I have had fish for a long time. I know what i am doing there. I am totally new to plants, and overall I am having some good luck. I decided to go high tech on my 75g so that I wasn't limited on plants in my tank, not to mention I love red plants.

2 weeks into co2 all my fish stopped eating and started to breathe very quickly. I lost all of them but some ottos and a pleco. I stopped co2 for about a month to get things back in order. I started co2 and got 2 german blue rams. Now fast forward two more weeks those same 2 german blue rams have stopped eating, and I lost two of my ottos. I stopped co2 yesterday.

I don't have a co2 indictator, but when this first happened I looked at my bps (2-3) and decided that when I started it again I would go lower. The last week it's been lower then 1 bps. I really love planted aquariums but I have done everything I can think of to make this work. All of my water levels are perfect. I modded one of my canister filter intakes to accommodate a surface skimmer and made one. My spray bars point upwards and break the waters surface. I guess I am just stumped. Not sure what to do now.

Patience :-)
I do not use a bubble counter or a soilinoid. I use a decent needle valve and shove the co2 tubing up my canisters intake.i can see the bubbles flowing up the intake. I simply start low ....and i have found for myself that pressure is best at just above 5 on the primary gauge of the regulator. 8
I check with both a checker and a ph probe. I only muck with ot once a day until i get it where i want. That point is always ...just before lights go on because that is when the ph will be the lowest this is the time period that will overwhelm fish if adjustments are made during daylight hours - hence mucking with it once a day ..... Does the trick

Hope this helps ya


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I have lost fish to CO2 poisoning too. Horrible feeling, isn't it?

I don't go by BPS or BPM. I tweak the needle valve just a bit when I am able to watch the tank all day. Sometimes it can build up in minutes and sometimes it takes just when the lights go out for it to get too high for the fish. Use BPM to check that things are looking about right, that gas is going in but not too much gas as happens when a single stage regulator is dumping gas when the tank is nearly empty or the tubing gets crimped or tank is empty.

Might want to invest in a drop checker?

Sorry to hear about your fish. Fish can be very sensitive to poisoning especially by ammonia, heavy metals, hydrogen sulphide or CO2. Even a short time of exposure can kill them.


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http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebi...fshdisfaqs.htm

Don’t give up. If you are having problems with CO2 poisoning try a drop checker to monitor CO2 levels. If they are fluctuating get a better CO2 regulator to avoid needle "floating".
Another solution can be Seachem Flourish Excel instead of dissolving CO2. It is a decent source of carbon for plants and when used correctly it is safe for fish (in most cases). Before you go with it read up and don’t get scared by people’s stories. I have an Otto in a tank with HC carpet and he is very happy. Unfortunately I don’t know of a risk free solution but patience is your best friend.

What is your ph and kh?

http://www.google.com/search?q=kh+ph...2F%3B606%3B378

I would just get yourself a PH controller.

It's hard to imagine its the C02 that's killing them if your running 2-3 bps whilst your spray bar is agitating the surface. What are you using to diffuse the C02 ? And what lighting are you using ?

Dont give up!

All my tanks are low tech, so i cant help you with your CO2p problems, but i can tell you that you dont NEED CO2. There are plenty of plants that grow without it, if you need to take that pressure off.

Hello,

I'm sorry you have lost pets.

To use co2 responsibly you must understand how to safely use it to not harm your pets. Surface agitation (no splashing) or surface skimmers are a huge insurance against suffocation.

Please read the first post on this thread at least:

http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php?t=10282

I do not recommend ph controllers unless you know enough about ph vs co2. People have accidents with that device too. Its not the solution.

Good luck.

its happened to the best of us !!!!

take a small hiatus.. keep reading the forums and learning. you'll be back

+1 on this.

While there are folks who hit the ground running with C02 setups, it isn't necessary for a planted tank and running a less high tech system to start decreases the number of variables to juggle with a lot more room for mistakes to be spotted and corrected.

Get an indicator they aren't that expensive. I like the dual one from cal aqua that shows you what color it should be and then what your tank co2 is

Highly recommend a surface skimmer for any tanks with pressurized co2. Even on my tanks that don't really need a surface skimmer, the fish seem to always do much better after adding the skimmer.

Co2 need is not determined by the kind of plants you have, is determined by the light intensity and plant MASS.