[Methos]

Hi,

Ok, I have my tank all set up. Unfortunately, it took a while to assemble my DIY CO2 reactor as I couldn't find a good connector and lost about 4 plants. The regular ones barely got through the bottle cap and made a severely poor connection. I finally boughht some Lee's disposable airstones for the long connectors. It works and I'm get a stream of CO2 now. It fluctuates from 4 bubbles per second to a literally stream of CO2 for 5-8 seconds. I've placed it near the intake of my Aquaclear 5-20 (formerly Mini) filter.

I know I'm losing some of the CO2. So, what can I do to reduce it. I know some have said to get the water level just below the filter lip. However, considering that the filter lip is even with the inner rim of my tank, I don't think having my glass top floating or water spilling all over the place when I try to clean the tank is a good idea. So, what can I do to reduce the CO2 loss?

Sincrely,


Genaro

 

[Gatekeeper]

I would suggest to get it away from the spillway of the filter and place in a corner with a powerhead above it to distribute it to the tank.

 

[Chrona]

How big is the tank? On my 10g, I have it filled to about 1 inch from the rim and the outlet is just barely touching the water, resulting in very little CO2 issues. I use a closed top as well.

 

[Rex Grigg]

Connector? What stinkin' connector?

You mean from the cap to the tubing?

Why oh why do people insist on over engineering that?

It's REAL simple. Just drill a hole smaller than the OD of the tubing. Cut the tubing at an angle, pull tubing through hole with a pair of pliers.

Done.

 

[Chrona]

Connector? What stinkin' connector?

You mean from the cap to the tubing?

Why oh why do people insist on over engineering that?

It's REAL simple. Just drill a hole smaller than the OD of the tubing. Cut the tubing at an angle, pull tubing through hole with a pair of pliers.

Done.

This doesn't work out too well if you use a glass diffuser from what I've found. Works fine for airstone/bubble ladder, etc though.

 

[tazcrash69]

This doesn't work out too well if you use a glass diffuser from what I've found. Works fine for airstone/bubble ladder, etc though.

Depends on the tubing. I've done it with Clippard tubbing, on pressurized CO2 running at ~25 PSI, to a CO2 glass diffuser, no leaks. roud:


But this doesn't help his problem.

Methos, try having the CO2 bubbles get into the filter outflow to blow around the tank as long as possible, rather than the input.

 

[Chrona]

Depends on the tubing. I've done it with Clippard tubbing, on pressurized CO2 running at ~25 PSI, to a CO2 glass diffuser, no leaks. roud:


But this doesn't help his problem.

Methos, try having the CO2 bubbles get into the filter outflow to blow around the tank as long as possible, rather than the input.

Oops, yeah, forgot to mention that. I've only tried it with vinyl tubing. But I was referring to the bottlecap/tubing connection rex mentioned, in a DIY setup, not a pressurized setup.

In an aquaclear, if you let the bubbles get sucked up, they actually get pumped down below the sponge/biomedia and pumped up through them, so it's pretty close to a complete dissolve without having bubbles blown around the tank.

 

[tazcrash69]

Oops, yeah, forgot to mention that. I've only tried it with vinyl tubing. But I was referring to the bottlecap/tubing connection rex mentioned, in a DIY setup, not a pressurized setup.

In an aquaclear, if you let the bubbles get sucked up, they actually get pumped down below the sponge/biomedia and pumped up through them, so it's pretty close to a complete dissolve without having bubbles blown around the tank.

But, then the turbulence from the water cascading into the tank can out-gas the CO2.

Try both ways for 2 days each and see which will work better for you.

 

[Chrona]

But, then the turbulence from the water cascading into the tank can out-gas the CO2.

Try both ways for 2 days each and see which will work better for you.

Hm, will give that a shot, thanks. Sorry for the thread hijack, lol.

 

[attack11]

out of curiosity i ran my pressurized co2 setup with an ac hob with an open lid. after a week or maybe 10 days i'd lose 1/2 = 1" of water from evaporation; with the lids on i'd barely lose water in that time period and the filter was still slightly below the water line.

in about 4 weeks i had gone through around 3lbs of co2 in my 5lbs canister.

an ac filter and co2 injection is wasted effort.

 

[Chrona]

My setup seems to work fine though for some reason. A single soda bottle will keep the tank at about 40ppm co2 (via drop checker) for 2 weeks+ at a time, using a glass diffuser going into the filter intake. This is a 10g with the AC Mini and the water level up to that of the outlet.

 

[Methos]

How big is the tank? On my 10g, I have it filled to about 1 inch from the rim and the outlet is just barely touching the water, resulting in very little CO2 issues. I use a closed top as well.

It's a 20 gallon All-Glass tank. Currently, it's filled to about a 1/2" above what is the bottom of the black 1" outer rim. The inner rim, which the top rests on, is a few millmeters from the top of the tank. Unfortunately, I don't have a ruler . All of this probably varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, I don't know if AC redesigned the mini making filling the tank to the lip once possible, but no longer.

Sincerely,

Genaro.

 

[Chrona]

It's a 20 gallon All-Glass tank. Currently, it's filled to about a 1/2" above what is the bottom of the black 1" outer rim. The inner rim, which the top rests on, is a few millmeters from the top of the tank. Unfortunately, I don't have a ruler . All of this probably varies from manufacturer to manufacturer. Also, I don't know if AC redesigned the mini making filling the tank to the lip once possible, but no longer.

Sincerely,

Genaro.

My mini is about a month old, so I think it's just a matter of the lip of the 20g being fatter and not letting the filter sit as low down.

 

[Methos]

Connector? What stinkin' connector?

You mean from the cap to the tubing?

Why oh why do people insist on over engineering that?

It's REAL simple. Just drill a hole smaller than the OD of the tubing. Cut the tubing at an angle, pull tubing through hole with a pair of pliers.

Done.

Actually, did try that, my father suggested it. It was frustrating as I was using Top Fin Silicone tubing, which wouldn't cooperate. However, when I did get it in and tried it, I got nothing. Although my nieghbor thought he did hear gas escaping. Maybe the connector and whatever that white paper circle inside the bottle cap is formed a better seal from the CO2 pressure.