I have seen alot of people saying that bio-wheels are bad with diy CO2, can you take the wheel of a penguin or emperor and use the hob part still?
CO2 Injection
- Thread starter djlen
- Start date
Yes any kind of water agitation will out-gas your CO2, just like shaking a bottle of Coke. And you will still lose CO2 even if the biowheel doesn't agitate the water much. It's just like a like a glass of soda sitting on the table overnight losing its fizz - it happens through the surface of the liquid, and the increased surface area of the biofilter will accellerate this.Dragon Queen said:
spinjector said:
OK, so if I take the bio-wheel off it will still disperse co2 about 1/2? of what a hob w/ a wheel does. Or would there be a difference between the two?
I couldn't quite follow that, but here's a long, all encompassing answer. 
Using an HOB, take a filter sponge which has a long side a little bit longer than the filter outflow. Lay it on its side and cut a slit about 1/3 from the back along the long dimension. Slip this over the filter outflow with 1/3 of the sponge between the filter and tank (this will hold it in place) and 2/3 in front. The sponge will catch the return flow and nullify surface distruption.
Using an HOB, take a filter sponge which has a long side a little bit longer than the filter outflow. Lay it on its side and cut a slit about 1/3 from the back along the long dimension. Slip this over the filter outflow with 1/3 of the sponge between the filter and tank (this will hold it in place) and 2/3 in front. The sponge will catch the return flow and nullify surface distruption.
When I first started my kh was 240 to 300 and my ph was 8.0 to 8.4. Now two months later my kh is 180 and ph is 7.2 or 7.6. My hardness has also dropped a little and yes I have been doing water changes every week to 10 days about 20%. So far I've seen that a ph rises kh drops and vis versa so any ideas in my tank?
I am thinking about adding CO2 after I finish the lighting and adding more plants.
I am thinking about adding CO2 after I finish the lighting and adding more plants.
Just a question
You all seem much more knowledgeable than I am. I'm just an old fart that likes a heavily planted aquarium because it's pretty. But I just have to ask about the need for co2. When I decided to set up my tank which is small, 29gal, I read an article by someone on the net which gave instructions for setting up with a soil and vermiculite substrate fertilized with lilypons tablets and then gave setup instructions for a diy co2 setup. I did the substrate thing and added an extra light hood and never got around to the diy co2 because my plants are so thick that I have to prune every two weeks or so to give the fish room to swim. The plants are just a selection from the local tropical fish place here in Phoenix AZ, one of them is anacharas, that I know the name of (told you I was no expert) another is somewhat like underwater bermuda grass as it sprouts roots from every joint if it touches substrate, the rest are upright long oval leaf aquatics with a madagascar lace leaf among them. If I encouraged these things to do any better with carbon dioxide I'd be afraid of them growing out of the tank and attacking me in my sleep. Is it possible the substrate is more important than added gas?
You all seem much more knowledgeable than I am. I'm just an old fart that likes a heavily planted aquarium because it's pretty. But I just have to ask about the need for co2. When I decided to set up my tank which is small, 29gal, I read an article by someone on the net which gave instructions for setting up with a soil and vermiculite substrate fertilized with lilypons tablets and then gave setup instructions for a diy co2 setup. I did the substrate thing and added an extra light hood and never got around to the diy co2 because my plants are so thick that I have to prune every two weeks or so to give the fish room to swim. The plants are just a selection from the local tropical fish place here in Phoenix AZ, one of them is anacharas, that I know the name of (told you I was no expert) another is somewhat like underwater bermuda grass as it sprouts roots from every joint if it touches substrate, the rest are upright long oval leaf aquatics with a madagascar lace leaf among them. If I encouraged these things to do any better with carbon dioxide I'd be afraid of them growing out of the tank and attacking me in my sleep. Is it possible the substrate is more important than added gas?
Ok I didn't read ever single post on this but skimmed over a few,
If you want to do CO2, A bottle is cheaper in the long run, Sugar and yeast add
up and if this is something you want to do for a very long time, look into the bottle,
I going to do a DIY co2 as I just want to give my plants a boost now an then.
First off, DOn;t goop your tube int he cap, it;s over rated and make save your rear from a bottle exploding, IF you use a check valve, check ti allot, I know somebody that had one melt shut and the bottle poped,
Just get the air line in the hole in the cap tight, The get a power head that has the air line that runs to it, and stick your airline right in the powerhead, Put 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar, shake this up, and a tsp of yeast in it, and then shake it up so it will ativate it, put the cap on and let the power head be your defuser, This will save you some money over the 6 cups of water and 6 cups of sugar and you would never have a bottle blow up on you,
I don;t believe every one I chat with that uses CO2, even test there water,
And never have a had any problem with a PH crash or any other thing of the like.
This is all true as the 3 people that told me about DIY co2 have kept fish allot more years then I have been alive, If you want to I can tell you who and the place they can be found.
If you want to do CO2, A bottle is cheaper in the long run, Sugar and yeast add
up and if this is something you want to do for a very long time, look into the bottle,
I going to do a DIY co2 as I just want to give my plants a boost now an then.
First off, DOn;t goop your tube int he cap, it;s over rated and make save your rear from a bottle exploding, IF you use a check valve, check ti allot, I know somebody that had one melt shut and the bottle poped,
Just get the air line in the hole in the cap tight, The get a power head that has the air line that runs to it, and stick your airline right in the powerhead, Put 3 cups of water, 3 cups of sugar, shake this up, and a tsp of yeast in it, and then shake it up so it will ativate it, put the cap on and let the power head be your defuser, This will save you some money over the 6 cups of water and 6 cups of sugar and you would never have a bottle blow up on you,
I don;t believe every one I chat with that uses CO2, even test there water,
And never have a had any problem with a PH crash or any other thing of the like.
This is all true as the 3 people that told me about DIY co2 have kept fish allot more years then I have been alive, If you want to I can tell you who and the place they can be found.
