Pressurized CO2 Casualty

jmhart

jmhart

Revolutionary
Sep 8, 2007
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Atlanta,GA
I suffered a casualty tonight. I got home from work and installed a metering valve on my co2 output....an hour later one of my tetras was lying on the bottom of the tank on his side. Yo-Yo loach started to do the same too. Quickly I pulled them both out and put them in my other tank. My Yo-Yo seemingly recovered...we'll see tomorrow. The serpae tetra....I think he's a goner, but I'm sure I'll know for sure in the morning.


Well, adding too much co2 is definitely a possibility with pressurized co2....slightly different than DIY.
 
It is also VERY important to shut the co2 off at night. Plants do not use co2 when not photosynthesizing light, so at night the co2 will build up in the water. Plants also produce some co2 at night, adding to the issue. I suggest getting a solenoid valve and plugging it into whatever controls your daylight bulbs, so the co2 is only on when the lights are on.
 
I believe that plants will consume O2 at night when not in ohotosynthesis..in essence competgint with the stock in the tank
 
The Zigman said:
It is also VERY important to shut the co2 off at night. Plants do not use co2 when not photosynthesizing light, so at night the co2 will build up in the water. Plants also produce some co2 at night, adding to the issue. I suggest getting a solenoid valve and plugging it into whatever controls your daylight bulbs, so the co2 is only on when the lights are on.
Click to expand...


The co2 doesn't build up to an infinite level, at night it still gases off at the same rate as during the day time. The effect of the plants consuming the co2 during the day vs during the night is really a concern. The reason people use a solenoid is to simply save money. Pumping co2 during dark hours is the slightest bit a waste of money.

And yes, I have a solenoid.


star_rider said:
I believe that plants will consume O2 at night when not in ohotosynthesis..in essence competgint with the stock in the tank
Click to expand...


They don't consume so much O2 at night to be competition, as in a threat.


An added benefit of shutting of co2 at night(aside from reducing waste) is that it allows any O2 depletion during the night to, eh, replete....sure, that's a word.
 
I agree.. but on the otherhand is you run a pressurized system it is in essence supersaturating the water with CO2. and can cause toxic levels of CO2. evident when you found your fish gasping.

I see you have a solenoid so I am guessing the co2 is shut off at night.

my point was that the plants will compete for O2 at night..the water only holds so much gas..
it is possible to afect the live stock in the tank and in certain circumstances find your fish gasping at the surface.

;)
 
Im sorry to hear Jeffrey, but dont worry your still the MAN.
 
jmhart said:
The co2 doesn't build up to an infinite level, at night it still gases off at the same rate as during the day time. The effect of the plants consuming the co2 during the day vs during the night is really a concern. The reason people use a solenoid is to simply save money. Pumping co2 during dark hours is the slightest bit a waste of money.

And yes, I have a solenoid.

They don't consume so much O2 at night to be competition, as in a threat.

An added benefit of shutting of co2 at night(aside from reducing waste) is that it allows any O2 depletion during the night to, eh, replete....sure, that's a word.
Click to expand...

if your tank is set up right, you shouldnt be gassing off much co2 at all, ANY time of the day or night.

the plants should be the MAJOR consumer of co2. which is why you can overdose at night.. if your tank is set up to where gas-off is kept to a minimum, and the plants aren't using any, it builds up.
 
hey I dunno, everything I read when I researched the pressurized Co2 said to turn it off at night to prevent this type of thing.. maybe that's why my plants look like crap, or could be too little light.. IDK..
 
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