I keep having problems with my Co2 bubble rate dropping to nothing, only had it going for a few days. I don't want to set it too high and hurt the fish but setting it around 2-3 bubbles per second and it ends up stopping. I am running it into a aqua tech power head I bought at wal-mart for 20$, not the cheapest solution but it is working decently well. Some of the bigger bubbles go to the top but there are smaller bubbles circulating around my 55 gallon. I actually just bought a 2nd aqua tech today and am thinking about setting it directly above to push the bubbles around even more. I may pick up this mini filter and put it below one or both of these power heads. I may be out of outlets though and no petco near me lol. Still need to pick up a drop checker too.
I keep having problems with my Co2 bubble rate dropping to nothing, only had it going for a few days. I don't want to set it too high and hurt the fish but setting it around 2-3 bubbles per second and it ends up stopping. I am running it into a aqua tech power head I bought at wal-mart for 20$, not the cheapest solution but it is working decently well. Some of the bigger bubbles go to the top but there are smaller bubbles circulating around my 55 gallon. I actually just bought a 2nd aqua tech today and am thinking about setting it directly above to push the bubbles around even more. I may pick up this mini filter and put it below one or both of these power heads. I may be out of outlets though and no petco near me lol. Still need to pick up a drop checker too.
How can it be dropping to nothing if you are pumping it into the pump? The bubbles have to be going somewhere. Are you saying that it just belches big bubbles and not small ones? Is your pump vertical or at a position that it can't get trapped in the pump? Do you have it feeding into the pump too rapidly for the pump to mix with enough water to spit it out? Do you have a small sponge on the outside to help break the bubbles into even smaller pieces?
maybe he means his CO2 flow rate is dropping -- like 2-3bps on the bubble counter and then slows eventually to nothing? Needle valve drifting or clogged?
I feel like it is the needle valve drifting. I see the decrease in the bubble counter. I busted my MNV-4K2 and went back to using a larger clippard model although I had this problem with both valves. I am trying only adjusting the regulator pressure now without adjustments to the needle valve, I should know if that worked when I get home tonight. Also, I ordered my drop checker yesterday.
Thanks, probly not the right place to post this stuff but I just got home and it had stopped again. I turned up the regulator to 30 PSI and still no bubbles so somehow the needle valve is closing up on me. I am going to add teflon tape to the threads and really am at a loss as to what I can do to fix this. There is no lock nut on the knob so that isn't an option either. Maybe I'll just go and get a metering valve if I can't fix this. One other thing I may try is running a tube direct from the valve to the water with no check valve or bubble counter to see if anything changes, hopefully no back siphon into my equipment.
I may have found an extra cheap method if anyone can find a way to use it. Supposed to fill it with filter fiber, so maybe some extra fine sponge and then place it by circulation. I think I got my CO2 working in my power head finally. I saw this at meijer, 2 dollars.
Thanks to Niko for creating this thread. I just checked online, and the filter is still under $10 2 years later. I am planning on picking one up this weekend.
Niko! Bless you for this thread. I just set this up, and its working wonders. I love hearing the little "pish pish pish" of the bubbles hitting the intake too. Its the satisfying sound of plants making love everywhere . I didn't see pics in the last couple pages, so here are my dis-assembly pics for the curious. I ran the c02 intake through the lower intake screening instead of the adjustment dial slot, it was a better fit and I was working with stiffer tubing. Other than that, I'm assuming this is how everyone else did it.
Last edited by TarantulaGuy : 09-15-2009 at 09:53 PM.
I just switched the powerhead I was using to one of these contraptions. Didn't change the bubble rate and the next morning had to save the fish from suffocating. Reduced the bubble rate in half and still had to add a powerhead to stir the water surface so the fish stop breathing heavily.
Other than watching out for increased levels of CO2 this is it - the thing works every time.
Re: Tiny super efficient CO2 reactor
. I didn't see pics in the last couple pages, so here are my dis-assembly pics for the curious. I ran the c02 intake through the lower intake screening instead of the adjustment dial slot, it was a better fit and I was working with stiffer tubing. Other than that, I'm assuming this is how everyone else did it.
Linear Mode
