INserting Co2 into the tank,

Paintballer99

Paintballer99

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Jul 1, 2009
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Hey everyone,
I have a 20 gallon long tank and I was planning on using CO2 to help my plants etc. I'm going with the DIY bottle project and I understand how I use Aquarium air tubing to transfer from the bottle into the tank. I'm just confused about geting it into the tank part. I heard some people use air stones, but that doesn't work well, can anyone clear this up, or tell me what i should diffuse it with?

Thanks!
 
Limewood airstone, glass diffuser or if you have a canister filter, run the tube right at the intake.
 
If you have a canister filter or power head, put an airstone (one that puts out fine bubbles - old disposable, limewood or other material, so long as bubbles are very small) under the input for that. If that's not an option, and you have a HOB, put the stone directly under the output of the filter so that the waterfall effect helps keep the bubbles from floating up as fast as they normally would.

Scintered glass diffusers generally provide more back pressure than DIY systems can deal with, so they tend to just build pressure, then they cough up a bunch of CO2 all at once (wasting most of it). A good airstone is a simple way to do it at least somewhat effectively and cheaply.
 
OK I'm going to get an AC filter, so I guess thats a HOB filter, that means i would just get a good airstone and put it under the filter? The problem is that i have 2 filters...
 
Which corner, because the two filters are going to be on each side of the tank, so i want to know if i should just put the airstone under one or something else.
 
It doesn't matter.I would just put it in one of the back corners to hide it.
 
I use a nano glass diffuser just fine with my DIY CO2. I get a nice, steady stream of micro bubbles and I've never had any problems with it. If you do use one, just keep it clean. Sometimes a 'snotty glob' will build up around the ceramic disk. This will cause the fine micro bubbles to combine into very inefficient larger bubbles. It's easy to clean this out with a toothbrush or filter brush if you notice it beginning to form. I also remove and clean mine with Hydrogen Peroxide whenever I redo my yeast mixture (once every 10-14 days). If you don't keep it clean, you do risk it clogging entirely and creating the dangerous back pressure that squawkbert was referring to. They work great, otherwise. Just inspect them daily and clean them as needed.
 
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