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Little bubbles and fully enriched water

Tomfish

Tomfish

Member
Joined
23 Jul 2011
Messages
154
Location
Brighton
I started my first planted tank about 7 months ago and apart from a brief positive experience and for reasons i'm not too clear on (definitely co2) my tank started to decline. A slow process of browning and negligible growth. I added new plants with the same results (it's not cheap replanting a HC carpet on a 4 ft tank). All this whilst pushing the co2 into the yellow and as far as the fish would take it. I was feeding the co2 from a diffuser straight into my fx5 inlet through to a near full length spray bar. This produced lots of mini bubbles. After finally getting round to building Alastair's diy reactor. The difference was amazing, suddenly there was pearling. I was grinning ear to ear. 🙂

This gets me thinking, perhaps more so with larger tanks, that having enriched water over micro bubbles (no matter what the drop checker, and fish are telling are telling) can be critical.

Following the standard ceg-esque advice of just cranking up the co2 as far as the critters will allow (Unfortunately I haven't the luxury of being able to reduce the light) had me completely stumped.

I haven't come across much on this issue, so I'm interested to hear other opinions and perhaps any similar experiences, cheers
 
Hi,
I'm interested in this.
Your critters were at the limit when using the diffuser method....and how are they now? Also what does your dc show now?
I've often thought about how much misting can effect dc colour, even when the dc is positioned at the furthest point away from the co2 source. My fish are at the limit of co2 so it matters not what the dc shows really, but I've had the luxury of being able to raise my light to eliminate most co2 related issues.
So are you suggesting that the misting/micro co2 bubbles can have a greater direct effect on fish, whereas when co2 is fully dissolved the effects on fauna are less and you can inject more which is better for your plants?
I really struggle to get the balance right and would like to know if there is any science behind it as it may be a good reason to look into the DIY reactor method.
Like you some of my diffused co2 goes into my filter inlet, but it never dissolves like some seem to find....I thought I had water which was co2 undiffusable! Lol! The fish tell me that co2 is getting high, but I wonder If the micro bubbles have a greater effect than dissolved co2?
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
I had a similar experience Tom, issues with in tank diffusers for a long time then very few problems once a reactor was installed. I think there is a fine(er) art to getting good tank wide results with in tank diffusers. Some of my problem was also flow due to an unusual shape tank. As soon as i get a standard 90 i will go in tank again though as it doesnt reduce flow and looks pretty cool 😎
How Amano (and others) achieves such high results with low flow and in tank diffusers is beyond me 😕 maybe its just 30 years experience lol.
 
This is something that interests me to i've just invested in a power head to try and push more co2 to the substrate co2 is at max leveles for my livestock.is it as simple as once its dissolved its easier for the filter to push it round the tank, where as bubbles always want to rise ? should i have invested in a reactor instead of a hydor koralia ? grrr why is this co2 stuff so complex :banghead:
 
The critters were at their limit using the diffuser method .To be sure i'm not clear on what is going on, maybe it effects the critters more and maybe in combination with of throwing the drop checker and capacity of the plants to take it up in bubble form. I 'm unsure most it, but I have seen a clear positive change with one variable. cheers
 
I'm considering an additional filter for my tank, and if I go this route I'm going to make a reactor for it and test it out for myself!
 
Agreed I noticed much more in the way of pearling, and even fauna seemed much happier when I built the reactor. I was always under the impression that the inline misting also gave slightly inaccurate indications too regarding drop checker colour etc. there was a few views on this early some point last year which a few people seemed to agree with.
If I get the urge to switch back to high tech when I've had my new tank a few months then ill be building another reactor for sure. The added benefit of no cloudy looking water when sat infront of the tank is a bonus too.


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