[fcastro16]

Ok! so i have a planted 10 gal RCS tank. This morning I hooked up a 2 bottle co2 system. It was releasing so many bubbles. I was happy of having such an effective system then at night i checked how the co2 was doing so it's then when i saw my shrimp dying. I didnt hesitate to unhook the co2 system. I check the ph, man my reading was a light yellow then I did a 50 % water change and I managed to save my shrimp.

Should I just hook one bottle?

any suggestions.

 

[peteski312]

for a ten gallon, one bottle should be just fine. Might want to check your DIY yeast and sugar ratio.

 

[Bunbuku]

Invest in a drop checker. Fill, add a drop or two of the indicator and fill with a 4 dKH solution till it turns blue. When you add CO2 to your tank, the goal is to get the color to turn green. If its yellow too much CO2, if its blue not enough.

Unless you have the lights on 24/7 there is no need to run CO2 24/7. Using a couple of cheap timers, you can set you CO2 to turn on 30 min before lights on and turn off 30 min before lights off.

At night plants use O2, so you want to drop an airstone in the tank and run it at nightime only. If you happen to have lily pipes, you can rise the outflow pipe 1/3 above water level. The turbulence should provide enough gas exchange. Don't forget to turn of the air pump or lower the lily pipe when you run the lights so you don't lose the CO2

 

[fshfanatic]

Unless you have the lights on 24/7 there is no need to run CO2 24/7. Using a couple of cheap timers, you can set you CO2 to turn on 30 min before lights on and turn off 30 min before lights off.

How is he going to do this with DIY CO2??

 

[houseofcards]

I hav DIY on my nano shrimp tank and I just take the diffusor out at night and drop it in a cup of water next to the tank.

 

[JohnPaul]

I hav DIY on my nano shrimp tank and I just take the diffusor out at night and drop it in a cup of water next to the tank.

A friend has a tank with an electric-powered diffusor, which he keeps on the same timer as his lights. So when the lights are on CO2 is on and when lights are out, CO2 is off.

CO2 on a dark tank can become highly toxic very quickly, since in the absence of light the plants shut down photosynthesis and actually switch over to respiration. In other words, with no light, plants not only stop using CO2, they actually start using oxygen. In a tank that is fairly well planted, this can easily cause oxygen levels to bottom out.

 

[fcastro16]

I do 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 cup with one spoon of yeast is this fine?
I just hooked one bottle, but it's still releasing alot of bubbles.

I'm not sure about this, but my 10 gal is not well planted so not all of the co2 is being used and that is why my co2 level is very high?

 

[Commodore 64]

I just hooked up a bottle to my 20g shrimp tank. I used 1/4 tsp. of yeast. You may have used too much yeast for one thing.

What is your kH? If it is very low, you won't have much buffering capacity in your tank and your pH can crash due to the CO2 making carbonic acid. Mine is low...I dripped some baking soda and water into my tank last night (be careful as this raises pH). I wanted to get a few degrees of kH in there. I'm looking into options for maintaining a kH of 3-5 over the long term.

I need to get a drop checker myself. Last night was my first night with the CO2 so I went ahead and took out the tube for the night (I just run it into my prefilter at this point). I have a CO2 test as part of my red sea test kit. Not sure how accurate it is, but before I went to bed last night I had 7ppm CO2. I had just started the DIY CO2 that day, and with 1/4 tsp of yeast, it took a while to ramp up.

Tonight I'll test the kH, pH, and CO2, but I suspect I'll take out the CO2 tube again.

 

[fcastro16]

I just hooked up a bottle to my 20g shrimp tank. I used 1/4 tsp. of yeast. You may have used too much yeast for one thing.

What is your kH? If it is very low, you won't have much buffering capacity in your tank and your pH can crash due to the CO2 making carbonic acid. Mine is low...I dripped some baking soda and water into my tank last night (be careful as this raises pH). I wanted to get a few degrees of kH in there. I'm looking into options for maintaining a kH of 3-5 over the long term.

I need to get a drop checker myself. Last night was my first night with the CO2 so I went ahead and took out the tube for the night (I just run it into my prefilter at this point). I have a CO2 test as part of my red sea test kit. Not sure how accurate it is, but before I went to bed last night I had 7ppm CO2. I had just started the DIY CO2 that day, and with 1/4 tsp of yeast, it took a while to ramp up.

Tonight I'll test the kH, pH, and CO2, but I suspect I'll take out the CO2 tube again.

ok then i am using way too much yeast.
and I would need to buy a test kit like yours.

Like a said before i hooked up just one bottle and my shrimp seem to do fine.

Thank you for all you replies