CO2 unit...water change question.

[KellyQ]

HI! I have a Hagen CO2 unit in my tank and need to do a water change. What do I do with it during the water change? I need to make a 50% change and then an 80% change in another day or so. (I am doing water changes because my tank is cycled, wooo hoooo, finally and I need to get rid of the high nitrates)

I couldn't find any information in the instructions that came with it on what to do during a water change. I didn't know if it was okay to just leave the diffuser hanging on the side and just change water like normal or if I needed to take it out or????

Thanks for any help!
Kelly

[Pete]

Hello Kellyq i have same co2 unit in my tank, i just do water changes as per normal. Ive never removed it yet, and its been installed for about 5 months now. I don't think u need to remove it. But i could b wrong somebody else might no more about this than me.
Pete...

[Wasserpest]

How are the plants doing? Rather than an 80% water change I would do 25% changes a couple of days in a row... if you have the time and pacience Don't worry about the diffuser, you can leave it where it is, just make sure you unplug the heater when the water level goes down.

[KellyQ]

Thanks! I"ll just leave it where it is then.

The plants are hanging in there. I had ordered from ebay, a really nice seller with really nice plants, but they took longer to get here then they should have and were looking pretty rough. The amazon sword might not make it...its leaves are really thin and see through and it is droopy. The Lloydelia Green looks pretty good though after I trimmed off some dead stuff. My java moss is looking pretty nice too. I had to throw away two of the other types of plants I got, they were dead. The seller is sending me a new batch though, they should be here tomorrow. yay! I am really enjoying the live plants!

My next step is stronger lights...I am a bit confused by that though. I have the hood that came with the 29 gallon tank and replaced the bulb with a 'plant bulb' but it is still only 20 watts. Can I get a higher watt bulb that will fit in that single 24" spot I have in the hood? I don't understand all the lights yet...still researching.

Thanks so much for the help and soon come the FISH!

[malkore]

Kelly,
a 24" fluorscent is always gonna ge 20watts. The only way to increase it is to change out the hood ballast to an electronic one, and overdrive the bulb to around 30-35watts..which still isn't squat.
I have a 29, and I had to spend about $100 to equip it with 110watts of power compact fluorescent bulbs.

You currently have under 1 watt per gallon, so your Hagen CO2 unit is kinda pointless...the plants arent' growing fast enough to really require extra CO2. once you hit 2watts per gallon, CO2 is a good idea, and after 2.5watts its mandatory, unless you like stringy plants covered in algae

YOu should be able to pickup a Coralife 30inch power compact fixture for under $100 online, which should have at least 1 65watt bulb in it. Try www.hellolights.com for that. Otherwise hit www.ahsupply.com and get a retrofit kit, and you can convert your current light to power compact for about $40