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Is my CO2 diffuser bit faulty or is CO2 escaping from the tank

M

maverick786us

Member
Joined
6 Nov 2024
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60
Location
Columbus, GA
Based on the advice I placed My CO2 diffuser right under the filter's out take and I can see micro bubbles all over the tank. Less than 4 hours ago I got CO2 drop checker in my tank. But it's still blue instead of green. What could be the reason for CO2 level low? Is the diffuser bit faulty or is the gas escaping?

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It sounds like a cryptic puzzle! 😀
 
Is the flow wrong to distribute around the tank?
 
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bazz said:
Is your drop checker fluid straight out of a bottle, not mixed with any water?
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Yes.
First time I made the mistake by placing the drop checker way which caused all the liquid escape and mixed with water. I washed the drop checker, inserted fresh liquid. I didn't dry the drop checker before using fresh liquid, it was still wet. Will it make any difference?
 
maverick786us said:
Yes.
First time I made the mistake by placing the drop checker way which caused all the liquid escape and mixed with water. I washed the drop checker, inserted fresh liquid. I didn't dry the drop checker before using fresh liquid, it was still wet. Will it make any difference?
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Some people have a tendency to mix the CO2 indicator with tank water. It will probably not give you an accurate reading if there's any residual hard tap water in there but it's definitely not the problem. I suspect it could be a flow and distribution problem, what filter are you using? You don't appear to have any livestock in there so you can also temporarily turn the CO2 up high and work back from there.
 
maverick786us said:
I placed the diffuser underneath to outflow of filters so that CO2 spreads all over the tank. My bubble count is already more than 1 per seconds which I thought is sufficient for this 37L small tank
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Bubble count is nor an exact science but you may very well need more than 1 per second. My 45L is currently running at just under 3 bubbles per second (160 per minute) and I don't consider that particularly aggressive based on drop checker colour.
 
maverick786us said:
I placed the diffuser underneath to outflow of filters so that CO2 spreads all over the tank. My bubble count is already more than 1 per seconds which I thought is sufficient for this 37L small tank
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BPS gives you a visual indicator, it is not constant among diffusers so can't be used to accurately judge amount of CO2 you are injecting, there is no "X BPS per second per tank size" rule, furthermore there can't be a "rule" as it wouldn't know your flow rate, intake/outake positioning, PH (which affects CO2 absorption) etc. What is the litre/hour rate of your filter? From what I can make out of the image, it's a low powered HOB with the outflow positioned above the water line, even with it positioned there, I can't see much water movement.

I'll hazard a guess at your possible issues being that you may need more flow and or/increase CO2 injection rate.
 
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FrozenShivers said:
BPS gives you a visual indicator, it is not constant among diffusers so can't be used to accurately judge amount of CO2 you are injecting, there is no "X BPS per second per tank size" rule, further more there can't be a "rule" as it wouldn't know your flow rate, intake/outake positioning, PH (which affects CO2 absorption) etc. What is the litre/hour rate of your filter? From what I can make out of the image, it's a low powered HOB with the outflow positioned above the water line, even with it positioned there, I can't see much water movement.

I'll hazard a guess at your possible issues being that you may need more flow and or/increase CO2 injection rate.
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I am using Sun Sun XBL-300 filter. According to the specs its flow rate is 300L/H. I thought for such a small thank, this filter is an overkill

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In addition to all the above great advice… be aware that the drop checker fluid colour change has a significant delay from the co2 hitting it. Your post said you added the drop checker under four hours ago, so perhaps in addition to low flow and low injection, the relative short time also impacts it. It’s in a spot that will probably get the least co2 (good place to have it) so it could take several hours to catch up.

I would suggest always giving things time.
Every change you introduce to the tank comes with risk. Plants will undergo stress to adapt to changes so give them plenty of peace to thrive.

