# CO2 help needed



## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

So,after a lot of reading looks like i will have to get CO2 system for my plants . 

The thing is i got no idea how these things work.

I had a look on ebay and i can see cans or tablets . 
Do i put tablets straight into my tank and job done ?
How do cans work ? do i attach airline and just spray it into the water ?

Sorry,i know this sounds really silly,but i just dont know how they work , so could you guys please give me some more info on this.

Oh,and one more thing,i read that CO2 somehow messes up pH , how to sort this problem out ?

Thank you.


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## bmoore09 (Nov 20, 2010)

I don't think it's a silly question. I'm in the same boat. I was looking around there are a bunch of co2 devices. Some are like $30 on ebay...but many people on here talk like it's expensive. 
I was told with the lighting system I want that I'll need pressurized co2 and not a DIY. I'd like to know where to look and what system to buy. 
And yes, teh PH question is a good one too.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Required CO2 is based off of your light. Your plants will certainly benefit no matter. There are really only two ways to go about it effectively, pressurized and DIY. Which way you go largely depends on what you want to spend and the size of the tank. DIY usually works pretty well for smaller tanks and usually cost less than $20-30.

What is your tank and light setup and why do you fell you have to have it?


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## bmoore09 (Nov 20, 2010)

I have a 30-gallon tank

My light will be this one, about 2-4 inches elevated from the tank:

Aquatic Life 30" Dual-Lamp 2 x 24W T5 HO Light Fixture - AquaCave

(1) 24" 24W T5 HO 10,000 K Lamp
(1) 24" 24W T5 HO 420/460 Lamp

What system would I need? DIY or pressurized? If pressurized, which one is good, cause I can't seem to find a chart or anything that would help me determine.

I feel like I need it cause of the light, and I'd like to grow some more high-light plants.

Thanks!


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

I'm not a fan of the bulbs in the light but they can be changed out rather easily if you want.

On a 30g, if you went the DIY route, you should have at least two bottles running. If you went pressurized, I could recommend using a paintball rig. They are just small regs and equipment that connect to the paintball tanks as opposed to the larger CO2 units.

BigAlsOnline has some available if you're interested in that route.

Sondre....what size is your tank?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Paintball rigs are fairly inexpensive and easy to run. I ran one on my 29g for about 5 months or so. I recently changed it over to a standard 2.5lb tank. The 2.5lb tank was only $20 more than the paintball tank, not counting the cost of getting it filled. You can get started with a paintball system for about $140, depending on what type of diffuser or reactor you wanted.


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## bmoore09 (Nov 20, 2010)

jrman83 said:


> Paintball rigs are fairly inexpensive and easy to run. I ran one on my 29g for about 5 months or so. I recently changed it over to a standard 2.5lb tank. The 2.5lb tank was only $20 more than the paintball tank, not counting the cost of getting it filled. You can get started with a paintball system for about $140, depending on what type of diffuser or reactor you wanted.


Is there a site I can goto that will tell when exactly what I need for this and how to set it up and keep it going?


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Thank you all 

My tank is 100 litres,with 2 x t5 24w bulbs . I was told by other members on this forum that my lighting is high and i would need CO2 to keep my plants healthy .


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

What do these paintbal rigs look like ? can anyone upload a picture,i just had a search on ebay,and all i get are paintball uniforms etc. lol 

what other pressurizes systems are ? and how do you use these cans of CO2 ? is anyone using them ? 

i feel like i am a 5 year old kid who knows nothing lol 


EDIT : I just found this : Natural Plant System 

But its only £15 ! Everyone keeps saying that CO2 systems are expensive , £15 ??? confused !!!


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> Thank you all
> 
> My tank is 100 litres,with 2 x t5 24w bulbs . I was told by other members on this forum that my lighting is high and i would need CO2 to keep my plants healthy .


Or you can just run the lights for a shorter period each day. *old dude

my .02


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

anyway,this is what i got for my tank : JBL Aquarium Equipment at zooplus: JBL ProFlora bio160

how long should i keep lights on ? 6 hrs ? 8 hrs ? 10 hrs ?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> anyway,this is what i got for my tank : JBL Aquarium Equipment at zooplus: JBL ProFlora bio160
> 
> how long should i keep lights on ? 6 hrs ? 8 hrs ? 10 hrs ?


you should run your lights as long as you possibly can without cloudiness/algae showing up. *old dude

my .02


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

How do you set that up,Sondre?Do you have to add the sugar/yeast to it too?The other one you linked was just a fancy DIY system.

I would start out with my lights at 8 hours,then if you want to go longer,turn them up by 30 minutes a week,until you either see algae or are happy with the length of the lighting period.


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

majerah1 said:


> How do you set that up,Sondre?Do you have to add the sugar/yeast to it too?The other one you linked was just a fancy DIY system.
> 
> I would start out with my lights at 8 hours,then if you want to go longer,turn them up by 30 minutes a week,until you either see algae or are happy with the length of the lighting period.


yeah,you got to add something to the bottle,refills are cheap,i got 2 refills for about £10.
Dont know what it is that i will have to add(first time ever trying CO2),but i know its all included in a package.
will let you know how i get on with it .


