pressurized co2 set up help - New to Planted Aquariums

zooman · 08-13-2008, 01:06 AM

Hello I just installed a pressurized co2 you all seem to sing high praises about it so i took the leap and bought a all in one milwaukee setup with the regulator, needle valve, solenoid, bubble counter and a 5lb tank.

it is installed on a 48 gallon tank with a 96W compact flourescent lighting and a regular 30w fourescent bulb.

I am adding the ferts on a regular basis and my question is how do you set up the co2 properly?

I cant seem to get the flow to a steady normal pace. In the bubble counter its coming out very quickly but in the actual tank very slow. I open the needle valve and it comes out faster and then i come back 20mins later and its gone back to a trickle. I have the pressure at 10psi as the instructions dictated and by looking at the bubble counter i cant even count how many bubbles per second its so fast but on the tank its coming out about 2 bubbles a second. I am in the midst of buying a diffuser using the one from the yeast method i had its a maze type one that the bubbles seem to just reach the surface very fast.

Any help??

fshfanatic · 08-13-2008, 01:11 AM

I have my pressure set to 40psi and my bubble count at about 1-2 bps steady.

Bert H · 08-13-2008, 04:46 AM

Use your bubble counter on the regulator as your 'measure' of bubble rate, not your tank. Are you using a reactor or a diffuser? You will also need some way to measure your CO2 levels in your tank - either via drop checker or estimated via pH changes. You don't want to OD your fish.

hoppycalif · 08-13-2008, 07:52 AM

First, the Milwaukee regulator seems to work best around 20+ psi, not 10 psi. Second, I suspect your CO2 line leaks somewhere. Soak it in a dishsoap and water solution, one that works well for kids blowing bubbles, then look for mounds of bubbles after a few minutes.

zooman · 08-13-2008, 11:16 AM

Thanks adjusting to 20psi helped stabilize the co2 better.

As for the diffuser im using the one i had from the HAgen yeast set-up its a chamber type system and im just trying to get the bubbles steady so they actually last longer in the chamber.

As the drop checker i bought the red sea one sorry i forgot to mention it and it began to change colur yesterday just before i shut it off as i have to buy a timer for the solenoid witha ground in it the tiers i had were only two prong type. Money money money..I did see my first set of large scale beading of oxygen bubbles that is a cool sight.