Planted tank help - Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System (Hagen) ??

On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 13:11:08 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" wrote:

I find it very hard to believe you had this going for 2 months!!!!!

Me too, actually.. It just kept going and going!
Admittedly, after about five weeks it wasn't as furious, but I use a
membrane-diffuser so I can see how much CO2 is in "reserve" - it was
constantly bubbling over (well, under, technically speaking). The last
3 weeks saw it still bubbling under (ie. more was being produced than
diffused - but that's fine, I was just testing the system out), albeit
not as frequently. It was a good 2 months before the air level in the
diffuser finally started going down (ie. no new CO2 or certainly not
enough to make a big difference).

I should test the liquid temperature in the bottle and see how warm it
usually is, perhaps that played a role in moderating the output. I
have it sitting by my heated 77 gal, right beside the canister filter
full of warm water, and a heated terrarium on the other side. It's a
cozy place

On Sun, 1 Feb 2004 23:21:04 -0500, "Paulo" wrote:

Id like to try this one. can you explain how and where i should conect the
tubing? How can you regulate the CO2 that gointo the tank?
Thanks

If you choose to use a pop bottle (I did, simply because it was
convenient), find an airline hose connector/adapter. I found a joiner
laying around (so you can join 2 pieces of airline into one large one
- no valves or T-joints or anything) and use that. I drilled a hole in
the lid of the pop bottle that just fit the joiner (but the "lip" at
the center of the joiner wouldn't pass through) and fastened it with
epoxy glue. It's airtight, strong as hell, and simple to connect.

As for regulating - a lot of websites give advanced systems using
pressure regulators et al.. Airline hosing and the glue job I did on
the pop bottle probably wouldn't take a whole lot of pressure, so I
just let it bubble freely into the tank - any nondiffused bubbles just
overflow the diffuser and go to the surface.

Total cost (assuming I didn't have my materials laying around) was 20
cents for the pop bottle deposit, a buck for airline hosing, and 50
cents for the joiner.
The diffuser is another story and I'm still thinking of ways to make a
cheap, simple one. The powerhead-driven one just doesn't appeal to me.

What did you use for a diffuser? Any tips there?

Ken

"Rikko" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 2 Feb 2004 13:11:08 +0200, "Happy'Cam'per" wrote:

I find it very hard to believe you had this going for 2 months!!!!!

Me too, actually.. It just kept going and going!
Admittedly, after about five weeks it wasn't as furious, but I use a
membrane-diffuser so I can see how much CO2 is in "reserve" - it was
constantly bubbling over (well, under, technically speaking). The last
3 weeks saw it still bubbling under (ie. more was being produced than
diffused - but that's fine, I was just testing the system out), albeit
not as frequently. It was a good 2 months before the air level in the
diffuser finally started going down (ie. no new CO2 or certainly not
enough to make a big difference).

I should test the liquid temperature in the bottle and see how warm it
usually is, perhaps that played a role in moderating the output. I
have it sitting by my heated 77 gal, right beside the canister filter
full of warm water, and a heated terrarium on the other side. It's a
cozy place