New to co2

I make sure there is a considerable ripple on the water's surface from the spraybars but don't use an airstone. Pressurized gas is cheap enough I would rather degas some than risk suffocating the livestock by trying to balance CO2 and O2 without a ripple.

I have 2 returns from my sump....should I have one across top of water and the other going into tank?

It doesn't have to be above the surface. An 1/8" antisiphon hole that is 1" below the surface puts a ripple to the front of my 18" wide tank and combined with the spraybars that end 2-3" below the water surface the whole top of the tank has a good ripple.

I pushed one of the outputs up a bit and now have a nice ripple effect going on. Never thought that would actually ever make a difference.

CO2 escapes water quite easily, usually surface tension in the water will hold it in. Moving the waters surface releases CO2, especially if you break the surface tension with your ripples. This is why most people add air stones and run them at night, to reoxygenate the water and remove the abundance of CO2.

This isn't necessary as long as you dial your setup in to not allow gassing of your fish.

So co2 is running again. But now notice the bubbles go about 6 inches down then go straight to the top.

isellcars said:

So co2 is running again. But now notice the bubbles go about 6 inches down then go straight to the top.

Click to expand...

Nothing to worry about that. The longer the CO2 bubble stay in the water I think the better.