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New tank Co2 checker

Sharkey Sylk

New Member
Joined
22 Dec 2020
Messages
7
Location
Colchester
Hello, Have just started new planted tank, Aquatic soil and Co2 with a large jbl .? Plastic spiral diffuser. The Co 2 drop checker is not changing colour at all, just stays blue. Co2 cylinder is new with approx one bubble per second Into the spiral. Could the Bromo blue be faulty, its 4 or 5 years old, any help appreciated. Cheers
 

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I would assume the Bromo is perfectly fine, your co2 injection rate is probably not sufficient. As long as there are no Animals in the tank to worry about gassing I would crank it up to 10x your current output and observe for change, if there are then slowly adjust upwards 1 extra bubble per sec at a time with a decent period of length between each adjustment and observe behaviour, assuming everything is okay the DC should change colour before fauna start heading to the surface or reacting due to hypercapnia. I assume you are using around 3-4 drops bromo to about 5ml of 4dKH solution.

:)
 
Hi @Sharkey Sylk

Firstly, welcome to UKAPS! :)

A few observations/comments:

[1] The spiral bubblers have never been effective in my tanks. A decent diffuser is much better - something like the 'Bazooka' for example. But, they require a higher CO2 working pressure. For more details, check out the likes of CO2Art or CO2 Supermarket.

[2] As the spiral bubbler in your tank is immediately adjacent to your drop checker, there is obviously very little CO2 getting into the tank water. Ideally, you would have these at opposite ends of your tank.

[3] Which CO2 cylinder and CO2 regulator are you using?

JPC
 
Hello JPC, I am using a 2kg extinguisher with new jbl regulator . Have tried fluval ceramic diffuser and glass chinese, neither of which worked. My pressure gauge shows 50 bar and 1.2 bar on the regulated side. Have turned the bubble count up and will check again on Thursday. What sort of pressure do bazooka diffusers need to work, Cheers
 
&A couple of weeks have passed, I bought a new regulator allowing higher pressure to operate a bazooka type diffuser. It seems to have worked. Many thanks for the help, plants were supplied by Aquatic gardens. Cheers164644[/ATTACH]
 

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