This was quite helpful and sets a good foundation from which to learn and overcome the intimidation of running CO2. Thank you for making it. (And thank you also for not screaming at us, as seems to be the case in far too many videos.)
Aaawwww, you're welcome! I've been keeping tanks for a loooooooong time and I feel like hobbyists make this a lot harder than it needs to be :) There is also a lot of misinformation that I like to make weed out. But thank you for watching! Share if you can as that helps me make more of these, and check out my guide at AquascapeGuide.com/basics
Thanks for the video. Have more thoughts considering from 8:15 * OK with getting 1ph deducted by Co2 before lights. *we have to keep constant pH level( different of 1unit) *since co2 utilisation by plants also a factor to decrease pH difference(increase the pH) we definitely have to add little more Co2 considering photosynthesis, when lights on *when we adjust that Co2 dose level it should reduce the staring lead time, and end time respectively. Welcome for ideas
Hello! Thanks for dropping a comment! We agree with your thinking. As stated in the video, it just takes some tweaking to get things dialed in. Depending on if you have lots of fast growing plants or not, that PH drop can start to go back up when the lights go on, so we do need to take into consideration the PH at the end of the photoperiod, and make sure we're maintaining that 1.0 PH drop. Ultimetly, if your PH starts at a 1.0 drop, and ends at a .8 drop, that isn't the end of the world. Its moreso an issue if you start at a 1.0 drop, and end up with a .1 drop. Like nutrients, we just want to make sure the plants have more nutrients, including CO2, than they need at all time :)
One thing I was hoping to see discussed when you brought up the pH controller, how do you go about using the controller and the 1pH drop in the morning, then keeping the pH stable, and then back off before lights are out? Is that a matter of using a timer to control when it turns on and then the controller maintains the level? What happens if/when the pH creeps back up higher than you'd like? Wouldn't that be a shock to the fish for that much of a pH swing in a short amount of time?
Yes! This is a video I plan to create in the future. I'm a little backed-up content but want to get a PH controller and show everyone how to set it up. But it's the same way we set up a normal regulator, but the PH control is put on a timer. The timer turns on and off the PH controller as needed. And the controller, while on, controls the flow of Co2 to keep the PH where we set it. I hope to get to this video and dosing auto dosing pumps early next year ;)
@@aquascapeguide So just to make sure, you're not worried about the pH going higher than normal to have it lowered? How much of a pH increase would you be worried about it increasing before you start getting the drop going?
It doesn't go higher than normal, it goes lower. For example, if your PH normally sits around 7.4, you'll drop the PH to a 6.4, and keep it there throughout the duration of a photo. And no, I'm not worried about the pH drop. It's considered a fictitious pH drop and most fish are fine with it. There are more sensitive fish where you can't go down a full pH point, but that's more rare.
Sorry, i was referring to when the controller shuts off, the pH would climb overnight. With my controller now, I run a steady 6.8 and it would go to 7.0 or higher when it's shut off. so at what point would you say the pH is too high? @@aquascapeguide
Nah, you're good man. Again, it's considered a fictitious PH swing and wont cause any issues. The thing that I would look into if you water hardness. A 7.8 or higher could mean that your KH is hard. And if your KH is hard, your GH might be as well. High water chem can make it harder for plants to he happy, so check out the ASG water chemistry video. It covers how to test and adjust your KH/PH. I generally try to run my tanks at a GH/KH of 4. That puts you at a 6.8-7.0, and I inject down to a 6.0. You're starting mucb higher so its good to look into. Plus, you need to know your off gassed PH to know where to inject down to.
Thanks for asking! Yes! I think an electronic one is best so that you can set it on a time. As Phil talks about, you want to get that one-point PH drop before lights kick on. So the CO2 needs to be timed separately from the light. We really think this is a great little regulator with an electronic solenoid for paintball tanks :) - amzn.to/3l3jaX5 - It's dual-stage as well! Later scaper!
You're welcome! I hope you were able to learn something. To clean a diffuser, follow these steps. 1) Fill a cup up with 1 part bleach and 3 parts warm water 2) Turn on the CO2 and put diffuser into the bleach solution for 10 min 3) Dump the cup of bleach and fill it back up with hot water and lots of dechlorinator. I use 4 capfulls of Seachem Prime. Soak for another 10 min 4) Rinse with clean water and put back into the tank I will come out squeaky clean! :)
When using a controller do you still recommend turning Co2 on/off 1hr before lights turn on/off ? Or just keeping it on to have a consistent PH through the entire day? I realize the plants will not utilize the Co2 in the dark, but I didn’t know if the consistency in PH would be over all better than a 1.0 (or potentially greater) shift everyday, or if the Co2 at night could potentially cause other issues? (maybe over saturation, >30ppm) Thanks for the great video!
