DiverJohn Posted April 11, 2005 Report Share Posted April 11, 2005 Tank approximatly 250l Moderate fish stock, Moderate-heavy planting. Good Reg set, needle valve & bubble counter but no soleniod, and a fairly dodgy DIY reactor :-? . Will be running 24/7 for a while. Obviosuly will have to keep an eye on PH but any hints on where to start in terms of bubbles per minute?? Thanks John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heather Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Did you ever find out, cause i was wondering the same thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke* Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html There's a table 2/3rds of the way down that tells you optimum CO2 levels and you can work this out through your pH and KH, in terms of bubbles per sec you'll need to experiment till it works out right for your tank's water chemistry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heather Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Thanks 'cool hand luke'. i had printed that out and used as bedtime reading (lol) last week. interesting. no hints though i guess? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted May 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Hi Heather, Well my "dodgy " CO2 reactor has been modified to something along the line of what you see on various internet pages... Power head at the top, pumping water thru a chamber filled with media bioballs) to break up the flow of water / CO2 bubbles and help get the CO2 into solution. I now have a soleinoid valve ( http://www.valves.co.nz ) that works AWSOME. its 240V and is ON when the current is ON. So i bought a "piggy- back" plug and wired it into that. Plugged it into my light timer, then plugged the lights on the back. Works SWEET lights come on, gas comes on.. all with 1 timer and no transformers dropping down to 12 v KH was low on my tank so have raised that up to 4degrees - which is just about ok I think. So to bubbles per minute.. well I was out of the ball park on that one! More like 1 bubble per second, maybe a bit longer , but yeah really bubbling away, remember my tank size of about 250l. Interesting at the moment as teh ambient temp drops I am having to open the needle valve a wee bit other wise the gas stops Growth is OK, bubbles (O2)coming off Blue Hygro, Orisi sword & Leopard sword. Wee bit more algae than I would like but have added a bit more light to see if that helps "burn it off". And NO LFS in Auckland has any Ottocinclus @ the moment. :-? Having an "issue" with very slightly cloudy water at the mo, and I just cant make it go away, trying to get that really good "polished look" (anybdy help with that one I would appreciate it) Was adding "leaf Zone" fertilizer but have stopped because i was wondering if it was contributing to the cloudyness? Anyway, thats the update, hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heather Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 thanks diverjohn. i will check out the solenoid. Have you got carbon in your filter, maybe it is exhausted and needs replacing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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