How Many Co2 Bubbles Per Minute In Your Tank?

[Kipper_Face]

I am just wondering out of interest what sort of bubble rate people have. I know that in the end you test the water and determine scientifically the CO2 concentration but I just wanted an idea of the general rates others have

 

[Kipper_Face]

So a bubble every two seconds seems about right?

 

[George Farmer]

Welcome to the Forum Kipper Face

An individual's bubbles rate is almost irrelevant unless you consider tank volume primarily and to a lesser extent other variables i.e. planting, lighting, surface agitation, CO2 diffusion method etc.

Measuring your CO2 level using a pH/KHCO2 chart is more an appropiate technique for determining bubble rate. i.e. increase or decrease until you measure around 30ppm.

I would suggest around 1 bubble per second as a starting point in your tank and work from there. Test your KH then keep a close eye on your pH to determine your CO2 level.

I note you have plenty of decent light and CO2 injection. I would therefore recommend reading zig's EI thread and the algae article in particular the "getting it right from the start" section.

If you decide to take the dry fert route then I recommend buying the ingredients from here - Aqua Essentials. You'll only need Potassium nitrate, Potassium phosphate and trace mix to begin with.

Regards
George

 

[Kipper_Face]

thanks gf225,

So to go down the EI dosing route I would only need three components i.e Potassium nitrate, Potassium phosphate and trace mix. Thanks let clears that what to buy next

I am just a bit confused about the mixing bit and how much to add to the aquarium, I have chucks calculator which is great help but how do you go about messuring out accurately so little weight and how much do you make up in one go?

Can you also recommend a good phosphate test kit?

TIA

 

[George Farmer]

Glad to help.

EI can be rather daunting at first. The hardest part is knowing how much to dose. You need to figure out your NO3 and PO4 uptake rates.

My suggestions -

Plant you tank with all your intended plants, preferbly lots of fast growing stems from the start (as per the algae article).

Get your CO2 at a stable 30ppm.

Put your lighting on a timer for 10 hours straight.

Make up your NO3 and PO4 solutions -

Personally I use 500ml RO water for each KNO3 and KH2PO4 solution.

In your tank -
If you add 100g of KNO3 then every 5ml solution will give you 3.5ppm NO3.

If you add one teaspoon of KH2PO4 then 5ml solution will add 0.2ppm PO4.

Test your water just after a water change.

Add the KNO3 and KH2PO4 solutions gradually over a few days until your reach 25ppm NO3 and 2.5ppm PO4.

Then don't add any more. Test the water every day over a week (don't change any water) to see how much NO3 and PO4 your plants are using up. This is your nutrient uptake rate.

You should be able to know how much KNO3 and KHPO4 you need to add to keep a stable 10-25ppm NO3 and 1-2.5ppm PO4.

For trace mix add 1 tablespoon in 250ml RO water. Add approx 10ml solution every other day (the oppposite day to macros (KNO3/KH2PO4)). Keep the trace in the fridge.

Dose the macros/trace throughout the week, each every other day then do a 50% water change once a week. Dose 2 or 3x normal KNO3/KH2PO4 with fresh water, depending on tap water NO3/PO4 levels.

This is a very basic guide. You can tailor it to suit. After a while you won't need to test for NO3 and PO4. I don't own any test kits now, only pH.

The most important thing is to plant heavily, keep CO2 up at 30ppm, keep NO3 and PO4 around 10-20ppm and 1-2ppm respectively, aim for a 10:1 ratio.

I hope this helps. Stick with it, it does work, I promise!

The Nutrafin PO4 kit is good.

 

[Kipper_Face]

I currently have a light cycle of 5 hours on 2 off 5 on as i did not want to encourage algae, would 10 hours straight be the better option?

The other reason I went for 5-2-5 light cycle is if the lights go on at 8am then 10 straight hours would mean only 1 hour viewing from getting home at 5pm to 6pm before lights out


Do most liquid mainstream fertilizers contain only trace elements as that is what i have been using, the plants are growing but i can see they could be better as a bit of yellowing is starting to show and odd leaf has brown spots/holes?

Again thanks gf225 for the advice it really is a great help starting out

 

[George Farmer]

The gap in lighting can help algae but if you have enough plant growth then it shouldn't be an issue. 10 hours straight gives better plant growth IME.

I have my lights come on a midday and off at 10pm.

 

[Kipper_Face]

Midday for lights on sounds good, will change my timer. Have noticed plants tend to really produce oxygen later on in day around 4pm so may help if lights come on later.

Off to order some ferts, thanks help.