CO2 Question

smokey2957

AC Members
Jul 21, 2009
186
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Burlington, Washington
Ok I know this has been posted before but I can not find the post. I have a cascade 1500 running on my 46 gallon bowfront, how effctive would it be to use it as a CO2 diffuser by running the co2 into the intake tube, so that it runs through the fliter and back into the tank. I am running pressurized co2. Previously I have used a home made diffuser but I find that I do not like it in my tank it takes up to much room, and I can't get it to work the way I want it to.
:confused:
 
You can do it, but it's not ideal. The impeller does a nice job of chopping up the CO2 bubbles, and for the most part, you won't even see microbubbles coming out of your output. However, gas buildup will cause the occasional "burp" inside your canister. I've read some about the CO2 shortening the life of the impeller, but i've not read any first hand accounts about this.
Why not use an inline diffuser, such as the Boyu or UpAqua? Or DIY a Rex Grigg style inline diffuser? Then the hardware is under the tank, not inside.
 
Or DIY a Rex Grigg style inline diffuser? Then the hardware is under the tank, not inside.

I would recommend this for any canisters and a pressurized system.
 
i run my co2 through my canister. it has to run through 5 layers of media before it hits the impeller and at that point i dont see anything enter the tank.

Edit: in fact it was so efficient that when i didnt change my bubble rate i almost killed my fish. make sure to readjust your bubble rate
 
I ran the co2 into the intake of my canister for a few hours, and I did adjust the bubble count. I think that I will adjust it even more. When I got up this morning I found most of my fish at the water surface, so I turned on my air pump. I checked the co2 indicator and it looked like it was green but then the lights are out. I am thinking of setting up the air pump on the timer that runs my led lights would that be ok that way it would run when the co2 is off.
 
make sure your drop checker has 4dkh solution in it with the bromethyl blue solution and that it turns green about an hour after your co2 comes on. if it starts to turn yellow that is bad, green/yellow is bad too. long story short...you want green. green is good.

you shouldnt need to run the air at night after you set it up properly. It is going to be so efficient that you can probably be at the 1bubble per second or 1 every 2 second mark.
 
After the lights came on I found two dead fish. So I turned off the co2 I may need to change the drop checker solution, its the stuff that came with the checker so it should be ok right.
 
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