hagen Plant-Gro CO2 Natural System

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valerie

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Apr 18, 2001
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I'm not using it but I read of some others who are. It works like it says from what I understand but only for the smaller type tanks. It's evidently just really DIY CO2 for those who don't wanna have to DIY.
 
I'm using this system on my 20 gal. I have only been using it since Friday.....it's Tuesday, today. It seems to be running smoothly and getting more smooth as the days go by. It started off forming large bubbles of CO2 that got buched up in the passive reactor system. But after about 2 days, it's much more reliable. I dropped my pH from 7.7 - 7.8 down to around 7.0. So it's right about at ideal levels for my KH (which is 5.4 normally).

I have already seen my plants growing well, with many new sprouts and decent root developement. Even my Crypts, which supposedly "melt" when transplanted to new aquariums or disturbed, are reacting favorably. I haven't even started dosing ferts, yet!

My setup is a 20H aquarium with a DIY wood canopy holding 2x24" bulbs from Lowes (similar to Home Depot). These bulbs are: Natural Color 5000k, and Daylight Deluxe 6500k....costing about $5 each. I only come out to having about 2 watts per gallon (considered moderate lighting) and seem to be growing these plants well. I'm also using 50/50 Quickcrete Medium Sand and Flourite Red (1x15lb bag).

Oh, by the way.....THIS IS MY FIRST PLANTED TANK! I'm really enjoying this so far! I think this system is a solid, cheap method to familiarize yourself with planted aquariums and CO2. I don't have any experience to speak of, but I've done plenty of reasearch on this and other web forums, and this system seems to do it's job. I give it a thumbs up, so far. I'll be happy to let you know how long it stays consistent, once I know!

Also, I bought mine from Foster + Smith for $21.99 and it comes with 3 packs (refills). The refill packs of 3 cost $5.99 each.
 
I've been using one for over a month on my 15. It is my first foray into CO2, and it has made things easy for me (not that a 2 liter bottle with a line to the powerhead wouldn't have been...). I wouldn't worry about the 'refills' -- it's just yeast and baking soda. IMO, this looks alot better than a soda bottle, is more stable resting on a surface (square juice bottle would fix that), and I can clip it onto the side of the tank.

The measurements for the system are roughly:

100g table sugar -- I use 1/2 cup
400 mL tepid water (mid 70 deg F maybe) -- I use 1 2/3 cup
1/2 teaspoon yeast
1/2 teaspoon baking soda (amount to use probably varies based on your tap's KH)

Using the packets with the system, I went almost 3 weeks before I dumped it. My recipe is going ending its second week now. I didn't use baking soda this time, and I don't think it'll last for a full third week. I recorded CO2 concentrations of about 45ppm for the first couple of days with this batch. On average I had seen around 15ppm with the kit's ingredients. Lately it's been pretty low -- I think the yeast gets chilly at night.

I have to ask, as I didn't notice -- what size tank are you considering this for? Hagen only recommends it for up to 20 gallons (70 Litres?).

Sumpin'fishy- What CO2 concentrations have you observed?
 
Since day 2, I've been getting consistent concentrations of between 15 to 20ppm CO2. I didn't list an exact figure due to my pH test kits ability to only be accurate to about 0.2 degrees. The color most closely matches 7.0, so that comes out to about 17ppm or so. These figures are taken in the evening shortly before lights go out (within an hour or two). I have only tested once in the morning before lights come on, and the measurements were still at 7.0 pH.

You may have too much surface agitation on your tank. I changed filters from a Penguin 125 to a Regent "mini" (100gph, no bio-wheel) This made a big difference on surface disturbance as well as not losing CO2 to the bio-wheel. I have a Duetto DJ-100 (76gph) as a secondary internal powerfilter. It is well below the water level and doesn't disturb the water surface.

I have also thought about when I run out of the refill packs, going to my own mixture of yiest and sugar. I want to make sure that I have things figured out with a good mixture first, before I switch over and start fooling around! And I agree, it's nice to be able to locate the container on the lip of the tank hidden behind it.
 
I have a 58gal tank. I know its bigger then the recommended size but i was jsut looking into it.

I was wondering if you can jsut buy the reactor(i don't know if this is what it is called) the thing the bubbles go through at the end? Would that work for use on a DIY bottle? Right now i only have that DIY tubing going into a powerhead and it makes too much noise for my likeing.
 
Why don't you just buy a couple of those systems and refill them in the future with your own brew? You will need more than one bottle (even using soda pop bottles) for a tank that size. You could use up to three of these systems and stagger their refills so you only change one per week. Use all three reactors (the bubble diffuser) at different locations in your tank to get better CO2 dispursal. You can hang these little systems out of site behind your tank and the reactors look pretty decent, but can easily be hidden behind decor.

They sell the diffusor/reactor at Dr. Fosters + Smith for $9.99 each. May as well get the whole system and about 2 1/2 months worth of mix for $11 dollars more each. Up to you though! If you are really handy, you can make your brew container look however you want.
 
hey something has struck me.

i've just order 2 of these kits just to play with for my smaller tanks. anyway, i've been hearing from others talking about the "crosswalk" diffuser and how sometimes the bubbles tend to stay the same size, like they haven't been absorbed at all. personally, i haven't examined the diffuser yet, but does anyone think if there would be a way to stick a small piece of air stone inside? this way the bubbles would be even smaller and allows for more efficient absorbability. just a thought.
 
I don't think that would work. The tip of the airline is angled such that the bubble will enter the ladder (it's cut at an angle). I have seen simiilar reports of bubbles not shrinking, but I personally have not experienced this. For me, the CO2 enters the ladder as a (roughly) 500mm - 750mm bubble (broad range, I know). By the time it gets to the top, it's maybe 200mm. Maybe a shunt (like a piece of small gravel?) could be stuck into the end of the airline to achieve what you want.
 
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