Here we go.
After preparing all week to start an EI dosing system and really looking forward to spending the weekend setting up and trying to record the experience in the journal section, I came home from work yesterday to a camplete disaster. All the fish and amano shrimp in my tank were dead. I feel absolutely gutted, I had a vibrant community of fish and shrimp and now the tank is lifeless. I don't know what I'm going ot do next, I love the hobby but there's no way I'm setting up a CO2 system until I undersstand what went wrong and how this can be avoided.
I feel ashamed for what's happend, as I was responsible for the life in the tank, but I want to share the experience and ask for your help and advice on the likely cause of the CO2 overdose.
I'm using a 2 kg fire extinguisher attached to a dual stage regulator with a solenoid and needle valve (see picture below). I had the second stage set at just below 4 bar.
When I got home yesterday the FE was empty. I'd bene expecting it to run out as it's been in daily use for several months. This is the second FE I've used in the tank and I noticed when the last one ran out as the drop checker solution did not change to lime green on the day the CO2 stopped. The only change I've made to the system since the last bottle emptied is the CO2 diffuser. I've changed from an inline atomiser to inline reactor. My initial thoughts on possible cause are as follows:
Thanks
After preparing all week to start an EI dosing system and really looking forward to spending the weekend setting up and trying to record the experience in the journal section, I came home from work yesterday to a camplete disaster. All the fish and amano shrimp in my tank were dead. I feel absolutely gutted, I had a vibrant community of fish and shrimp and now the tank is lifeless. I don't know what I'm going ot do next, I love the hobby but there's no way I'm setting up a CO2 system until I undersstand what went wrong and how this can be avoided.
I feel ashamed for what's happend, as I was responsible for the life in the tank, but I want to share the experience and ask for your help and advice on the likely cause of the CO2 overdose.
I'm using a 2 kg fire extinguisher attached to a dual stage regulator with a solenoid and needle valve (see picture below). I had the second stage set at just below 4 bar.
When I got home yesterday the FE was empty. I'd bene expecting it to run out as it's been in daily use for several months. This is the second FE I've used in the tank and I noticed when the last one ran out as the drop checker solution did not change to lime green on the day the CO2 stopped. The only change I've made to the system since the last bottle emptied is the CO2 diffuser. I've changed from an inline atomiser to inline reactor. My initial thoughts on possible cause are as follows:
- The pressure in the second stage was at 4 bar and too high for the reactor I was using. I'd set it high when using the inline atomiser but did not adjust it when I switched to the reactor.
- The regulator and/or needle valve iis faulty - It seems to be working ok on a new FE.
- Increase in working pressure as the liquid CO2 all used in FE that has resulted in a 'dump' of the remaining CO2 into the tank - However I was under the impression that this was not a problem with dual stage regulators
Thanks