# co2 question, please help!!



## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

so i purchased the hagen co2 system, pretty much a gloryful money costing diy system just more money....

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754083

but i have an 80 gal. planted tank, and i noticed that kit is meant to only treat up to 20 gal. so i asked a buddy at a LFS who knows much about planted tanks, he said to use a fluval ceramic diffuser..... which i did...

its been about 5 days since i did the setup, just cut the tubing and attatched it strait to the diffusor, didnt use the bubble counter, and no bubbles are coming out of the ceramic peice, im assuming because of lack of pressure, i have read a few threads that said they had the same issue with the fluval diffuser, so my question is should i use a basic air stone at the bottom of the tank? do i need a bubble counter?? should i instal another bottle on the other side of the tank? or will one be enough?

please help!!


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## DishyFishy (Aug 11, 2011)

What kinda filter ya got? You could try diffusing through it.. unless you really want to use the ceramic one.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

i was thinking about using a cheap airstone, would that work better? i have a canister xp3 filter, not really wanting to difuse it through that......


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## jschall (Apr 13, 2009)

petsmartpro said:


> so i purchased the hagen co2 system, pretty much a gloryful money costing diy system just more money....
> 
> http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2754083
> 
> ...


If you have an 80 gallon tank, ditch the DIY.

Can't really use a ceramic diffuser on DIY, either. It requires pressure, so it'll just leak somewhere or explode (not fun to clean up). A regular airstone is totally useless. You need a real reactor or you need a ceramic diffuser.

I tried DIY a couple times, it's messy, it never stays consistent and there's no way to adjust it, it's a lot of work to refill, it doesn't last very long, and it's just an ugly solution.

It's pretty much awful in the first place, and running it on an 80 gallon tank is pretty much nuts.

Save your pennies and get 5lb pressurized, or a simple paintball setup.


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## wi_blue (Apr 5, 2005)

I've used that DIY set up...it didn't cut it for my 20g. 

+1 on the pressurized system.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

well im expecting a baby in two months, just bought new car, new condo, so its gonna be a little while until i can afford pressurized, im just thinking about running two bottles on both sides of the tank, and what kind of diffuser will suffice for now, i know its not the best for a 80 gal but i need help momentarilly until i setup pressurized..... so go with like an airstone??


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## wi_blue (Apr 5, 2005)

petsmartpro said:


> well im expecting a baby in two months, just bought new car, new condo, so its gonna be a little while until i can afford pressurized, im just thinking about running two bottles on both sides of the tank, and what kind of diffuser will suffice for now, i know its not the best for a 80 gal but i need help momentarilly until i setup pressurized..... so go with like an airstone??


I feel you on that. Congrats! Two bottle will do the job.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk


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## boognishmofo (Sep 26, 2011)

Use a wood stone and make a reactor out of powehead and old gravel vacum, lots of info on google. I agree with pressurized for a 80, but sine that seems to not be an option just increase the amount of 2 litre bottle you use. I would start with 3 and then add another if needed. I put three on my 60 and it's been good. I started to do them staggered so they were always puttin out enough to avoid Ph swings and found that to be a pain. I just keep an eye on them and when the color if the water starts to lighten up I switch em all at once.


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## D9Vin (May 12, 2011)

I ran diy for quite a while too. I used it with a ceramic diffuser, it had to build up pressure before it would start bubbling, and I was always afraid it would blow the bottles. I used 4 2 liter bottles on my 40, not so much for the amount of co2, but because the pressure needed made it a necessity. However, if you are looking to save money, and planning on keeping your tank going for more than 2 years, pressurized quickly becomes the cheap option. Just watch eBay for a good dual stage regulator (with some patience you can find one for around 30 bucks), I think fabco needle valves are about 20 bucks, I just run my line to the intake on a power head, watch craigslist for a 20# co2 tank, not really too much money. You don't need to spend 200-300 bucks to have pressurized. And with an 80 gallon, I think you are going to be buying quite a bit of sugar to get a decent level of co2 going, and that stuff adds up. 2 cupsper bottle


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## Elrodg (Sep 17, 2011)

Here is mine. Make sure you put some filter material or floss or sponge in the bottom. It makes a good secondary filter too.


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## D9Vin (May 12, 2011)

As I was saying, 2 cups per bottle per 2 weeks=4 cups per bottle per month, 48 cups per per year. I would think you will prolly end up running about 6 bottles, so almost 300 cups of sugar a year? That is going to cost you. Plus, The possibility of an explosion? That stuff is not fun to clean from what I hear, and from dumping out the bottles, I am thinking the smell is going to linger if one of them blows.


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## Elrodg (Sep 17, 2011)

People don't seem to understand fluid dynamics here. If you want more pressure. Just add water. Thereby creating more pressure. This also makes for a slower sugar burn. Cause the sugars are diluted a little more. 
My 75 is doing just fine with it's current three bottles. I have not had a serious drop since it's been in.


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## D9Vin (May 12, 2011)

This is mine. I just wedged the tube straight in between the sponge on the intake of my powerhead. I have seen setups like yours elrodg, but with the outflow attached to the gravel vac. The bubbles are continuously circulated in the chamber until fully dissolved. With straight hose going into the powerhead it doubles as a bubble counter because I can hear the bubbles hitting the impeller.


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

that does sound expensive, i have the halogen canister setup so i dont worry about an explosion, i have pretty good airstone that emits really small tiny bubbles, and i think for now im just going to run one cannister, for at least the next week or two, i use liquid ferts daily, i figure my plants wont grow as fast but as long as i dont kill them for now i'll settle.... does anyone have a list of parts i need to order for a pressurised system?? also what does it mean if my water is cloudy? i just did a water change, but noticed my canister bottle of co2 tipped over, does that mean the yeast got in the tank?


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## D9Vin (May 12, 2011)

Yeah, you might have gotten yeast in there. Which means you also got some alcohol and sugar in there. How long has it been set up? If it hasn't been running too long, prolly not much alcohol in it, but I don't think sugar is great for your aquarium either. I would do a large water change daily for two or three days. As far as a parts list, lots of ways to go on this, but I am no expert. These guys are:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/equipment/148509-how-build-co2-regulator-work-progress.html

This really gave me the confidence to piece one together. And the guys on that thread know their stuff and old punk in particular was super amazing helpful. When you find a regulator on eBay, make sure it has been tested or you can at least return it if it doesn't function properly, and make sure the gauges read zero. Blown gauges can be a bad sign. The one I got (matheson 3104b) is a great regulator, but it's so old I found no info on it anywhere. Got ahold of matheson technical support and they gave me all the stats.


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## D9Vin (May 12, 2011)

One other thing, if you are going to limit co2 and ferts (for now) make sure you also limit light, so as to avoid algae. What lights are you running?


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## petsmartpro (Jul 17, 2006)

thanks for all the input, i really appreciate the help, checking out that thread now! great stuff! and yeah im limiting the lighting as well, well im trying to, its hard becuase i like to gaze at the tank  but im running a long coral life setup, 4 doubled bulbs, running 65 watts a peice, 67k and one is currently out, so its about 2.5 wpg


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## john borr (Sep 18, 2010)

I use to run a piece of tubing from the co2 bottle into a small internal filter called a Duetto DJ 50. They have one of those inlets for a diffuser which is where you attach the co2 hose.I read somewhere that this particular filter had a reaction chamber built in such a way that it was great for this purpose. There are similar options. I use to get them on sale for like $13.00 each. You would need a couple. I agree that the pressurized set ups are better. I think the little filters will help circulate the co2 better than an airstone. And others are right that you don't want the bottle to have to build up pressure to get co2 into the tank.


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