Nutrafin Co2 Basic User Guide

[nry]

I've just moved to the two bottle method: I'm surprised to find that I still need to stick to the same mix of yeast/sugar in each bottle. I figured I'd need less yeast in each bottle due to having two but that doesn't seem to be the case!

 

[aaronc]

Hi George - or anyone else

Quick question for you.

I have just got my Nutrafin and have done a PH and KH test before setting it all up.

My PH is 6.6 and my KH is 40mg/l - my test kits doesn't have dKH. Am I right in saying that to get dKH I times my mg/l result by 0.056? Giving me 2.24?

Which would roughly equate to around 16ppm of CO2?

According to the leaflet with this test kit, I have a very low buffering capacity, is this in an issue?

And to get to the ideal of 30ppm I would need to get the dKH to about 4dKH

Hope this makes sense

Thanks in advance
Aaron

 

[aaronc]

alsooo..

The Kit comes with 'C02 Resistant tubing', does this mean I can't use ordinary airline. As I have add a platic bottle between the reactor and the ladder to stop yeast spillage and have used normal airline.

Where is the best place in the tank to place the ladder?

Thanks
Aaron

 

[nry]

Did you measure CO2 before adding any? Not much point doing that as far as I can tell.

I have a permanent test in my tank, for the sake of £15 it is the easiest method of checking you are running at 30ppm.

Positioning of the ladder is dependent upon your tank, different areas will have better/worse water flow over the ladder based on planting, decor etc. I put mine just after the filter outlet which seemed to work well.

Normal airline will be OK, not entirely sure how much CO2 can be lost with 'normal' airline unless you use pressurised CO2.

 

[aaronc]

Hi nry

Thanks for the reply. I measured it before so that I knew where I was starting from etc

I am going to order a drop checker for my tank, is that what you have?

Aaron

 

[nry]

I have a JBL permanent test, wish I went for a glass drop checker though, much less intrusive. Measuring CO2 before actually adding any is, I think, a bit dubious and misleading. Have a look around for some articles on measuring CO2 (the site linked earlier probably has some good ones) as this will explain things better than I ever can

 

[nry]

Knew I had some useful link somewhere:

http/www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

 

[720510]

1. Fill canister with regular granulated sugar to the first line.

Ok, this might seem like a really silly question but when you say "first line", is this the first line on the front of the cannister or the back? It's not very clear to me...

 

[nry]

1. Fill canister with regular granulated sugar to the first line.

Ok, this might seem like a really silly question but when you say "first line", is this the first line on the front of the cannister or the back? It's not very clear to me...

The first mark on the inside of the cannister, the bit of plastic that sticks out.

 

[DonnieDarko333]

I think my bubbles are getting stuck on the ladder? Are a number of bubbles meant to climb the ladder to they get to the top then are released in the tank?

I did my two Nutrafin ones last night, and i'm not really sure it's working? I used the ingredients as stated on here....

Quite confusing for me, as i've never used a CO2 kit before..

 

[nry]

The bubbles stick on the ladder for the first few days, then they should start moving freely.

You could replace the ladder(s) with a small ceramic diffuser if you find the ladders a bit of a pain, mine kept getting blocked with snails/plants and the bubbles and hence the CO2 levels were a bit erratic.

 

[aaronc]

My clown loach keep getting into the ladder and getting stuck, they are pretty small lol. I am going to get a diffuser as the ladder doesn't look very effective.

 

[nry]

The ladder is very effective, but it is huge. I need more yeast/sugar to get the same CO2 levels from my ceramic diffuser as I did with my ladder.

 

[aaronc]

My bubbles are still whole when the get to the top, should they have broken down by then?

 

[720510]

1. Fill canister with regular granulated sugar to the first line.

Ok, this might seem like a really silly question but when you say "first line", is this the first line on the front of the cannister or the back? It's not very clear to me...

The first mark on the inside of the cannister, the bit of plastic that sticks out.

Got it thanks. I never thought of looking at the inside markings.

Also added the yeast as per your suggestion and almost immediately saw bubbles ... as opposed to using the in-the-pack stuff which did not show any for 24 hours...
Thanks!