# 30 ppm of co2 and tanks size



## thunderjack14 (Nov 28, 2014)

Hello everyone !

Just a quick question anyone with 150 gallon tank or bigger can you tell me how long your leaving your co2 on to reach 30 ppm of co2 in your tank. Why i ask is because i bought a ISTA MAX MIX CO2 reactor (M) size to replace a bubble ladder witch it thought was a wast of co2 because i was leaving it on for 11 hours a day to reach my 30 ppm but i see no difference between the two of them still need to run 11 hours a day with a bubble count of 4 bps. I thought the reactor would use less because it mixes all co2 before its let out into the tank unlike the bubble ladder uses most of the co2 then theirs always that bubble that floats to the top without being dissolved. I read everywhere that people turn on their co2 2 hours before the light comes on. Now ether they have a smaller tank and it build up faster in a smaller tank than mine. My tank is balanced well with the 11 hours everything looks ok but i just thought that if i got a reactor it would save me on co2 and i could run it say 2 to 3 hours before the lights come on instead of 8 hours before lights come on. Using a good pressurized co2 system. 

Thanks in advance


----------



## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

It all depends on the bubble count. As long as you keep the same bubble count you only get a slight improvement maybe. My 100G uses somewhere between 5-8 bps (can't count it properly) to get it in about 1,5 hour. This is with an external reactor so 100% used. If I would use a ladder I think I need to double that...


----------



## thunderjack14 (Nov 28, 2014)

The reactor that i'm using is the ISTA MAX MIX CO2 reactor (M) size on a Aqua clear 70 Power Head and the out put is without air: 1514 L / 400 U.S. Gal. per hour i use this inside my tank because the reviews that i seen say that they can leak sometimes so i didn't want to take a chance. I just thought it would take the same bubble count as the bubble ladder but be more effective because its a reactor with no waste. i will try increasing the bubble count slowly and see what happens then i can readjust my timer.

Thanks for your input yo-han


----------



## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

thunderjack14 said:


> The reactor that i'm using is the ISTA MAX MIX CO2 reactor (M) size on a Aqua clear 70 Power Head and the out put is without air: 1514 L / 400 U.S. Gal. per hour i use this inside my tank because the reviews that i seen say that they can leak sometimes so i didn't want to take a chance. I just thought it would take the same bubble count as the bubble ladder but be more effective because its a reactor with no waste. i will try increasing the bubble count slowly and see what happens then i can readjust my timer.
> 
> Thanks for your input yo-han


It should be more efficient but 4 bps still isn't that much for such a large tank. I've a smaller tank and also use a reactor but have a higher bubble count!


----------



## thunderjack14 (Nov 28, 2014)

Hello yo-han !

Thanks for the reply!

Well i got 3 bps now running for 11 hours.

What i would like to know if i run at 3 bps for 11 hours or 8 bps for 2 hours is it better to drop the P.H slowly over 11 hour. I think this would have less impact on the fish. Both ways will result in 30 ppm of co2 saturation. What do you think would be better for the fish? I know i read that they say that when co2 is injected into the aquarium the P.H fluctuation has no ill effect on the fish because it's not a chemical that being added to the aquarium.

I would like to know what you think.


----------



## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Well, long answer!

On one of my tanks my CO2 goes on a half hour before the lights. pH drops from 7.6 to 6.5-6.6 in half an hour. I've never noticed any ill effects as long as O2 is high enough. This is because pH fluctuation as a result of CO2 is totally different compared to Ph fluctuation as a result of water hardness (KH).

But at the same time, when CO2 is high. CO2 in the fish's blood is high as well. This means it need to get rid of it by breathing faster (or other internal options). This means, high CO2 in the water feels for a fish like sport for humans. You breath faster to get rid of the CO2 and get more O2 in.

Which option would be better? For your fish this is obviously the slow bubblecount. But your not adding CO2 for your fish. For your plants it is important that CO2 is high enough during the entire photo-period, especially already high when the lights turn on. This is easier to accomplish with a higher bubble count, otherwise you need to turn CO2 on 11 hours before lights go on. So the best option to get a reliable idea of your CO2 you need to make a pH profile.

To do this, you do the following;


Test PH before Co2 comes on. (best after heavy aeration)
Test PH every hour (or more frequently) between lights on and when lights go off.
Try to adjust it in a way that it is most constant during the photo period and (depending on your KH) try to aim for an approximate 1 PH unit drop before lights come on.
Good luck!


----------

