Rate my 75G Planted...
- Thread starter Lonewolfblue
- Start date
Katie217 said:
actually i like the pleco, hes cute 
then again ive always liked large plecos.
anyways, AMAZING TANK! seriously you are SO lucky to have a tank that nice, and i really like the rams!
then again ive always liked large plecos. anyways, AMAZING TANK! seriously you are SO lucky to have a tank that nice, and i really like the rams!
A pressurized CO2 system is where you use bottled CO2 and inject it in the aquarium. Other ways of injecting CO2 is through DIY setups, but only work for small tanks under 20G. You'd need too many bottles to do it right for a 75G.
For my system, I have a 10lb CO2 bottle filled. Then on the bottle you have the regulator, solenoid, needle valve, and bubble counter. The regulator lets you set the proper pressure, and the needle valve allows for more accurate output to the tank. Then the bubble counter is just that, a bubble counter. Mines filled 3/4 full with distilled water. The CO2 goes through as bubbles to let you see how fast the CO2 is being injected.
Then from the bubble counter the CO2 goes through the CO2 tubing, through a check valve which protects from tank water from going back to the regulator and ruining it, then from the check valve is more tubing to the reactor/diffuser. I'm using a powered reactor, which is more efficient than a diffuser. A diffuser is like an airstone that bubbles CO2 into the water. A powered reactor is like putting CO2 into a powerhead which breaks up the bubbles and diffuses the CO2 into the water. But my particular setup is designed where the CO2 is injected into a cylinder where the bubbles spiral up to the top of the cylinder while the powerhead is feeding water current down through the cylinder, causing the bubbles to diffuse before exiting the cylinder.
One last way to diffuse the CO2 into the water is to pipe it into the intake of a canister filter. I do that on my 29G, using a passive glass diffuser mounted directly under my XP2 filter intake. Does a fantastic job.
So, that's the basic idea of CO2 injection. For my regulator, I use the Milwaukee regulator with the solenoid, needle valve, and bubble counter.
For my system, I have a 10lb CO2 bottle filled. Then on the bottle you have the regulator, solenoid, needle valve, and bubble counter. The regulator lets you set the proper pressure, and the needle valve allows for more accurate output to the tank. Then the bubble counter is just that, a bubble counter. Mines filled 3/4 full with distilled water. The CO2 goes through as bubbles to let you see how fast the CO2 is being injected.
Then from the bubble counter the CO2 goes through the CO2 tubing, through a check valve which protects from tank water from going back to the regulator and ruining it, then from the check valve is more tubing to the reactor/diffuser. I'm using a powered reactor, which is more efficient than a diffuser. A diffuser is like an airstone that bubbles CO2 into the water. A powered reactor is like putting CO2 into a powerhead which breaks up the bubbles and diffuses the CO2 into the water. But my particular setup is designed where the CO2 is injected into a cylinder where the bubbles spiral up to the top of the cylinder while the powerhead is feeding water current down through the cylinder, causing the bubbles to diffuse before exiting the cylinder.
One last way to diffuse the CO2 into the water is to pipe it into the intake of a canister filter. I do that on my 29G, using a passive glass diffuser mounted directly under my XP2 filter intake. Does a fantastic job.
So, that's the basic idea of CO2 injection. For my regulator, I use the Milwaukee regulator with the solenoid, needle valve, and bubble counter.
Also, the injecting of CO2 helps in the fight against algae by giving the plants what they need. Any lighting over 2-2.5w/g need CO2, or you will more than likely get algae at the higher lighting. Carbon is the building block for most everything, including plants. And for nutrients, nitrates, phosphates, and potassium are considered macros. And many people consider CO2 as the 4th macro.
