# CO2 24 hours...was it worth it?



## NatureBoy (27 Oct 2013)

Hi 

I've been running CO2 constantly 24/7 along with strong surface agitation to maintain a constant amount of dissolved CO2, just to see how you could interplay gas injection with gassing off. I kept the ph stable and down from 7.6 to 6.6 for about six weeks this way.

Pros:

you maintain a constant supply
Fauna seem to acclimatise to the constant rate
Cons:

you rinse CO2 like a muther, 2kg every two weeks!
no apparent overall benefit in terms of plant growth compared with well managed timed addition of CO2 to coincide with lights on.
conclusion: switched back to CO2 injected 2 hrs before lights on, with much less surface agitation and a longer lasting gas bottle!


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## foxfish (27 Oct 2013)

I would say that only a few years back 24 hour injection was quite common but the idea was to use less C02 & less surface movement.


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## NatureBoy (27 Oct 2013)

foxfish said:


> I would say that only a few years back 24 hour injection was quite common but the idea was to use less C02 & less surface movement.


 
yes i agree, I guess there are plenty of balance points: low injection / low gassing off, high injection / high surface agitation.

I've not tested whether this will lead to different stability conc of dissolved CO2 or not, eg low injection plateau at ph 6.8, high injection 6.4 etc....either way is if you get the agitation wrong (easier to do with less agitation) you run the risk of killing fauna...that's why i opted for high surface agitation as a first priority. I kept the CO2 on solenoid also, in case of power cut, to cut the co2 with the loss of agitation.


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## Nathaniel Whiteside (27 Oct 2013)

NatureBoy said:


> yes i agree, I guess there are plenty of balance points: low injection / low gassing off, high injection / high surface agitation.
> 
> I've not tested whether this will lead to different stability conc of dissolved CO2 or not, eg low injection plateau at ph 6.8, high injection 6.4 etc....either way is if you get the agitation wrong (easier to do with less agitation) you run the risk of killing fauna...that's why i opted for high surface agitation as a first priority. I kept the CO2 on solenoid also, in case of power cut, to cut the co2 with the loss of agitation.



The whole point of doing 24h co2 is due to not having a solenoid handy. 

Seens as you do have a solenoid, I can't see any benefit whatsoever by injecting 24/7.


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## foxfish (27 Oct 2013)

I am sure to many it would seem pointless to inject 24 7.
I am equally sure Clive has a thousand word answer proving just that however ... there are people who do leave the gas on all the time, have amazing tanks & swear by the method.
I am pretty sure George was advocating this method only a few years ago!
I was only reading a thread on this forum a few weeks back about a chap running 24 7 on a low injection rate, his tank was spectacular.
I would worry about the fish myself.


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## NatureBoy (27 Oct 2013)

foxfish said:


> I am sure to many it would seem pointless to inject 24 7.
> I am equally sure Clive has a thousand word answer proving just that however ... there are people who do leave the gas on all the time, have amazing tanks & swear by the method.
> I am pretty sure George was advocating this method only a few years ago!
> I was only reading a thread on this forum a few weeks back about a chap running 24 7 on a low injection rate, his tank was spectacular.
> I would worry about the fish myself.


 

hi, this was in the spirit of experimentation, I too saw that tank (alan the rare plant man's?) so wanted to see what effect there may be...I also reckon "folks" get hammered down a bit before checking things out for themselves on forums, etc

There are people who swear by the method, I tried it, and can say for that for me, there was no real benefit...just a bigger faff in sorting out CO2 refills. Funnily the fish seemed absolutely non fussed and fully acclimatised, this I'd say was a benefit of the method.


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## wisiu (13 Dec 2013)

I am planning to switch from 24h/ 7  to 2 hours before lights on but my concern is about  the PH fluctuation, will not increase algae in my tank ?I have solenoid since beginning but is open all the time.


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## darren636 (13 Dec 2013)

Forget about the ph. Just do it


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## steveno (13 Dec 2013)

In my tank I unintentionally seem to have Co2 on 24/7 if I go by my drop checker reading, I have change the solution with newly purchase solution, and once solution change from blue to green it stays green. (I have taken drop checker out of tank and reverts back to blue), thou I inject directly into my filter so perhaps that why, either way my plants are doing well and I’ve not notice any adverse effect on my livestock.


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## steveno (13 Dec 2013)

sorry perharps i should have said, my only inject 8 hours aday, which comes on 2 hour before light one and an hour before lights off.


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## NatureBoy (14 Dec 2013)

I've gone the other way with my CO2 thinking from 24 hrs aggressive CO2 / flow to low rate, short period inline CO2 injection with no surface agitation. Through experimenting with different methods, I realised that equilibrium, high, yet safe concentrations of CO2 can be created by tuning your gassin / gassoff. So I have dialed in a combination of almost no surface agitation and _way less flow_ (turned off two koralias and pushed filter return deeper underwater), and inject gas (not aggressively) for only 4 hours in the early morning, then another squirt in the late afternoon. The CO2 remains in the water and gives me a _constant _ph of 6.6 _everywhere_ in the tank (non injected is Ph 7.6), i.e constant dissolved CO2 available to plant leaves. To be honest growth of CO2 loving plants has never been better in my estimation, and fauna are well acclimatised to the constant rate. The gas bottle has lasted for a few months now also.


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