My comprehensive post on setting up for CO2?

YuccaPatrol

YuccaPatrol

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Oct 17, 2004
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Well, I have read and re-read and read again most anything I can find on CO2 injection for my planted aquarium and want to see if my plan for CO2 injection makes sense.

First, my aquarium is a 37 gallon community tank, well but not over-stocked with peaceful fish: silver hatchetfish, neon tetras, bristlenose pleco, and brown kuhli loaches.

Plants include lots of Java Moss, Anubias, and now a couple crypts that are not visible in this earlier photo. I also have some of those "grow your own plants from bulbs" which are a mixed batch and also a water lilys. These are currently "sprouting" in another aquarium at the moment, but will be moved soon.

37GalCropSmall.JPG



Here is how it is setup right now and what I plan to do:

Filtration Two Emperor 280's

Lighting: 55W Compact Flourescent, daylight/plant spectrum bulb. With CF being brighter than regular bulbs, this works out to about 2wpg (is that correct?)

Nitrate/Phosphate: I am going to count on my fish to produce these. Nitrates in the tank are typically in the 5-10ppm range. I have not ever tested for phosphate.

Other nutrients: I have a bottle of Flourish "Comprehensive supplement for the planted aquarium"

I plan to add two DIY 2-liter yeast CO2 generators. My options for getting the CO2 dissolved into the water are to use a limewood airstone, a hagen ladder thingy, or to pump it directly into the filter intake to let the impeller break up the CO2 bubbles. Which of these would be most effective? I like the idea of using the filter intake because I can make it almost invisible in the tank.

I also am concerned about my filter setup. I know that the biowheels on these filters create a lot of agitation that will decrease the ability of the water to hold the CO2. I may switch to a couple AquaClear filters in the future, but am stuck with these for right now. Should I simply decrease the flow rate of the filters?

Will I be ok as far as nutrients with just dosing the Flourish and letting the fish handle the nitrate and phosphate? Certainly my plants do well as is, and I do not have fast growing plants right now.

I do want to inject CO2, I am not looking for the most elaborate setup, but just want to give the plants a significant boost.

Thanks for reading this long post and I appreciate any help and ideas you plant experts can offer.
 
Before I got to the bio wheels section of your post I was thinking to myself that you really don't need 2 - 2liter bottles for that tank. I have the same tank and one would do fine for 1X55 over a 37 gal. tank. But the bio wheels just interfere so much with the injection process that you will lose a lot of what you inject.
You are still a bit under 2 wpg even with them being CFs. They will light the tank nicely and do a good job for you, and with your plant load a minimum of extra nutrients will be necessary, IMO.
I would check your pH before you begin to inject, and then see what one generator will do for you in ppm before adding the second one. It won't take a lot of CO2 absorption to show a nice increase in growth in your tank.
IMO, a P test kit would help a lot to know what you're getting out of the tap when you change water, and later when you dose, what your dosages of Fleets or what ever you use for P is supplying.
You also need to know that you have kH of at least 3.5°h to buffer the tank and protect the fish.
The Flourish is supplying trace elements only, but if that alone is growing plants well for you, I wouldn't fix what's not broken. When you start to inject you may (or may not) find that extra N and P could be necessary. The plants will tell you.

Len
 
I just returned from the LFS with a new KH test kit and now have some shocking results.

I had always been told that we have rather hard water here, but my test kit shows that I only have 2-3 'dKH (36-53ppm). My pH is 7.0.

Tap water is 3'dKH and pH 7.2

I thought that this must be wrong because I have always been told that we have very hard water here. I went to my local water company website and found their testing results for the past year. Turns out that I live in the only part of the city with a water source that is not very hard at all. Their data matches my testing, so I am confident that I really do only have 2-3 'dKH. (as a side note, now I know why my shower door is not covered in lime deposits like it always was across town)

This is good news for my interest in possibly raising discus or breeding German Blue Rams, but bad news for injecting CO2 and maybe I should do something to increase hardness before I start injecting?

Would I be safe to begin injecting with only one 2L bottle and monitor my pH closely? How should I increase hardness a little bit in a stable and sensible manner?
 
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YuccaPatrol said:
Would I be safe to begin injecting with only one 2L bottle and monitor my pH closely? How should I increase hardness a little bit in a stable and sensible manner?
Click to expand...
I wouldn't. Add a small mesh bag with crushed coral (calcium carbonate) in it to one of your filters. About 1/4 cup should be plenty. Monitor your KH and add extra crushed coral if it does not go up enough, but you probably won't need to. I also was told I had very hard water but found it to be only 2-3 dKH. The crushed coral worked great. Others here recommend baking soda, but you have to keep dosing it. With the crushed coral you put it in and leave it.
 
YuccaPatrol,

I can take a week or so for the crushed coral to dissolve. It doesn't start to dissolve until your water gets below 7 pH and that won't happen until you start injecting.

Buffer it with baking soda temporarily to around 4 dKH and start injecting. The baking soda will stay between water changes. Keep an eye on the KH. Once it starts to rise on its own to at least 5 dKH, don't add baking soda to your next water change. Test the KH after the water change and if it's in a safe range -- 4dKH is good for you -- don't use baking soda anymore.

If it's not in a safe range, add a little baking soda and repeat. I doubt you will have to do this though, since your water is already at 7pH.

The soda is just a temporary stability until the crushed coral can hold you permanently.

Roan
 
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I have added 1tsp baking soda and now the KH is 4 with pH of 7.2

Just started the yeast mixture and will waint anxiously for the first bubbles to appear in my tank.

My recipe for the yeast was made after reading other various ones and using what I had at home like wheat gluten for protein:

1/4 teaspoon Fleishmans's baker's yeast
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon wheat gluten
water to fill to curved part of bottle
 
YukkaPatrol said:
I had always been told that we have rather hard water here, but my test kit shows that I only have 2-3 'dKH (36-53ppm). My pH is 7.0.
Click to expand...

In most literature and just plain verbage from other people, when they say that a water is "hard" or "soft" they are most usually meaning that it has a high or low GH, not KH.

If anything mentions that a fish "prefers" a hard or soft water it means GH. GH is what affects biological creatures from what I have been led to believe.

I personally have very "soft" water, but extremely high KH.
 
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