CO2 question

[Matt Warner]

Hi all, at the moment I have my co2 come on about an hour before lights come on. Is it better to have it come on 1 hour before or do most people have it come on 2 hours before. If levels aren't at optimum before the lights come on, will this fluctuation in co2 trigger algae?

 

[Gary Nelson]

I have mine on 2 hours before and they go off 2 before lights out.

 

[Alastair]

Some people do an hour, some do two. Your drop checker had a delay of about two hours so really aim for two hours before, so that after the first two hours of lights on you want your drop checker to be a nice light green/lime

 

[Westyggx]

I have mine on 2 hours before and they go off 2 before lights out.

 

[spyder]

Each system will differ on injection rate. I've had to go 4 hours to get lime green at lights on. I could increase injection rate but then waste a lot of gas due to my injection technique. Glass diffuser + internal.

 

[a1Matt]

i used to run mine 24/7.

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

I suppose it's a bit of a how long is a piece of string type question. It's all tank specific, I find If you have the right diffuser working at the optimum rate then 2 hours before should be enough time but you need to take into account whether the diffuser needs a clean or there is a fair bit of surface agitation causing de-gassing. At the end of the day the best time to have your co2 switch on is the time it takes your particular tank to get to optimum co2 levels by the time the lights switch on which can even vary as the week goes on through higher plant mass.

Trial and error really. I have a DIY set up running 24/7 and a diffuser/FE set up I use on a timer. My tank an Aqua-one style has over head un-sealed trickle filters which is a bit of an open door for co2 to escape. Without the diy providing a low level of back ground co2 my levels would plummet through the night and take quite a big injection rate to get it back up before lights on. I could have the FE 24/7 but I'm a cheap skate 🙂

As soon as something goes wrong with either the filter set up or the lighting hood I'm going to swap it out for an external canister and sit on tank lighting which should make injecting co2 a whole lot easier, but for now I'm making best of a bad set up with a bit of cheap co2.

 

[Matt Warner]

Ok brilliant thanks guys, at the moment my co2 comes on about an hour before lights come on and everything seems ok. I guess if it isn't broke don't fix it. I recently cleaned my glass co2 diffuser as the bubble were a bit too big, and what a difference it made, the co2 bubbles are much more of a fine mist and get blown all around the tank!

 

[AverageWhiteBloke]

Regular cleaning is good practice, it doesn't take long for a diffuser to stop being effective which can make what time to have your co2 on and injection rates insignificant.