CO2 into FILTER INTAKE!!????

[Dances With Ferrets]

In the fishroom that I help manage... I had a customer come in tonight
who is serious about his plants, which is cool, but he is doing
something a bit strange that I've never heard of before... he insists
that it promotes better CO2 absorption into the tank water.....

The Nutrafin Natural CO2 system (yeast canister type)... he has the
bubble counter mounted directly under his canister filter intake so
that the bubbles that reach the top of the bubble counter go directly
up the pipe and into the canister filter. Forgive me if this question
sounds ignorant to those of you who are more advanced; but couldn't
this hinder the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria in his filter as
well as possibly promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria?

Do tell me all the possible benefits or pitfalls of doing this... I
honestly didn't know what to tell him.

[Rick]

"Dances With Ferrets" > wrote in message
m...
> In the fishroom that I help manage... I had a customer come in tonight
> who is serious about his plants, which is cool, but he is doing
> something a bit strange that I've never heard of before... he insists
> that it promotes better CO2 absorption into the tank water.....
>
> The Nutrafin Natural CO2 system (yeast canister type)... he has the
> bubble counter mounted directly under his canister filter intake so
> that the bubbles that reach the top of the bubble counter go directly
> up the pipe and into the canister filter. Forgive me if this question
> sounds ignorant to those of you who are more advanced; but couldn't
> this hinder the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria in his filter as
> well as possibly promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria?
>
> Do tell me all the possible benefits or pitfalls of doing this... I
> honestly didn't know what to tell him.


many people including myself inject their CO2 directly into the intake of a
canister filter, in my case a Fluval 404. The C02 has no negative effects on
the filter bacteria. I would assume if he is using the Nutrafin system that
he has a small tank of 10-20 gallons and wonder what type of canister filter
he is using. If his tank is larger than this then you should be telling him
that he will not get enough CO2 out of the Nutrafin system to be of much
use.

Rick

[Graham Ramsay]

"Dances With Ferrets" wrote
> The Nutrafin Natural CO2 system (yeast canister type)... he has the
> bubble counter mounted directly under his canister filter intake so
> that the bubbles that reach the top of the bubble counter go directly
> up the pipe and into the canister filter.

That's how I do it. And many others.
The occasional filter fart is about the only negative.

--
Graham Ramsay
Learn about the work of the JREF
www.randi.org

[RedForeman ©®]

|| The Nutrafin Natural CO2 system (yeast canister type)... he has the
|| bubble counter mounted directly under his canister filter intake so
|| that the bubbles that reach the top of the bubble counter go directly
|| up the pipe and into the canister filter. Forgive me if this
|| question sounds ignorant to those of you who are more advanced; but
|| couldn't this hinder the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria in
|| his filter as well as possibly promote the growth of anaerobic
|| bacteria?
||
|| Do tell me all the possible benefits or pitfalls of doing this... I
|| honestly didn't know what to tell him.

Common practice, I thought everyone was doing it?

--
RedForeman ©® future fabricator and creator of a ratbike
streetfighter!!! ==========================
2003 TRX450ES
1992 TRX-350 XX (For Sale)
'98 Tacoma Ext Cab 4X4 Lifted....
==========================
ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø


is that better??

[Giancarlo Podio]

It's quite a normal practice, far more efficient than using diffusers
and less of an eye sore than powered reactors. The only "danger" I'm
aware of is with some canisters that don't burp out air or gas too
well and have the potential of air-locking. My eheims have never
air-locked but my older fluval did a couple times.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio
http://www.gpodio.com

[Rikko]

On 3 Jun 2004 19:38:21 -0700, (Dances With Ferrets)
wrote:

>In the fishroom that I help manage... I had a customer come in tonight
>who is serious about his plants, which is cool, but he is doing
>something a bit strange that I've never heard of before... he insists
>that it promotes better CO2 absorption into the tank water.....
>
>The Nutrafin Natural CO2 system (yeast canister type)... he has the
>bubble counter mounted directly under his canister filter intake so
>that the bubbles that reach the top of the bubble counter go directly
>up the pipe and into the canister filter. Forgive me if this question
>sounds ignorant to those of you who are more advanced; but couldn't
>this hinder the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria in his filter as
>well as possibly promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria?
>
>Do tell me all the possible benefits or pitfalls of doing this... I
>honestly didn't know what to tell him.

Like the others said - no big deal. Good on him if he thought of it on
his own.
It's not going to harm anything, though might be a bit noisy. The CO2
bubble then hits the impeller and gets blasted into so many
microbubbles that it is almost all diffused.
No problem for your nitrifying bacteria either - depending on who you
ask, CO2 will either not force O2 from the water, or will actually
increase the O2 potential of water to allow supersaturation of oxygen.
Either way your filter won't turn anaerobic and try to kill you. :)

[Dave]

"Giancarlo Podio" > wrote in message
m...
> It's quite a normal practice, far more efficient than using diffusers
> and less of an eye sore than powered reactors. The only "danger" I'm
> aware of is with some canisters that don't burp out air or gas too
> well and have the potential of air-locking. My eheims have never
> air-locked but my older fluval did a couple times.

I talked to a Hagen tech support person once; he said Hagen does not
recommend injecting CO2 into a Fluval as what you describe is a possibility.
Of course lots of people have reported doing this with Fluvals with no
problem, and Hagen may just be playing it safe, so take it for what it's
worth. I injected CO2 into a Fluval 204 for at least a year before
switching to using a Natural Plant System diffuser.

[Chuck Gadd]

On 3 Jun 2004 19:38:21 -0700, (Dances With Ferrets)
wrote:

>up the pipe and into the canister filter. Forgive me if this question
>sounds ignorant to those of you who are more advanced; but couldn't
>this hinder the growth of beneficial aerobic bacteria in his filter as
>well as possibly promote the growth of anaerobic bacteria?

No, increasing the CO2 in the water does not in any way decrease the
O2 content of the water.



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

[Rikko]

On Sun, 06 Jun 2004 15:17:15 GMT, "Dave" > wrote:

>
>"Giancarlo Podio" > wrote in message
m...
>> It's quite a normal practice, far more efficient than using diffusers
>> and less of an eye sore than powered reactors. The only "danger" I'm
>> aware of is with some canisters that don't burp out air or gas too
>> well and have the potential of air-locking. My eheims have never
>> air-locked but my older fluval did a couple times.
>
>I talked to a Hagen tech support person once; he said Hagen does not
>recommend injecting CO2 into a Fluval as what you describe is a possibility.
>Of course lots of people have reported doing this with Fluvals with no
>problem, and Hagen may just be playing it safe, so take it for what it's
>worth. I injected CO2 into a Fluval 204 for at least a year before
>switching to using a Natural Plant System diffuser.

From experience, I would take the "expert" advice from a Hagen support
type with a grain of salt. Their modus operans is to get everybody to
follow what the instructions on the box says and nothing else in order
to prevent excess warranty claims.