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CO2 in a 2.5

2262 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  MARIMOBALL, 
U
is it wise or common to use DIY co2 on a 2.5 gallon nano? I have the 27w home depot light ( from walmart actually ). also, in general, should co2 be dosed overnight as well?
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dekstr
You can use DIY CO2 24/7, usually even with 100% diffusion you can't get high enough CO2 to cause any harm for your fish. What people usually do with DIY CO2, since you can't turn it off, is to have an airstone running about an hour before lights turn off, and until the next morning when the lights turn back on. This gasses out the excess CO2 at night time when the plants aren't photosynthesizing, but producing CO2 themselves.

I have the same set-up as you, 2.5 gallon, 27w homedepot light, and I run 2x 2l DIY CO2, but that's only cause there's no livestock.

One 2 litre DIY CO2 bottle is fine for a 2.5 gallon.
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U
dekstr said:
You can use DIY CO2 24/7, usually even with 100% diffusion you can't get high enough CO2 to cause any harm for your fish. What people usually do with DIY CO2, since you can't turn it off, is to have an airstone running about an hour before lights turn off, and until the next morning when the lights turn back on. This gasses out the excess CO2 at night time when the plants aren't photosynthesizing, but producing CO2 themselves.

I have the same set-up as you, 2.5 gallon, 27w homedepot light, and I run 2x 2l DIY CO2, but that's only cause there's no livestock.

One 2 litre DIY CO2 bottle is fine for a 2.5 gallon.
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do you run the co2 into the impeller of the filter or use a diffuser?
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dekstr
I originally ran it under a bell.

But it took up a lot of space in the tank and was always in the way, so I just put the CO2 airline under the filter intake so the impeller does the diffusing.

Don't really notice any difference.

See my "2.5g" signature for info.

Remember, there's lots of ways to diffuse CO2 into the water.
Just be careful--lots of horror stories of CO2 yeast water being sucked into the tank because of too powerful suction from a powerhead / filter. A check-valve or an extra empty bottle between the tank and bottle is helpful in preventing these accidents.
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T
Use a glass ceramic diffuser or wood airstone, they produce very fine bubbles. This is very effective and you don't have to worry about other problems such as the filter sucking in sugar/yeast solution.
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bsmith
i tried a rhinox 2k in a 2.5 with diy co2 (2 1L bottles) and had no luck getting co2 dissolved in my water.
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radioman
I am running a hose into my red sea nano filter from a 20oz bottle and my plants are pearling in my 2.5g
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bsmith
radioman said:
I am running a hose into my red sea nano filter from a 20oz bottle and my plants are pearling in my 2.5g
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prolly not pearling, just the tiny bubbles coming out of the filter being stuck on the plant leaves.
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T
Well I use a ceramic diffuser with DIY CO2 as I mentioned earlier and HC pearl every day!
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E
bsmith782 said:
prolly not pearling, just the tiny bubbles coming out of the filter being stuck on the plant leaves.
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I had DIY CO2 into the intake of my Azoo Palm filter, and I assure you, plants pearled. Now I have pressurized CO2 for my nano tank since I just run it off a manifold from the large tank...much more consistent.
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FrostyNYC
bsmith782 said:
i tried a rhinox 2k in a 2.5 with diy co2 (2 1L bottles) and had no luck getting co2 dissolved in my water.
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Bsmith, did you try a smaller rhinox? Im using a nano ceramic diffuser I got off ebay (its a rhinox knock-off) and the small ceramic plate size allows for enough pressure that I get a ton of tiny bubbles from my 1-litre DIY bottle.
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MARIMOBALL
I have DIY CO2 with nano diffuser on my 3.5 gal nano and all my plants pearl. I have a 24 watt 6700k PC bulb. CO2 runs 24/7 and shrimp and micro rasboras are all doing fine.
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