Nah, just have the Co2 come on and off every day. Dont leave it on. If you have livestock in the tank, Co2 can build up and gass them. And if you dont have livestock in the tank, it's just wasteful yo have it still running. It's considered a fictitious PH drop as the carbonic acid isnt really eating away at our KH, so its not effecting our water chem. Your GH/KH jumping around would be at lot worse than our PH drop due to Co2 ;) Hope you enjoy the controller! Those look like a lot of fun.
I think it really depends on how many plants are in the aquarium. Also, Are the plants able to injest the CO² and by that I mean, are they bare of algae? So many things to consider!
Kind of, not really. PAR drives growth. The harder we push the plants with PAR, the more carbon and nutrients (micros and macros) they will consume for growth. Pretty easy. Even is some plants leaves have algae on them, the newer growth will come in fast and strong, outcompeting the algae. And all this can be measured. With Co2 I've been able to get up to 400 PAR. With carbon we can watch our PH drop. If we drop out PH a full point and it stays there throughout the photoperiod, we know we are injecting enough. And with fertilizers, we just dose enough to keep our nitrates boosted an extra 5-10ppm, but you need to make sure you're using a holistic fertilizer, like our fertilizations kit. Done and done, not much to to consider when you have metrics you can hit. It takes the guessing game out of things.
Sorry for the delay in response! TH-cam stopped notifying me I had comments. I need to check that more. I'm not 100% sure I understand your question, but I think you're asking if you have to turn up the Co2 once plants start to fill in, and you'd be correct. As the tank matures and you have more plant mass, you'll need more Co2. Just keep an eye on your PH and make sure youre getting to, and keeping that one point PH drop throughout the photoperiod. Along with more Co2, you'll need more fertilizer. Also on the reverse end, when you do a heavy trim on your tank, you may need less Co2 and fertilizer. Again, just keep an eye on the tanks PH for Co2, and nitrates for ferts. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions! :) And thank for you for asking your question! Others can learn from this as well.
I am using diy co2 at the moment sugar n yeast one problem is I can't turn it off at night or when lights goes off theirs no live stock in my tank Is it ok to run co2 24/7 does it effect my plants anyway
Hello! Thank you for your question. If you have no livestock, its ok to have it running 24/7. Its not going to harm anything. The only problem you'll run into is when Co2 production starts to dip off. Your plants are going to be used to the CO2 being at a certain level, and that level just drops over time and the yeast consumes the sugar. This flucation can cause BBA, so just be mindful of that. This is why we pressurized CO2 canisters, to have more control over CO2 saturation levels. Hope that helps.
Hey man! I hope you are doing well .. I watched your CO2 setup guide But I am having some issues if You can help, it will be great for me☺. My tank size is 106cm * 45cm * 45cm(About 250litter), Using DIY led strip lights(130watt), A DIY Canister(Mechanical & Biological) with M2 Inline Diffuser and a Pressurized CO2 setup. I have a Digital PH meter(Fully Calibrated) and a drop checker(New filled solution) then I checked my tank water PH 1hour(While only CO2 On) Before lights on. And It gave me a result of (8.2) then after 6 hour while co2 and lights still on ,then PH drop only at (7.7). But The drop checker gives a Yellowish Green which indicates a almost high co2. I have less plants like 30% covered only. Tank age about 3 months.
I don't trust drop checkers for this reason. Follow your PH meter if you know its calibrated. Are you getting the one point PH drop before the lights turn on? Is the PH just raising back up?
@@ratul89 Check the three points the video talks about 1) Completely degassed, which sounds like 8.2... 2) Right before the lights come on to see the drop, make sure you are getting that one point PH drop BEFORE the lights turn on... and 3) RIght before the lights turn off. That will make sure the PH doesn't climb back up, or keep dropping over time. That will tell us if we are injecting too much or too little. Keep me posted! We'll get you dialed in ;)
I have a video called "How to setup and entire Co2 system". That covers the entire process on how to setup a Co2 system for a larger tank like your 55g. Even has a parts list in the discription you can follow.
Very high quality video! This deserves way more views.
Thank you @Abhiskek Karvi! We hope you were able to learn something from it :)
This was quite helpful and sets a good foundation from which to learn and overcome the intimidation of running CO2. Thank you for making it. (And thank you also for not screaming at us, as seems to be the case in far too many videos.)
