CO2 Ladder

[Sime]

thanks james, have re-mixed and sorted pipe to the bottom.

at the moment there appears to be an air-lock as theres a bubble then a small white patch which i think it something trapped, they are slowly pushing them out though.

fingers crossed. i havent moved it - its in the same place yours is but on the left wall.

 

[Sime]

i've got some success! i'm getting a bubble every 1 to 2 seconds now. it's on the bottom outlet now as james said above.

only thing it the bubble slow in the middle of the ladder so i get about 6 or 7 coming out of the top all at once then nothing then another rush and so on - but this shouldnt metter should it?

it may sound silly but when does the CO2 get into the water? is it on the way up the ladder or as the bubble breaks at the top when it hits the surface?

 

[iggy01]

it may sound silly but when does the CO2 get into the water? is it on the way up the ladder or as the bubble breaks at the top when it hits the surface?

The CO2 gets into the water as it progress's up the ladder. That's why it is better for the bubbles to go slowly up the ladder. You will notice they get smaller the closer to the top they get. This is what you want and is a sign the CO2 is entering the water.

I wouldn't worry too much about the bubbles collecting in the middle rungs of the ladder at the moment. It will probably clear itself in a few hours.

Well done Jimbooo for sorting Sime's problem!

 

[jimbooo]

glad to be of assistance.

Sime: the smaller the bubbles are at the top of the ladder the better, the bubbles are pure CO2 and dissolve as they rise through the ladder. hence why the bubbles get smaller as they rise, if say they are half as big by the time they leave the ladder that means 50% of the co2 in that bubble is now dissolved in your water.

 

[Sime]

great thanks. i left this morning and it was still going fine. when should it be ok to test for KH and pH again? it started working ok last night.

 

[jimbooo]

give it 48 hours and retest, alternativly why dont you get a JBL permanent CO2 test.

well worth it and saves the hassle of testing each time.

JBL Test Kit

 

[Sime]

after 48 hours the results are now....

KH - 10
pH - 7.6

does that give me 8 ppm of CO2? how do you think that looks after 48 hours - is it about normal?

Simon.

 

[iggy01]

According to your KH & pH readings the answer is yes.

However, one thing I don't understand Sime, is how your KH has gone from 6 to 10 in a few days.

Have you added anything to your tank recently?

 

[Sime]

nothing - and i've not done a water change or anything at all. something's wierd in there as the phosphate has shot up too. seems steady regarding all other readings.

 

[iggy01]

If I remember correctly, high phosphates can throw off the KH reading making it abnormally high. This may have happened and will give you a false CO2 reading.

It might be worthwhile investing in a JBL permanent test that Jimboo suggested.

 

[Sime]

think i will... i'll have to wait a week or so - it's amazing how all these little bits soon add up to be quite expensive!

 

[iggy01]

P.M. Jimbooo before you get one. I've never used one, I'm just assuming high phosphates won't effect it.

I know what you mean about the expense. I thought this would be a cheap hobby once you were set up.

 

[Bloo]

Just want to say I'm finding this thread very interesting. I just bought one of these myself and am having similar "problems" so am very glad that most of my questions have been answered Thanks !
My bubbles are coming out ok and regularly now but seem to get stuck somewhere in the middle and just form one huge bubble - until it gets too large and then zooms up to the top via the ladder. It's only been going about 6 hours now though, so hopefully things will look better by tomorrow.
My PH is quite high to start off with at 8.2 and KH at around 11. How "should" I expect the CO2 to influence this ?

Ps: apologies if I'm piggy-backing your thread Sime.

 

[guppygirl]

Yes, why do the bubbles stop and collect in a big bubble? I had this when I put in an extra ladder, but it never happened to the one that sat in the tank without use for a couple weeks. Is this the key?

 

[iggy01]

Your thinking is correct guppygirl!

Ladders sometimes take a few days to break-in. You may find initially, the bubbles go too fast through the ladder, or may sometimes collect half way up as you have stated. As long as there aren't any plants interfering with the ladder, this should clear itself once the film has formed on the rungs.

Bloozoo2, you should find your pH level start to drop. The more CO2 you get into the water the lower it will drop. Your KH should remain unchanged.

Good luck!