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Waste of money this was ! It doesnt work. But my plants seem to be fine,so maybe i dont really need CO2 ?


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> Waste of money this was ! It doesnt work. But my plants seem to be fine,so maybe i dont really need CO2 ?


IME probably so.

to me there seems to be plenty of co2 from the fish and the atmosphere around the tank. *old dude

But that's just me and and my.


ta da:


.02


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

beaslbob said:


> IME probably so.
> 
> to me there seems to be plenty of co2 from the fish and the atmosphere around the tank. *old dude
> 
> ...


haha 

Its just everyone keeps saying how important it is to add CO2,but the bloody thing doesnt work ! 
And like i said my plants seem to be doing fine without it,they are growing really fast ! They might grow even faster with CO2,but whats the point of that ? i will just have to spend more time/more often trimming them . 
So i think i will leave my tank as it is (without co2) will save my time and money.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Unfortunately, a majority of those things are just a waste of time. I started out with one of those as well. It was a Hagen ladder system. I also tried another type of one where it used fiz tabs. Boy was that a joke.

If you're not going pressurized, DIY is definately the way to go.

Now as to do the plants "need" it. Depending on the setup and type of plants, maybe not so much. However, any plant you keep in your aquarium will greatly appreciate any extras it gets. And they will respond with glee.


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Thanks for your help guys.

Not diy person , lol and the other systems are just too expensive , spent far too much already on these tanks .So i am just going to leave it as it is .


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yeah, I was sort of wondering about that system when you posted you bought it. Too bad things like that don't work, it would sure save on the costs of some things.

CO2, whether pressurized or DIY, is always a nice addition to any planted tank. Need? Maybe not for most setups, but some well lit tanks "require" CO2 or they will have many other issues. You can get away with no CO2 I guess even with hi-light, but nobody likes 3hr lighting periods on their tanks. The two basic things a plant needs to survive is light and CO2. Adding CO2 takes the plant to a level that its growth is not hindered by a lack of CO2 in the tank. You should read the DIY CO2 thread and see what its about. It's basically just mixing sugar and yeast in a container.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

sondre said:


> Thanks for your help guys.
> 
> Not diy person , lol and the other systems are just too expensive , spent far too much already on these tanks .So i am just going to leave it as it is .


Well if you do change your mind....Here's something you can review:

DIY CO2 Made Easy


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

sondre said:


> haha
> 
> Its just everyone keeps saying how important it is to add CO2,but the bloody thing doesnt work !
> And like i said my plants seem to be doing fine without it,they are growing really fast ! They might grow even faster with CO2,but whats the point of that ? i will just have to spend more time/more often trimming them .
> *So i think i will leave my tank as it is (without co2) will save my time and money*.


Oh really? *w3

Good for you.


To me there seems to be a low tech sweet spot which is very easy to obtain. To correct a "problem" IMHO, you should also keep the solution low tech also like reducing feedings and light for instance.

(of course if you feed lightly and keep the lights low to start with you don't get those "problems" anyway *old dude)


But once you start "adding things" then other things have to be changed as well. And you wind up with a high tech setup requiring lotsa maintenance. The tank may be awesome but to me it still can be awesome with a whole lot less work, equipment, and expense. Well plants do cost but you get the idea as you already have it working.

and still just my .02


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

Well i was told that i got high lighting , 2 x 24w t5 bulbs for 100 litre tank,which is why a lot of people said i would need to add CO2 . 

The tank was given to me for free , but light unit didnt work , so i spent about £100 on a new light unit and bulbs .

There was another light unit for this tank,which takes 2 x 15w t8 bulbs , price was nearly the same,couple £ cheaper .

Maybe i should have bought the one which takes 2 x 15w t8 bulbs , but its done now,there is no way i can afford to buy another light unit,so will have to stick with the one i already got.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

No, your light is just fine. You're right on the edge of the medium light range. Do you know if the bulbs are standard T5s or are they HO or VHO?


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## sondre (Jun 1, 2011)

James0816 said:


> No, your light is just fine. You're right on the edge of the medium light range. Do you know if the bulbs are standard T5s or are they HO or VHO?


I dont really know,on the box all it says is "T5 24W Ultra High Output"


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

That would most likely be very high output then.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Who makes the light fixture? Sounds like a T5HO setup to me, but knowing the brand and/or model number will help to be able to look it up. If it is a T5HO setup, you are well in the high lighting range. 

Nontheless, it doesn't mean that CO2 is required. I don't think that is true with any setup. You may need it to help you fight some issues that could occur, but if you aren't experiencing any of them, no worry. I ran a pretty high rated light over my 75gal for 5-6 months before putting CO2 on it and did just fine, but only kept the light on for a fairly short period (6hrs).


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