Aaawwww, you're welcome! I've been keeping tanks for a loooooooong time and I feel like hobbyists make this a lot harder than it needs to be :) There is also a lot of misinformation that I like to make weed out. But thank you for watching! Share if you can as that helps me make more of these, and check out my guide at AquascapeGuide.com/basics
Thank you for this vid as I hear that co2 drop checkers are not accurate enough
Thanks for the video.
Have more thoughts considering from 8:15
* OK with getting 1ph deducted by Co2 before lights.
*we have to keep constant pH level( different of 1unit)
*since co2 utilisation by plants also a factor to decrease pH difference(increase the pH) we definitely have to add little more Co2 considering photosynthesis, when lights on
*when we adjust that Co2 dose level it should reduce the staring lead time, and end time respectively.
Welcome for ideas
Hello! Thanks for dropping a comment! We agree with your thinking. As stated in the video, it just takes some tweaking to get things dialed in. Depending on if you have lots of fast growing plants or not, that PH drop can start to go back up when the lights go on, so we do need to take into consideration the PH at the end of the photoperiod, and make sure we're maintaining that 1.0 PH drop. Ultimetly, if your PH starts at a 1.0 drop, and ends at a .8 drop, that isn't the end of the world. Its moreso an issue if you start at a 1.0 drop, and end up with a .1 drop. Like nutrients, we just want to make sure the plants have more nutrients, including CO2, than they need at all time :)
Great video
Thank you Anna! Keep an eye out, more to come ;) ~ Phil
One thing I was hoping to see discussed when you brought up the pH controller, how do you go about using the controller and the 1pH drop in the morning, then keeping the pH stable, and then back off before lights are out? Is that a matter of using a timer to control when it turns on and then the controller maintains the level? What happens if/when the pH creeps back up higher than you'd like? Wouldn't that be a shock to the fish for that much of a pH swing in a short amount of time?
Yes! This is a video I plan to create in the future. I'm a little backed-up content but want to get a PH controller and show everyone how to set it up. But it's the same way we set up a normal regulator, but the PH control is put on a timer. The timer turns on and off the PH controller as needed. And the controller, while on, controls the flow of Co2 to keep the PH where we set it. I hope to get to this video and dosing auto dosing pumps early next year ;)
@@aquascapeguide So just to make sure, you're not worried about the pH going higher than normal to have it lowered? How much of a pH increase would you be worried about it increasing before you start getting the drop going?
It doesn't go higher than normal, it goes lower. For example, if your PH normally sits around 7.4, you'll drop the PH to a 6.4, and keep it there throughout the duration of a photo. And no, I'm not worried about the pH drop. It's considered a fictitious pH drop and most fish are fine with it. There are more sensitive fish where you can't go down a full pH point, but that's more rare.
Sorry, i was referring to when the controller shuts off, the pH would climb overnight. With my controller now, I run a steady 6.8 and it would go to 7.0 or higher when it's shut off. so at what point would you say the pH is too high? @@aquascapeguide
Nah, you're good man. Again, it's considered a fictitious PH swing and wont cause any issues. The thing that I would look into if you water hardness. A 7.8 or higher could mean that your KH is hard. And if your KH is hard, your GH might be as well. High water chem can make it harder for plants to he happy, so check out the ASG water chemistry video. It covers how to test and adjust your KH/PH. I generally try to run my tanks at a GH/KH of 4. That puts you at a 6.8-7.0, and I inject down to a 6.0. You're starting mucb higher so its good to look into. Plus, you need to know your off gassed PH to know where to inject down to.
Can a solenoid be used on the smaller paintball canister? I didnt see one on Your illustration.
Thanks for asking! Yes! I think an electronic one is best so that you can set it on a time. As Phil talks about, you want to get that one-point PH drop before lights kick on. So the CO2 needs to be timed separately from the light. We really think this is a great little regulator with an electronic solenoid for paintball tanks :) - amzn.to/3l3jaX5 - It's dual-stage as well! Later scaper!
@@aquascapeguide thank you!!
@@DRaquascapes You're welcome :)
Hi,
Thanks for sharing.
May i know how to clean diffuser ?
You're welcome! I hope you were able to learn something. To clean a diffuser, follow these steps.
1) Fill a cup up with 1 part bleach and 3 parts warm water
2) Turn on the CO2 and put diffuser into the bleach solution for 10 min
3) Dump the cup of bleach and fill it back up with hot water and lots of dechlorinator. I use 4 capfulls of Seachem Prime. Soak for another 10 min
4) Rinse with clean water and put back into the tank
I will come out squeaky clean! :)
When using a controller do you still recommend turning Co2 on/off 1hr before lights turn on/off ? Or just keeping it on to have a consistent PH through the entire day? I realize the plants will not utilize the Co2 in the dark, but I didn’t know if the consistency in PH would be over all better than a 1.0 (or potentially greater) shift everyday, or if the Co2 at night could potentially cause other issues? (maybe over saturation, >30ppm) Thanks for the great video!
