Using lillypipe instead of spraybar

[Jaap]

Hello,

as part of my learning process I have moved from a spraybar at the back of the tank, to a lillypipe output on the right of the tank. The setup is shown below:

This morning I have noticed that the colour of my dropchecker is still lime green and the CO2 has been shut off for a good 13 hours now. This is probably due to the surface agitation that the spraybar provider and the lillypipe at the moment does not.

Should I place the lillypipe a bit higher to degas the CO2 and provide better gas exchange or should I decrease the CO2 injection?

Thanks

 

[tim]

You can raise the lily permanently, but you may have to increase co2 due to constant off gassing or just raise the lily after the photoperiod each day then lower again before co2 comes on, it's often a case of playing around to find the best solution that suits you/ your tank, whilst doing this keep the photoperiod shorter/ intensity lower to keep algae at bay. Also worth checking the ph, my dc stays lime green- yellowish 24/7 but the ph raises from 6 during co2 injection back up to 7.5 ish (liquid test so not the most accurate but does the job well enough for me) by the morning.

 

[tubamanandy]

I'm no expert but can't see how a Lily Pipe could better the water circulation of a spraybar and powerful external filter - all of my plants are constantly moving, including all of the lower growing stuff.

I have very little surface movement because the spraybar points down about 45degrees towards the front glass - works great for me

 

[Jaap]

I am not saying that water circulation with a lily pipe is better than with a spray bar. I am saying that I have replaced my spray bar with a lily pipe and since I have a 1000 L/h filter attached on a 40L tank then the lily pipe would have no problem with circulation. Although theoretically it will have no problems with circulation, it changed the way gasses are exchanged in the tank. This caused the dropchecker to be constantly lime green to yellow and never turn green or blue while with my spray bar the drop checker was lime green with lights on, yellow at the end of the photo period and blue after some hours from lights off.

Now I have 2 choices:

1. Increase the height of the lily pipe thus causing water surface agitation and promoting gas exchange.
2. Decreasing CO2 injection.

The trick question here is whether it is better to have constant CO2 in the tank 24/7 because there will be limited gas exchange or whether the CO2 should be high on lights on and degased on lights off (this will be a balance between CO2 injection and water surface agitation).

What are your views on the matter?

Thanks

 

[Rahms]

I'm a fan of surface agitation: no oily films and plenty of oxygen for fish (and plants at night). The only time I'd avoid it is if it was extreme enough to prevent me reaching 30ppm CO2... or if the evaporation is annoying me (currently the case- CO2 ran out anyways!)

 

[Julian]

You need surface agitation else your pH will drop and drop, this only matters if you have livestock however.

 

[Jaap]

You need surface agitation else your pH will drop and drop, this only matters if you have livestock however.

this is not true I think...the ph will drop intil the co2 injection and co2 degassing reach am equilibrium...also ligestock or lifestock this affects plants as well....

 

[Julian]

this is not true I think...the ph will drop intil the co2 injection and co2 degassing reach am equilibrium...also ligestock or lifestock this affects plants as well....

Correct, it will reach equilibrium eventually, it won't drop indefinitely, but it will be way too toxic for livestock at this point. I've experienced this first hand.