CO2 bubble counter

[Matt C.]

Ok. So i made a bubble counter this weekend. i took a small lidded jelly
jar, drilled two holes, placed two lengths of rigid air tube into the hole,
one protrudes below the water level in the jar, one above. Now i can count
my CO2 bubbles. Now what? What am I counting for? i currently have 1.5-2
bubbles per second from standard airline tube. I have a co2 test kit, but my
KH is out of whack, so it isnt accurate yet. In general how many bubbles are
good for moderate-heavy planted 29gallon with lots of neons/glo-lite
tetras?
thanx!

--
Matt C.
http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/

[Craig Brye]

The number of bubbles depends on what type of method/equipment you have for
diffusing the CO2.

I've seen anywhere from 3 or more bubbles a second for a 29 gal. tank down
to 1 bubble every 3-4 seconds like I did. I feel the later is more
desirable as you don't waste as much CO2. I vented my CO2 tube into my
canister filter, which created a situation where I obtained about the best
diffusion a person can probably get.

In short... You'll need to know what the pH and KH of the tank are. Then
look at the charts at various online charts to see what the ppm of CO2 is.
My pH is 6.5 and my KH is 3dH. This equates something slightly over 30ppm,
which many consider too high. Tom Barr suggested this range and I would
have to agree. No algae, plant growth is great, and the fish are completely
healthy!

--
Craig Brye
University of Phoenix Online

"Matt C." > wrote in message
...
> Ok. So i made a bubble counter this weekend. i took a small lidded jelly
> jar, drilled two holes, placed two lengths of rigid air tube into the
hole,
> one protrudes below the water level in the jar, one above. Now i can count
> my CO2 bubbles. Now what? What am I counting for? i currently have 1.5-2
> bubbles per second from standard airline tube. I have a co2 test kit, but
my
> KH is out of whack, so it isnt accurate yet. In general how many bubbles
are
> good for moderate-heavy planted 29gallon with lots of neons/glo-lite
> tetras?
> thanx!
>
> --
> Matt C.
> http://home.comcast.net/~briarbushbrewery/
>
>