Edit: just took another look at the plants…perhaps trim the few leaves that are struggling. The plants will appreciate it as they can put energy into new growth instead of the stressed ones 👍
 
What Drop checker solution are you using?
Turn the out pipe down towards the diffuser......you are losing C02 with too much surface movement!
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maverick786us said:
I am using Sun Sun XBL-300 filter. According to the specs its flow rate is 300L/H. I thought for such a small thank, this filter is an overkill

View attachment 224276
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Flow wise you're not far off the rough x10 turnover that is often recommended so I don't see that being a problem. The intake/outflow position aren't ideal in comparison to a canister filter, I wonder if you'd be better putting the HOB on the short end of the tank, if the flow can still reach the in-tank diffuser this could be worth a try. @Little raises good point about drop checker delay which is around 2-3 hours behind real time, something to keep a mental note of. Have you watched the CO2 bubbles from the diffuser, are they getting carried around the tank or are most of them being degassed at the surface?
 
Thank you. I will do that with the plants. This is my first set up with CO2.

In my previous set ups the carpet grass (Monte Carlo and Cuban) started turning mushy and melted in less than a week. This time I am using Crypto Parve which is not as sensitive as MC, and Pearl Weed. I don't know much about pearl weed. I thought CO2 along with other micro nutrients and macro nutrients will act as a medicines for these carpet plants, that will not only help in relieve stress so they don't melt, but also boost their growth.
 
Use the below article 😉
G H Nelson

Thread 'Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!'

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently.
This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits, especially for a new setup.

1. Improves water quality.
2. Reduces excess light.
3. Reduces diatoms.
4. Reduces Nitrite.
5. Reduces Nitrate.
6. Helps reduce algae outbreaks.
7. Indicator of a Nitrate shortage.
8. Oxygenates the water column.
9. Increases beneficial bacteria.
10. Plant cover.

Using fast-growing stem plants as a floating plant filtering aid has always worked well for me!
Although every aquarium...
  • Like
 
FrozenShivers said:
Flow wise you're not far off the rough x10 turnover that is often recommended so I don't see that being a problem. The intake/outflow position aren't ideal in comparison to a canister filter, I wonder if you'd be better putting the HOB on the short end of the tank, if the flow can still reach the in-tank diffuser this could be worth a try. @Little raises good point about drop checker delay which is around 2-3 hours behind real time, something to keep a mental note of. Have you watched the CO2 bubbles from the diffuser, are they getting carried around the tank or are most of them being degassed at the surface?
Click to expand...
When I initially set it up. The bubbles were getting degassed in a line all the way to the surface, until placed it right under the outflow of the filter and I can see the bubbles spreading all over the tank.
 
G H Nelson said:
Use the below article 😉
G H Nelson

Thread 'Using stem plants as a filtering aid at Start Up!'

The subject of using fast-growing stem plants as part of a filtering aid has cropped up a few times recently.
This idea has been around for a long time so not new, it has benefits, especially for a new setup.

1. Improves water quality.
2. Reduces excess light.
3. Reduces diatoms.
4. Reduces Nitrite.
5. Reduces Nitrate.
6. Helps reduce algae outbreaks.
7. Indicator of a Nitrate shortage.
8. Oxygenates the water column.
9. Increases beneficial bacteria.
10. Plant cover.

Using fast-growing stem plants as a floating plant filtering aid has always worked well for me!
Although every aquarium...
  • Like
Click to expand...
Thank you, yes I have Rotala Red mint, which is one of the fast growing stem plants. Using them as floating plants. Cool I will do that once I get back home. I thought these plants cannot survive without substrate.
 
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One thing you could do (as a test) is place the Dropchecker on the other side of the tank (where you can see lots of bubbles) and just see if the colour changes. If it is different from the other side, then you know there are some flow issues.

From my basic observation, it looks like the flow could be going down, and then straight up, rather than all around. If that makes sense!
 
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OK its been 12 hours when I turned off CO2 in the night I can see the liquid has turned slightly green. Based on the advice I turned filter's outflow down, took some fast growing stem plants from my other tank and using it like floating plants. Some of the my grass has already turned mushy, I hate that. Do you think it can make a comeback or will it completely melt and consumed?

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