# Why is many people putting co2 diffusers up front?



## Basviola (7 Oct 2019)

Ever since I fell in love with aquascaping, I have wondered why many put co2 diffusers and other equipment right in front the scape. I wonder because I personally prefer to hide away equipment.

The same goes for cirkulation pumps... In this case it of course to get optimal flow in dead spots. That makes sense.

*Is there a specific reason for why many place the co2 diffuser so close to the front, just over their carpet?*
My own thought is that it might give better co2 for the carpet, but in case of no dead spot would the co2 not be present in the entire tank?
Or maybe some just like the statement it gives of being a high tech tank?

*About creating the optimal cirkulation*... it would be straightforward to place powerhead in the front of the aquarium and support filter outlet in creating a vortex effect.
*I would like to hear your feedback on the following idea*, as I might soon need a powerhead to create better circulation:

If the scape and placement on plants allows it would it make sense to attach some piping to the powerhead, so you could hide it away better. I am thinking you could get even more out of the pump, when making a bigger distance from the powerheads intake, and outlet. I might be wrong here, but at least it could be an idea on how to make equipment look less disturbing on the aquascape.


Thank you for sharing your insight...




*And please dont banned my profile for asking this!*
_If you have a tank with all equipment very visual, It is 100% ok with me, what ever satisfy you and makes you happy... it is just my opinion and maybe, maybe not, a good simple ide on how to create optimal cirkulation in a tank without being too intimidating on the scape it self.
All this is very obvious, but I got banned from aquascapingworld.com for asking theise questions, and sharing the idea in a journal with a very nice aquascape with a lot of visual equipment. This made me very sad. And I do not wich to get banned here for asking these quistions.
And yes, I still wonder why... if the person who banned me is reading here, please reconsider if this was fair, as i would love to get my journal on ASW back, so I can read all the great feedback I got, decide among the many plant suggestions and so on... (or at least send me a private message here, and tell me what I did to upset you so much)_


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## Andrew Butler (8 Oct 2019)

Basviola said:


> I personally prefer to hide away equipment


You're not the only one; I hate seeing things in my aquarium and probably have more OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) over the hardware in my aquarium than the plants and hardscape.
There are simple ways around things like using inline CO2 diffusers for injecting CO2.
Aside from in tank CO2 diffusers possibly being more effective I do believe many people like to look at these type of things in their aquarium, that's down to personal choice though.



Basviola said:


> I got banned from aquascapingworld.com for asking theise questions, and sharing the idea in a journal with a very nice aquascape with a lot of visual equipment. This made me very sad. And I do not wich to get banned here for asking these quistions.


Why you think you would get banned from UKAPS for saying things in the way you have above I've no idea.
Why not start a journal/thread on here instead, maybe copying what you published elsewhere - lots of friendly, knowledgeable and helpful people here.



Basviola said:


> *About creating the optimal cirkulation*... it would be straightforward to place powerhead in the front of the aquarium and support filter outlet in creating a vortex effect.


Just my opinion here but if you find yourself needing to add a powerhead to support the exact flow from your filter outlet that says to me that your filter is simply under-powered and by upgrading your filter that could solve the problem. (I assume I am understanding this is what you mean?)



Basviola said:


> f the scape and placement on plants allows it would it make sense to attach some piping to the powerhead, so you could hide it away better. I am thinking you could get even more out of the pump, when making a bigger distance from the powerheads intake, and outlet. I might be wrong here, but at least it could be an idea on how to make equipment look less disturbing on the aquascape.


I'm unsure I understand what you mean here, maybe a drawing would be useful.


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## Edvet (8 Oct 2019)

In general the most effective way to distribute the CO2 in the tank is through a spraybar over the entire length of the back of the tank putting out enough volume to create a circular flow in most of the tank ( back top to front top, front top to front bottom, front bottom to back bottom, back bottom to back top). Most effective way to get CO2 in the water is a large reactor ( for large tanks DIY) or even two. There is evidence having small bubbles of CO2 in the watercolumn might be beneficial for uptake so combining a reactor with microbubbles might be usefull ( personally i think if you can dissolve enough in the column microbubbles aren't needed)
A pH profile is the best way to asses the effectivity of your CO2 dosing.


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## Tom Michael (8 Oct 2019)

All valid questions- as with many aspects of the hobby there are different ways of achieving the same results depending on you specific tastes/budget/size of aquarium etc etc (the variables!)

I have used in tank diffusers, reactors, in line diffusers, and feeding C02 into an internal filter. All have had success but I now exclusively use in tank diffusers positioned at the front of the aquarium with a lily pipe at the opposing end forcing the bubbles down and around.

For me, this has been the most effective method as I can see what is happening more easily. Flow is really important so if the diffuser was in the back some where I may miss that my filter has reduced flow and needs a clean. Small changes equals big problems in a high light system. Equally the scape is really important here. Most have stems, tape plants in the rear and therefore it may not be effective or visually appealing to have the outflow or powerhead blasting these plants all the time.

In terms of hiding equipment as I use glass lily and a small diffuser I don't find this a distraction. A powerhead on the other hand would be. As previously mentioned you could use an inline diffuser and many people have great success with these, but not my preference as I like to easily see the gas flowing down and around.


