C02 Injections and Fertilizer....

[PumaWard]

Hello everyone,

Okay, I don't know much about the whole C02 injection thing or fertilizer, but I was wondering a few things about it... Could I use airstones to do C02 injections?... Here's the thing, my parents own a paintball store, so I have access to 20 oz. CO2 tanks which you would normally screw into a paintball marker... I have been able to rig a hose line onto the CO2 and attach it to my airstone...is there I way I could do a little DYI thing using the tanks to do a CO2 injections...maybe using the air stone?

Also, at Home Depot. I noticed they had plant fertilizer for ponds and it said on the package that it was safe for fish, is it safe to use this in an aquarium or is it ment for marsh plants such as Irisis and pitcher plants?

Thanks for your help in advance! :)

[NJ Devils Fan]

Here is a DiY plan for a CO2 Diffuser (http://members.tripod.com/njdevilsfan130/do_it_yourself.htm). As for the second question, I don't really know, sorry.

[Pink Pat]

PumaWard,

Pond fertilizers are hard to control in the very limited space of the aquarium. I recommend that you avoid them. There are many other/better ways to get the required amount of fertilizer to your plants.

HTH

PP

[PumaWard]

All right, thank you both for your advice. I had no clue about any of this stuff :D.

One more question. I have a power filter (Whisper 60-100) and I've lowered the intake with a little knob thats on the top, will it still cause to much agitation? Right now its kind of a fast trickle instead of the usually steady flow.

Again thanks for your time and advice :)

[anonapersona]

Originally posted by PumaWard
Also, at Home Depot. I noticed they had plant fertilizer for ponds and it said on the package that it was safe for fish, is it safe to use this in an aquarium or is it ment for marsh plants such as Irisis and pitcher plants?


The pond plant fertilizer is designed to be used in potted plants that are lowered into the pond, or sometimes in bog areas adjacent to the pond. If they are disturbed, they will make a huge bloom of green water in the pond, but most of the time, a pot is taken out of the pond before it is uprooted so that doesn't happen too often.

In our aquariums we move plants around pretty often and so the risk of that algae bloom is more of an issue.

That said, I'll admit that I did use pond fertilizer tabs as I was setting up my first tank.... and got algae when I disturbed it. Not learning my lesson, I added a pond tab to the second aquarium and it crumbled as I inserted it into the gravel so I got algae right away on that one.

If you want to add fertilizer to the gravel, I think that getting one made for the aquarium is a better choice. I think they may be better bound to clays so that it doesn't leach out so fast into the water, just guessing.

[PumaWard]

Yeah, I would have to say I agree about getting fertilizer for the aquarium. I don't think it would be worth the risk using something not made for it. Thanks for the info :)

[PumaWard]

Okay, I made the CO2 diffuser... but the article was unclear about a few things. In the tube that goes into your tank suppose to fill with water or should it fill w/ air?

How often should I change the mixture?

[djlen]

The large tube in the picture is coming from the power head. This is the water flow. The smaller tube going into the siphon tube is what the CO2 travels through.

Len

[PumaWard]

Okay, there are large bubbles coming out of it.. Is it working or did I do something wrong :( . I'm sorry I have so many questions, I am just some times easily confused :D

[djlen]

Not clear on your question. Do you mean the bubbles are coming out of the small tube that feeds into the siphon tube or really big bubbles coming out or the siphon tube?
You should be getting small bubbles out of the small tube inside the siphon tube to mix with the water going through the power head. Inside the siphon tube they will mix and a fine mist or similar should be entering the tank through the sponge
Len

[PumaWard]

Must be I did something wrong... Try again tomorrow. Oh well :)

[NJ Devils Fan]

There should be some air in the gravel vac. I have air in there all the time. It takes some time for it to all get dissolved. At first, you should see some bubbles comming from the CO2 tube.

[PumaWard]

Is it the little bubbles that are dissolving into the water?

[NJ Devils Fan]

Yes, but that don't dissolve very very quickly, so you of course get some CO2 buildup in the tube. Now, if there are bubbles rising through the gravel vac and are going to the top of your water and out, then you have a leak.