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Co2 amount being injected

Deano3

Member
Joined
8 Feb 2012
Messages
2,503
Hi everyone just recently i seem to have had to turn my co2 up ever so slightly and seems very high for a 45p.


Its currently too fast to count maybe 4-5bps i am aware that harder water requires more but seems very high as some of amanos are 1bps.

Lately the drop checker is dark green/blue at lights on so turned off and waited to turn lights on.the drop checker is right hand saide rear near the outflow so less gass bubbles there but seemed fine weeks ago.

Does more plant mass require more co2 ?

Does inline diffuser need to be a certain way and mine is straight not facing up ?

Thanks dean

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The greater the plant mass the more CO2 you will need. I usually have to make fine adjustments as my scape matures and the plant biomass increases.
I don't think it matters which way up your atomizer is. And I don't think tank volume is necessarily directly proportional to the volume of CO2 used. For instance, my 20 litre nano tank seemed to use far more CO2 than my 60 litre tank, that is proportionally.
Bubble rate is not really a reliable measure of CO2 conc., it's just a visual guide to help dial your CO2 in. Trust your drop checker, if it's filled with 4dKH solution and an appropriate indicator it should be lime green at lights on and all the way till lights off.
 
And I don't think tank volume is necessarily directly proportional to the volume of CO2 used. For instance, my 20 litre nano tank seemed to use far more CO2 than my 60 litre tank, that is proportionally.

Hi @Tim Harrison

It would be interesting to compare the water surface area to water volume ratio for each of your 20 litre and 60 litre tanks to see if that correlated with CO2 usage. Or, is that what you did? If the tanks are cubes, then I think you'll find that the 20 litre tank has the highest surface area to volume ratio. And this would result in a greater loss of CO2 than the 60 litre tank. I've done this quick calculation on the proverbial 'back of a fag packet' so it will be interesting to see if you agree.

JPC
 
You're right, surface area to volume ratio will have an influence on the amount of CO2 used. I'm not great on maths or physics, but I was guessing (probably incorrectly) that there also might be more at play than just that ratio.
 
@Deano3 interesting that you've mentioned this as I have been thinking the same with my 60p. I have the CO2 come on 2 hours prior to lights on at a bubble rate I can't even count, the drop checker is looking lightish green at this point ,by lights off the drop checker is almost yellow (CO2 turns off 1 hour prior to lights off).

I have a fair amount of surface agitation, also the 60p has a large a surface area which must be affecting the gas off rate.
 
The greater the plant mass the more CO2 you will need. I usually have to make fine adjustments as my scape matures and the plant biomass increases.
I don't think it matters which way up your atomizer is. And I don't think tank volume is necessarily directly proportional to the volume of CO2 used. For instance, my 20 litre nano tank seemed to use far more CO2 than my 60 litre tank, that is proportionally.
Bubble rate is not really a reliable measure of CO2 conc., it's just a visual guide to help dial your CO2 in. Trust your drop checker, if it's filled with 4dKH solution and an appropriate indicator it should be lime green at lights on and all the way till lights off.
Thanks again tim i am constantly thinking of these silly questions to ask but thats what the forum is for and hopefully one day i can help people put like you do.

You would think smaller tank requires less co2 but obviously not.

My co2 goes on to 3.5 hours before my lights and is usually lime green at lights on and then go off 1 hours before lights off.

I also seem to he getting a lot of biofilm on surface of water but font want a skimmer for aesthetics and the built in ones on the inlet are huge and due to small tank i only want a nano one but none i know of is there anything thay can be done about this ?

Thanks dean

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I also seem to he getting a lot of biofilm on surface of water but font want a skimmer for aesthetics and the built in ones on the inlet are huge and due to small tank i only want a nano one but none i know of is there anything thay can be done about this ?
Decent surface movement will help reduce it's formation, but then you'll off gas more CO2. However, it's a worthwhile compromise since it'll also increase O2 saturation which will also help prevent biofilm formation and keep your critters happy.
Other than that you can use kitchen towel or printer paper etc to skim the surface and remove the biofilm.
 
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