aquascape1987
Member
Hi all. Sorry if this is longwinded, but here goes....I’m currently running a CO2 Art Pro elite series dual stage regulator with a new CO2 Art in-line diffuser on the return to tank side of the filter, and have been struggling to get the CO2 set correctly to get a lime green drop checker for lights on, after 2 hours of injection before lights on.
I’ve been questioning the efficiency of my co2 dissolution for a while now, due to having to have a ridiculous bps injection rate to get the drop checker anywhere near Lime green, even after 4 hours of pre lights injection. I’ve also had 2 long term diatom explosions that I feel are probably related to this problem, as well as flow distribution due to my hard scape, (currently have a power head on order to resolve any dead spots).
I have had the diffuser 7 months, and have always had quite large bubbles getting through to the tank, rather than a fine mist, which I suspected was likely the issue. I’ve been baffled by all of the reviews on here claiming the fine mist out put of the device .But today I realised that at some point a long time ago, or even from the word go, I reassembled the diffuser incorrectly after cleaning/ in the first place and actually have had one of the rubber Seals in the wrong place since then. I had 2 rubber seals together on one side of the ceramic tube and no seal on the other side, and I’m guessing that the co2 was getting into the flow in large bubbles either between the two seals or on the other side where there wasn’t one because after putting back together correctly, I finally have a fine mist output that everyone else has been getting. I have to say though, when I realised it was like a real slap your hand across your forehead ‘Eureka’ moment. The sort where the joy you feel is almost negated by the feeling daft for taking this long to work it out.
In the months of frustration and reading I’ve done to try and solve this issue, I first suspected it may have been a working pressure issue, in that I was running the working pressure valve always fully open on my regulator, therefore always operating at maximum working pressure. My thought process on this was that perhaps the pressure was too much for the diffuser and was forcing co2 around rather than through the ceramic tube and therefore causing the large bubbles and ineffective co2 dissolution. Consequently, I reduced the working pressure to 30 psi from fully open (45 to 50 psi) Although this turned out not to be the issue, it has got me wondering now that I am finally on a better track to set up correctly....
1) Does the working pressure used affect the performance of the diffuser in any way in terms of the fine mist it produces. Eg is there a difference in performance between using higher and lower working pressures using the same BpS count for both different working pressures? You can achieve the same BpS through the bubble counter by altering the working pressure dial, or altering the needle valve, but is an injection rate of say 2 bubbles per second the same at either 30 psi working pressure, as it is at 2 bubbles per second using 50 psi working pressure?
2) Depending on the answer to the above, and if the working pressure used is important beyond the minimum pressure that the diffuser needs to work correctly, what working pressure should I be setting?
I’ve been questioning the efficiency of my co2 dissolution for a while now, due to having to have a ridiculous bps injection rate to get the drop checker anywhere near Lime green, even after 4 hours of pre lights injection. I’ve also had 2 long term diatom explosions that I feel are probably related to this problem, as well as flow distribution due to my hard scape, (currently have a power head on order to resolve any dead spots).
I have had the diffuser 7 months, and have always had quite large bubbles getting through to the tank, rather than a fine mist, which I suspected was likely the issue. I’ve been baffled by all of the reviews on here claiming the fine mist out put of the device .But today I realised that at some point a long time ago, or even from the word go, I reassembled the diffuser incorrectly after cleaning/ in the first place and actually have had one of the rubber Seals in the wrong place since then. I had 2 rubber seals together on one side of the ceramic tube and no seal on the other side, and I’m guessing that the co2 was getting into the flow in large bubbles either between the two seals or on the other side where there wasn’t one because after putting back together correctly, I finally have a fine mist output that everyone else has been getting. I have to say though, when I realised it was like a real slap your hand across your forehead ‘Eureka’ moment. The sort where the joy you feel is almost negated by the feeling daft for taking this long to work it out.
In the months of frustration and reading I’ve done to try and solve this issue, I first suspected it may have been a working pressure issue, in that I was running the working pressure valve always fully open on my regulator, therefore always operating at maximum working pressure. My thought process on this was that perhaps the pressure was too much for the diffuser and was forcing co2 around rather than through the ceramic tube and therefore causing the large bubbles and ineffective co2 dissolution. Consequently, I reduced the working pressure to 30 psi from fully open (45 to 50 psi) Although this turned out not to be the issue, it has got me wondering now that I am finally on a better track to set up correctly....
1) Does the working pressure used affect the performance of the diffuser in any way in terms of the fine mist it produces. Eg is there a difference in performance between using higher and lower working pressures using the same BpS count for both different working pressures? You can achieve the same BpS through the bubble counter by altering the working pressure dial, or altering the needle valve, but is an injection rate of say 2 bubbles per second the same at either 30 psi working pressure, as it is at 2 bubbles per second using 50 psi working pressure?
2) Depending on the answer to the above, and if the working pressure used is important beyond the minimum pressure that the diffuser needs to work correctly, what working pressure should I be setting?