get moonlit again until 4 or 5 an leave them on for four hours unless we leave the house. I turn on moonlight when we are gone.

Plants are doing great. Not much algae, but a boatload of snails.

Short story long....

The point is that there's a long break that might be lit by ambient light but doesn't seem to be causing problems.

 

[abw0004]

Mine are in my living room, where there is a ton of light. Our house is a converted carriage house, so two of the exterior walls are pretty much all window. The tanks are in the darkest area.

View attachment 295199

I turn the CO2 and moonlight on at 7. I turn the sunrise on at 8. I usually leave them on until 10, and then they get moonlit again until 4 or 5 an leave them on for four hours unless we leave the house. I turn on moonlight when we are gone.

Plants are doing great. Not much algae, but a boatload of snails.

Short story long....

The point is that there's a long break that might be lit by ambient light but doesn't seem to be causing problems.

So you also do two photo periods during the day? Sounds like this may be the best bet then. And that is a lot of light in your picture. I assume the tank is right the outside of the picture so the fish could see where they are going. During those times, when is the CO2 on?

 

[nirbhao]

Yes, two photo periods. I was sitting right in front of the tanks when I took the picture- they are in the opposite corner as the picture.

I leave the CO2 on the whole day and turn it off around 9, although I do keep a very close eye on the drop checkers and adjust accordingly.

We got an AC solenoid. Oh my goodness was that loud. We have a DC solenoid on the way. I'm looking forward to getting the CO2 on a timer.

 

[abw0004]

Yes, two photo periods. I was sitting right in front of the tanks when I took the picture- they are in the opposite corner as the picture.

I leave the CO2 on the whole day and turn it off around 9, although I do keep a very close eye on the drop checkers and adjust accordingly.

We got an AC solenoid. Oh my goodness was that loud. We have a DC solenoid on the way. I'm looking forward to getting the CO2 on a timer.

I sure hope GLA's system isn't loud. That is what I bought.

 

[Brookster123]

I sure hope GLA's system isn't loud. That is what I bought.

It only makes noise twice a day, sounds like hitting a hammer against solid metal. It would wake you up in the middle of the night.

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[nirbhao]

The AC was a constant chatter. But really and truly there's no reason to have a solenoid on AC power outside of industrial setting.

Edit: the spouse is a welder and fabricator, and he hates buying things he can make. This CO2 system is entirely custom built. On the plus side, it all perfectly fits our needs. On the down side, sometimes it feels like he's reinventing the wheel.

 

[abw0004]

It only makes noise twice a day, sounds like hitting a hammer against solid metal. It would wake you up in the middle of the night.

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I can't tell if you are joking or not...

 

[Brookster123]

Serious, the solenoid is magnet activated so it kind of slams open and closed.

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[abw0004]

Serious, the solenoid is magnet activated so it kind of slams open and closed.

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Is it loud enough to where you need to muffle it or do something? Mine CO2 system will be in the cabinet under my tank.

 

[Brookster123]

Can't do anything about it. It's not like a constant thing though. It happens when it clicks on and off. Of the 86,400 seconds in a day you will only hear for 2 total, 1 second intervals. So it will be silent 99.065% of the time

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[abw0004]

How does that work with a timer though? With a wall electrical timer, it just cuts the power off to the regulator, so how does it close if there is no power?

 

[Brookster123]

When the power is on the valve is held open, when the power is off the valve closes.

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[nirbhao]

When the power is on the valve is held open, when the power is off the valve closes.

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= super noisy when powered by an alternating current

 

[Brookster123]

= super noisy when powered by an alternating current

The solenoid is?? Huh? I don't see how that's possible. It's stationary unless it's actuated/de.

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[nirbhao]

The solenoid is?? Huh? I don't see how that's possible. It's stationary unless it's actuated/de.

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Oh no that one lasted maybe a couple of hours. It was terrible.

 

[Delapool]

I run the lights and CO2 to come on during the morning and night when I'm home. These are on timers for both and the CO2 is controlled with a ph probe / solenoid.

The use of ph probes to turn off CO2 injection once a set low ph value is reached (and back on when ph rebounds above) is more common here than compared to US (probably as we all got all our gear here at one main shop).

Tank here gets a little natural light but is in centre of room so no sunlight which I find an algae magnet.

The way I was taught was to start low at say 6hrs of light and work up. At the moment I'm getting reasonable growth and not too much pruning of plants.

Possibly I could run lights for 12hrs and assuming I could keep circulating CO2 and ferts properly for that time (avoiding an imbalance and helping algae) then best case is I'm just doing more plant trimming each week.

There was an article I read some time ago that planted tanks start off for maximum growth and then get gradually reduced in light to slow down growth. I thought I could never imagine reducing light but effectively have lol. Also one of my lights uses bulbs so I'm not replacing as often ($30 Aus each so not the cheapest). Some thoughts.

 

[abw0004]

I will try to time the CO2 directly with the lights. Is 1 BPM a good starting point before the drop checker kicks in? I don't want to over-do it. I would rather work up to the CO2, than work down.

Also, since I have Fluorite gravel/sand, CO2, and Flourish tabs in the substrate, is there anything else I need for happy plants? I did not know if the flourish tabs were a substitute for Excel. Thank you!

 

[Brookster123]

Should.come on an hour before lights on and go off hour before lights out.

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