pjb9166

Can someone please tell me how this magical number of 4bbs in a bubble counter for Co2.
My DIY Drop Checker Did Not work. I should of staid with the 1 bubble every 10 seconds.
All my fish are dead after a few hrs. Got the call from my wife. This is why us beginners ask
dumb repetitive answers. Reading all these articles get confusing. Especially when your doing
all this using a Cellphone for internet access.

Saturation

Did the same thing last year, so excited when i got my milwaukee regulator/co2 tank and rigged it up to my tank. i had just bought a school of 30 celestial pearl danios/ galaxy rasboras and the dumb regulator just emptied all the co2 the next day.

came home to 30 dead fish.

Most devastating fish experience ive ever had. Passionately hate milwaukee instruments now and forever...

sorry to hear about ur incident

Diana K

Any 'bubbles per second' is not a direct measurement of how much CO2 is dissolved in the water.

A drop checker will tell you how much CO2 is in the water, but it is not instant. The CO2 in the tank water needs to become a gas in the intake area of the DC, then re-dissolve in the 4dKh solution that is in the DC. This takes time.

The way you add the CO2 to the water is highly significant. There are many ways to dissolve the bubbles in the water, and the water flow in the tank to direct the CO2 enriched water around the tank.

Here is what may have happened, but I am not sure:
Increasing the flow to 4 bbs was more than your fish could handle, and before the drop checker could react the fish died.

My suggestion is to increase the CO2 slowly, over several days or even a couple of weeks. Tiny adjustments, then wait overnight to see the results. Monitor the fish, and the DC. If all is cool, then another small adjustment.

Tom Higgs

I agree with Diana, that's the way to do it. Also when I installed my Milwaukee, the directions were wrong and resulted in 5lb of co2 being dumped in the tank in the few hrs I was away, killed everybody, so I can relate. No probs with that system once I set it up using common sense and not the directions.

The Trigger

The milwaukees are also notorious for having some play in their needle valves. I saw one set at 3bps and looked later to see it at about 6 bps. Moved all by itself. So set keep an eye on it. Even while ur making the slow adjustments over the next week or so

Tex Gal

So sorry that happened to you. The best advice is to always be at home near your tank when you first set-up and adjust your CO2. Drop checkers take hours to register all the CO2 in your water. Your fish react immediately. There are so many things that you need to be able to watch - faulty needle valve, back pressure of the diffuser, etc.

One safety measure is pH controller. They measure the pH quickly. The change of pH of your tank is a direct indicator of how much CO2 is in your water. I have the Milwaukee SMS122 pH controller. The CO2 regulator plugs in to the pH controller and I set the controller not to go below a certain pH. If varies from tank to tank because of the dissolved solids in your water. Since it will turn off my regulator (CO2 output) when the pH gets to the setting I dial in, my fish cannot get too much CO2. When I first set up a tank I watch all of this for hours.

You also have to be careful when you add new fish to your tank. Any new additions could be sensitive to all the pH in your water. You could notice them at the top gasping for air. If you see them having trouble you can do an immediate water change, turn your CO2 down temporarily, and add an airstone. New fish will get used to the CO2 but it can take them a few hours.

I've had CO2 for many years now. One of my pelcos is 12 years old. Once you get your CO2 balanced your fishes can live a long and happy life in an aquarium that rivals planted lakes and rivers. Remember - the CO2 helps the plants infuse so much oxygen into the water that many times we can see it pearling! What fish wouldn't like that environment?!

pjb9166

I need to get a new needle valve. It keeps shutting off on me. I'm getting a high enough Co2 though.
I had made a reactor that is working great. Before I was using the intake of my filter but it was spitting out bubbles. Now everything but the needle valve is working fine now.

The Trigger

The importance of the accuracy of the needle valve is more so that valve doesnt float and cause swings in co2 levels. Most needle valves will give you high co2 levels. The most important thing is keeping that level or bubble count at exactly where u set it. You want it to never move unless you adjust it. That alone is what separates a good needle valve from a crappy one.

Izzy

I have found the Milwaukee needle valves are more accurate at higher psi than they recommend. Mine are set at seven to eight (psi??). The less expensive needle valves like milwaukee tend to fluctuate seasonally and with room temperature.

Fine tuning a system can take a week or more. Slowly increasing only one bps everyday. Optimal bps depends on the difusing method, tank size and water temp.

Watch the fish at night. I add minimal but consistent co2 24/7, playing it cautious. Co2 builds up at night and is used during the day.

Drop checkers need the 4dk solution not tap or distilled water to be most accurate. Didn't realize this folly with the manufacturers directions for several days of non changing color. I got lucky it was on new uninhabited planted tank.