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## Basviola (12 Oct 2019)

Thanks for all the explanation, I will properly experiment with it as well. But now I know, that if however dissolved CO in the water gets to the plants, it's all good.
And yes and it is so true it will always come down to personal taste. If you can think it, some loves and hate it.

The importance of good cirkulation makes more and more sense to me!




Andrew Butler said:


> I'm unsure I understand what you mean here, maybe a drawing would be useful.






 

Tank is 128 liters, and filter is a corner HMF (1000 l/h powerhead).
Cirkulation is only created by filter outlet, blue arrows visualise current flow in the tank.

I have a relatively dead spot in the lower right hand corner, just before the water returns to the filter.

To help cirkulation, and supporting the vortex it would be very good (and disrupting IMO) to place a powerhead, as drawn in red on my picture.

The "purple" in the drawing, is my guess on how to get the most out of a powerhead, and eventually hide it also.
The yellow is PVC tubing and/or PIPE, to direct the outlet to and in the desired position .

With getting the most out of a powerhead according to cirkulation, I was thinking that by creating distance between inlet and outlet of the powerhead, it could be beneficial being creating additional water flow on two places, and not just one?

Anyway I will start dosing CO2 in this tank in near future, and ended up getting bazookas in tank diffusers from co2 art.

*Would the best place for the diffuser be in the back LH corner, as the water gets pushed down when hitting the glas?
How importen would ekstra cirkulation be, when adding co2?*

Thanks again


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## Andrew Butler (14 Oct 2019)

As @Edvet mentioned before a spraybar is about the most effective way to get even flow around an aquarium and I completely agree with him.
It looks like you have a black background to your aquarium so you could also use a black spraybar so it does not stand out so much.


Basviola said:


> How importen would ekstra cirkulation be, when adding co2?


I would say that good, even circulation is important - CO2 or no CO2 so if you have a dead spot I think that resolving this would be good regardless.


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## Basviola (14 Oct 2019)

Guess I will have to try that out... but the look I think it will give makes me wonder:

Have someone tried mounting the "bar" above water surface, and have "L" shaped nozzles just reaching into the surface?
Think that could give a more discreet look.


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## rebel (15 Oct 2019)

Basviola said:


> Have someone tried mounting the "bar" above water surface, and have "L" shaped nozzles just reaching into the surface?


Wouldn't go with the typical open topped aquascaping tank.

btw just FYI, I went through a phase of wanting to hide everything but now I have become more relaxed and able to just enjoy the scape. My brain cancels out the equipment. I don't care what others think anymore. Just a thought that you 'may' grow out of it. 

Other idea is to get premium stuff that you actually want to show off (to your self) for example I don't mind seeing my Borneo wild stainless pipes..... I often love it when I can glance at them and put them in plain sight with my family having NO IDEA how much it cost.


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## Andrew Butler (17 Oct 2019)

Basviola said:


> but the look I think it will give makes me wonder


The photo below might give you a bit of an idea if you cancel out the scape and plants.


Basviola said:


> Have someone tried mounting the "bar" above water surface, and have "L" shaped nozzles just reaching into the surface?


No idea how you would do this as the whole idea of a spraybar is to be one piece with holes in it that circulates the water, so if you were to put a little nozzle on each one some how this would probably look worse in my opinion. Also very busy with lots of little pieces to clean.


rebel said:


> Other idea is to get premium stuff that you actually want to show off (to your self) for example I don't mind seeing my Borneo wild stainless pipes..... I often love it when I can glance at them and put them in plain sight with my family having NO IDEA how much it cost


Haha, that's the other way I went - Glass I don't like but stainless steel I like, the cheaper ones not so much with the acrylic brackets etc.


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## Basviola (17 Oct 2019)

Andrew Butler said:


> The photo below might give you a bit of an idea if you cancel out the scape and plants.


v

Thats looks very good, had to look twice to see the spray bar! And very nice scape by the way.

That might be the way I will go... thanks.


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## Andrew Butler (18 Oct 2019)

I made it myself from pipe and fittings so if you need any help/advice just ask.


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## Basviola (18 Oct 2019)

tanks


Andrew Butler said:


> if you need any help/advice just ask.



How to deside the size of the holea and number?


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## Andrew Butler (18 Oct 2019)

Basviola said:


> How to deside the size of the holea and number?


Most places you will read you should match the area of your filter pipe to total area of holes, to try and explain; if you have a 16mm filter pipe that gives you an area of 201.06 and for example if you were to drill 4mm holes which have an area of 12.57 that would mean you need 16 holes to match the area of filter pipe (201.06 ÷ 12.57)

I learnt this is not the case and trial and error is about the best method, finding a balance so the flow from each hole is strong enough without putting too much force on your filter. When I was testing things I had a Fluval G6 filter which had a flow chart on the screen so I would see if flow was being hindered. I managed to strike a balance and found a 3.5mm hole to be a nice size as for quantity - that depends on your filter.


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## Basviola (19 Oct 2019)

thanks a lot.


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