# CO2 diffuser question.



## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

I have a 190Litre (50 gallon) and I set up a DIY yeast generator for some CO2 as my plants keep dying slowly.


http://prntscr.com/2qimrb
http://i.imgur.com/XTIWpAY.jpg?1 
http://imgur.com/a/ZXgTn
Above are the pictures of the 3 1.25Litre generators and the gas separator/cleaning bottle. It took an hour or so to build enough pressure to push through the ceramic diffuser, but it chugging along nicely now.

My question is;

Since many of the little CO2 bubbles reach the surface, they're wasted. Should I place the diffuser under my canister filters inlet, so the bubbles get sucked through the filter and get more time to dissolve in there? Or this is a horrible idea lol

The best spot to put the diffuser for the current in my tank is directly in the front/centre, which IMO would look bad. So just thinking of ideas to maximise what I have.

Thankyou, Aaron.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

putting the diffuser under the intake pipe is a good way of keeping the co2 in the water longer. If your plants are slowly dying it doesn't necessary have to do with co2 though. They also need good light and fertilizers (root tabs or liquid). Really just a good balance of the three. Frequent water changes also help keeping nutrients that the plants need in the water


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

BettaGuy said:


> putting the diffuser under the intake pipe is a good way of keeping the co2 in the water longer. If your plants are slowly dying it doesn't necessary have to do with co2 though. They also need good light and fertilizers (root tabs or liquid). Really just a good balance of the three. Frequent water changes also help keeping nutrients that the plants need in the water


I have 3 t8 globes, I physically cannot fit anymore. My light is low, so I've been trying to stick to low light plants like my JavaFern and taller plants that will get the stronger light toward the top.

I have some liquid fertiliser, I stopped adding that since all it seemed to do make hair algae spread fast. I'm going to start readding it hoping the CO2 was the limiting factor.

I posted this on reddit's aquarium community also, someone said the bubbles would damage my tank. Surely the bubbles are small enough not to bother a large canister?


Edit - I'm also turning off my bubble wall throughout the day and back on at night.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

i really don't think you need co2.step back and take stock of your tank...since you are using 3 T8 bulbs they should be 25-30 watts each..at 25 watts you have about 1.5 watts per gallon which seems a little low but T8 bulbs put out more lumens per watt than T12s do..i think you have plenty of light for the low light plants..maybe too much...
how heavily (or lightly) is your tank stocked ?not enough fish means not enough co2 and fertilizer...
i like to try to do things as naturally as possible..my use of chemicals for any reason is as minimal as possible..


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Chugging along nicely? I guess the worst that could happen is that your filter gets full of air and quits running right, and that's a longshot.


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## Aaron92 (Jul 31, 2013)

lohachata said:


> i really don't think you need co2.step back and take stock of your tank...since you are using 3 T8 bulbs they should be 25-30 watts each..at 25 watts you have about 1.5 watts per gallon which seems a little low but T8 bulbs put out more lumens per watt than T12s do..i think you have plenty of light for the low light plants..maybe too much...
> how heavily (or lightly) is your tank stocked ?not enough fish means not enough co2 and fertilizer...
> i like to try to do things as naturally as possible..my use of chemicals for any reason is as minimal as possible..


The light issue with my tank is the depth. It's 65cm from water line to subtrate, there's plenty of light at the top.

As for stock, I have; 12neon tetras, 3 clown loaches (only 6cms long), 1 dwarf suckerfish, 2 Bolivian rams, 1 angel fish, 1 betta, 2 bamboo shrimp and 4 phantom tetras and its about 200L or just under 50gallons. Hell I thought I was overstocked reading some other posts :/


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Nah you are not overstocked, the angle might have a problem with the Betta in the future though. The bamboo shrimp could also tear his fins. The tetras could nip at them as well, but if all has been gong good so far just leave it. Low light plants like java fern should be fine with just a little bit of light at the bottom of the tank. Even though loha said you don't need the co2 (which might be right) I would try it as you already build the whole generator. See how the plants and algae are doing in a week and then you can decide if the co2 helped.


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## Guest (Feb 17, 2014)

Aaron92 said:


> The light issue with my tank is the depth. It's 65cm from water line to subtrate, there's plenty of light at the top.
> 
> As for stock, I have; 12neon tetras, 3 clown loaches (only 6cms long), 1 dwarf suckerfish, 2 Bolivian rams, 1 angel fish, 1 betta, 2 bamboo shrimp and 4 phantom tetras and its about 200L or just under 50gallons. Hell I thought I was overstocked reading some other posts :/


When the clown loaches and angel fish get full grown, yes you are overstocked. At the moment, you are not overstocked. Clown loaches get over 10" easily and angelfish get huge. They will need a tank to accommodate their size.


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