Do I have too much surface movement? (Gassing off CO2)

[_Rob]

I recently setup this 100x40x40cm tank and am struggling to get the drop checker to change colour. CO2 at added with an inline diffuser at approximately 9 bps (Video with iPhone then slowed down to count the bubbles.) and the checker always stays on the darker side of green.



My main question is, Am I gassing off too much CO2 with the current surface movement I have? Please see the video below. If not, is more than 9 bps normal for a tank this size?




Tank setup:


Filter: Fluval fx4 and Dedicated pump for inline heater and diffuser

Lighting: 1x 1500 TMC Tile and 2x 300 TMC Tile

Co2: approximately 9 bps

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Personally I think its does look like a bit to much surface movement, a hard thing to approximate but you really only need gentle movement of the surface, I think you could half the level of your surface movement.

 

[steveno]

Hello rob,

That much surface movement will likely mean to much co2 exchange, if you reduce surface movement you should be able to reduce the amount of co2 you need.

Nice scape...

 

[_Rob]

Personally I think its does look like a bit to much surface movement, a hard thing to approximate but you really only need gentle movement of the surface, I think you could half the level of your surface movement.

Hello rob,
That much surface movement will likely mean to much co2 exchange, if you reduce surface movement you should be able to reduce the amount of co2 you need.

Thanks I have changed one of the outlets on the filter to cut down on the surface movement and angled them down a bit more. I'll monitor co2 levels for the rest of today to make sure I don't have too much being added now.

Nice scape...

Thanks! Can't take that much credit though as it was based of someone else's scape I seen on here (Forget who's!).

 

[foxfish]

It looks like you have the two filter outlets facing each other?

 

[_Rob]

It looks like you have the two filter outlets facing each other?

Yes I have the outlet of the Fluval filter on the right and a spray bar on the left which is angled down (The spray bar is just connected to a pump with inline heater and diffuser). It creates a anti clockwise flow throughout the tank.

 

[foxfish]

You might find you can achieve much better distribution of the mist & prolong the bubbles contact time in the water column before they are gassed off on the surface.

 

[HiNtZ]

I've got way more surface movement than that, I just compensate with the injection rate.

Depends on your setup though, and how much you pay for gas - I get 5KG for a tenner, which lasts about 6 months. That's £1.60 a month. Chicken feed.

As for your flow - I'd definitely move one outlet to blast down the back glass to the other outlet pointing to the opposite diagonal corner to create a rotation of water.