Viable CO2 Injection System?

A

amhodge

AC Members
Apr 23, 2007
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I'm planning to put together a standard 2L bottle CO2 system and have been considering what to use as a diffusor. At the same time I've just picked up an air pump from a thrift store and have that running into an airstone buried in my gravel.

Here's my idea: in order to run fewer airlines into my tank I'm thinking about running a line from my air pump into the CO2 bottle, then a second line from the bottle to the airstone.

Is this likely to be effective? Is it likely to explode? Has anybody heard of a similar setup, or can anybody point out potential problems with it?

Thanks!
 
I see one major potential problem. You are running your Co2 into an airstone which is almost as ineffective as not having Co2 at all. You need a way to keep it in contact with the water until it is fully diffused into the water.

Currently, your bubbles are in contact with the water for as long as it takes for them to leave the airstone and pop on the surface. If you want to run Co2, you should do away with the air pump altogether. It will only agitate the surface allowing your Co2 to "gas off".

As for the Co2, you need a diffuser. A bell or power diffuser or etc. to make the best use of the gas in your tank.
 
Thanks, Ketso. I'm interested in hearing more opinions. I wish I knew what site I was on earlier so I could reference the article (might have been the krib), but I read that running a bottle CO2 airline to an airstone was an effective diffusor.

This "gassing off" problem is a concern. I'm not in love with the aesthetics of the airstone but my fish are in love with the current. Would putting distance between the diffusor and the airstone help?
 
After a bit of reading, I will partially retract my statements above. It would seem that some say an airstone will work (contradicts everything I have been told here and on other forums).

However, I really dont think the addition of an air pump will aid with the Co2 diffusion. An airstone's effectiveness would have to be somewhat limited, IMO. The air bubbles would almost certainly cause too much gas off.

If you decied to go this route, I'm interested in the results.

EDIT: after looking at that link, right below the line you quoted, it says "Airstones and diffusion bells are less efficient than reactors and filter dispersal." Which means it WILL work. It just wont work great.
 
running an air pump period will increase your off-gassing of CO2....I would think that running your air and CO2 thru the same line would increase off-gassing of CO2 even more. IMO I wouldn't run any pumps, especially w/ DIY CO2.
 
What you both said makes sense and at the very least I'm believing I ought to keep my airstone and CO2 diffusor separate though I'd still like to keep them in the same tank. I'll have to measure my CO2 when I get them both going at once.

Fortunately I dont have much in the way of plants yet as that part of my tank is in its planning stages.
 
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