Nah, just have the Co2 come on and off every day. Dont leave it on. If you have livestock in the tank, Co2 can build up and gass them. And if you dont have livestock in the tank, it's just wasteful yo have it still running. It's considered a fictitious PH drop as the carbonic acid isnt really eating away at our KH, so its not effecting our water chem. Your GH/KH jumping around would be at lot worse than our PH drop due to Co2 ;) Hope you enjoy the controller! Those look like a lot of fun.
I think it really depends on how many plants are in the aquarium. Also,
Are the plants able to injest the CO² and by that I mean, are they bare of algae?
So many things to consider!
Kind of, not really. PAR drives growth. The harder we push the plants with PAR, the more carbon and nutrients (micros and macros) they will consume for growth. Pretty easy. Even is some plants leaves have algae on them, the newer growth will come in fast and strong, outcompeting the algae. And all this can be measured. With Co2 I've been able to get up to 400 PAR. With carbon we can watch our PH drop. If we drop out PH a full point and it stays there throughout the photoperiod, we know we are injecting enough. And with fertilizers, we just dose enough to keep our nitrates boosted an extra 5-10ppm, but you need to make sure you're using a holistic fertilizer, like our fertilizations kit. Done and done, not much to to consider when you have metrics you can hit. It takes the guessing game out of things.
So while plants grow, so we inject more co2 or the same amount?
Sorry for the delay in response! TH-cam stopped notifying me I had comments. I need to check that more. I'm not 100% sure I understand your question, but I think you're asking if you have to turn up the Co2 once plants start to fill in, and you'd be correct. As the tank matures and you have more plant mass, you'll need more Co2. Just keep an eye on your PH and make sure youre getting to, and keeping that one point PH drop throughout the photoperiod. Along with more Co2, you'll need more fertilizer. Also on the reverse end, when you do a heavy trim on your tank, you may need less Co2 and fertilizer. Again, just keep an eye on the tanks PH for Co2, and nitrates for ferts. I hope that helps! Let me know if you have more questions! :) And thank for you for asking your question! Others can learn from this as well.
@@aquascapeguide thanks for the reply!!!
You're welcome! Good luck with dialing things in!
I am using diy co2 at the moment sugar n yeast one problem is I can't turn it off at night or when lights goes off theirs no live stock in my tank
Is it ok to run co2 24/7 does it effect my plants anyway
Hello! Thank you for your question. If you have no livestock, its ok to have it running 24/7. Its not going to harm anything. The only problem you'll run into is when Co2 production starts to dip off. Your plants are going to be used to the CO2 being at a certain level, and that level just drops over time and the yeast consumes the sugar. This flucation can cause BBA, so just be mindful of that. This is why we pressurized CO2 canisters, to have more control over CO2 saturation levels. Hope that helps.
Hey man! I hope you are doing well .. I watched your CO2 setup guide But I am having some issues if You can help, it will be great for me☺. My tank size is 106cm * 45cm * 45cm(About 250litter), Using DIY led strip lights(130watt), A DIY Canister(Mechanical & Biological) with M2 Inline Diffuser and a Pressurized CO2 setup. I have a Digital PH meter(Fully Calibrated) and a drop checker(New filled solution) then I checked my tank water PH 1hour(While only CO2 On) Before lights on.
And It gave me a result of (8.2) then after 6 hour while co2 and lights still on ,then PH drop only at (7.7). But The drop checker gives a Yellowish Green which indicates a almost high co2. I have less plants like 30% covered only. Tank age about 3 months.
I don't trust drop checkers for this reason. Follow your PH meter if you know its calibrated. Are you getting the one point PH drop before the lights turn on? Is the PH just raising back up?
@@aquascapeguide Will do man , Thanks for the help . Tomorrow i will do a big Water Change and check again Just hope for the best . Thanks again 😊
@@ratul89 Check the three points the video talks about 1) Completely degassed, which sounds like 8.2... 2) Right before the lights come on to see the drop, make sure you are getting that one point PH drop BEFORE the lights turn on... and 3) RIght before the lights turn off. That will make sure the PH doesn't climb back up, or keep dropping over time. That will tell us if we are injecting too much or too little. Keep me posted! We'll get you dialed in ;)
What about a 55 gallon?
I have a video called "How to setup and entire Co2 system". That covers the entire process on how to setup a Co2 system for a larger tank like your 55g. Even has a parts list in the discription you can follow.