# Which diffuser ?



## andy (14 Feb 2011)

Options i have are

1) Lilly pipe type one with the ceramic membrane

2) One of the in-line diffusers that work with an external filter

3) ladder type.

What are your thoughts guys ?  Ive used 1 and 3 in the past with varying sucess.  Love to hear the experts opinions.

Oh...this is for a 500 litre tank with 4 x 36w T8 tubes and good water flow.

Andy


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## Tom (14 Feb 2011)

Inline any day


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## GHNelson (14 Feb 2011)

Yip
I second that.That size of aquarium it would be to your advantage using 2 one at each end on the biggest externals you can find and afford. You wont be disappointed on the UP atomisers performance.
hoggie


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## wearsbunnyslippers (14 Feb 2011)

if you have a black background the hagen elite mini filter diffuser works like a charm... it is pretty small so it will disappear in your 500 anyway.

i use this in my 400l and i have never had any co2 issues. even when i had 8 54W t5's on there, i could dissolve enough co2.


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## andy (14 Feb 2011)

hogan53 said:
			
		

> Yip
> I second that.That size of aquarium it would be to your advantage using 2 one at each end on the biggest externals you can find and afford. You wont be disappointed on the UP atomisers performance.
> hoggie



Thanks guys...but what's a "UP" ?


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## Tom (14 Feb 2011)

It's the brand of atomizer. eBay it


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## chilled84 (14 Feb 2011)

just bitten the bullet myself and now have one on order! oops. lol. Cant wait any longer to try these.


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## Angus (14 Feb 2011)

another thumbs up for the UP atomizer, its sensitive but provides ultimate co2 dispersal, ive got it 2 inches from my spraypipe and it still produces bubbles that dont float.


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## chilled84 (14 Feb 2011)

fozziebear said:
			
		

> another thumbs up for the UP atomizer, its sensitive but provides ultimate co2 dispersal, ive got it 2 inches from my spraypipe and it still produces bubbles that dont float.



Sounds wicked, I have be thinking about it for ages now! Couldnt wait any longer! This thread has just done it for me finaly! Just get one guys.


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## RudeDogg1 (14 Feb 2011)

thumbs up from me to


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## Always Broke (14 Feb 2011)

I am running one in my 720 ltr set up and I have a second on order. Big thumbs up for the "up".

Just be aware you will probably have a fine mist in your tank. Thats the reason for the second one to make my mist finer as I am over gassing just the one and its more like fine bubbles at the moment. Best way of putting Co2 into my big tank I have found yet 

Simon


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## andy (15 Feb 2011)

Just a thought but could you use these UP atomisers on the filter inlet pipe rather than the outlet ?  that would surely give the CO2 more time to dissolve and any micro bubbles would get trapped in the foam/floss layer.  just don't know whether CO2 rich water would have any effect on filteration or whether the filteration would have any effect on the CO2 rich water ?


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## mdhardy01 (15 Feb 2011)

alot of people diffuse co2 via their canister filter all you have to think about it the possibility of gas build up in the canister 
and keep an eye on you filter seals as co2 is corrosive which could degrade the seals and lead to leaks
matt


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## chilled84 (15 Feb 2011)

mdhardy01 said:
			
		

> alot of people diffuse co2 via their canister filter all you have to think about it the possibility of gas build up in the canister
> and keep an eye on you filter seals as co2 is corrosive which could degrade the seals and lead to leaks
> matt



I would never stick co2 up and into my filter. Its just not worth the risk. Plus dosn't the bacteria within the filter live of o2 Not co2 wich would suficate the bacteria causeing death for good bacteria?


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## HullTiger86 (16 Feb 2011)

andy said:
			
		

> Just a thought but could you use these UP atomisers on the filter inlet pipe rather than the outlet ?  that would surely give the CO2 more time to dissolve and any micro bubbles would get trapped in the foam/floss layer.  just don't know whether CO2 rich water would have any effect on filteration or whether the filteration would have any effect on the CO2 rich water ?



Would be a bad idea for a few reasons. you would get a build up of co2 in your filter which could damage it and also you would kill the bacteria and then have a build up of ammonia and nitrite.


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## mdhardy01 (16 Feb 2011)

Not sure you would kill the bacteria in the filter
O2 and co2 are are both present in the aquarium water so the bacteria would still get o2 even if co2  were injected into the filter directly 
Clive ( ceg4048) would be the one to answer this or one of the other more technically minded members
Matt


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## HullTiger86 (16 Feb 2011)

It wouldnt kill all of them but would limit the numbers and effect the proformance of the filter for sure.


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## Stu Worrall (16 Feb 2011)

hink georege has been running his onthe inlet with no problems


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## foxfish (16 Feb 2011)

Very popular method on the American forums!


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## ceg4048 (17 Feb 2011)

chilled84 said:
			
		

> mdhardy01 said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


CO2 does not suffocate bacteria. As long as there is Oxygen in the water then the presence of CO2 cannot possibly have an affect on the level of dissolved Oxygen. These gases exist independently and therefore aerobic bacteria have access to whatever Oxygen is present in the water whether CO2 is present in low, medium or high concentrations. There is no relationship at all between the Oxygen level and CO2 level. The Oxygen concentration is strictly a function of the photosynthetic yield by the plants plus atmospheric Oxygen. The CO2 concentration is strictly a function of the injection pressure, plus atmospheric CO2, plus metabolism of fauna and flora.

The only negative effect one could argue is that high CO2 concentrations lowers the pH of the water which also lowers the de-nitrification yield of the bacteria, but this happens regardless of the diffusion location to a greater or lesser extent.

Cheers,


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