Fluval co2 kit question

[Ca Nguyen]

fluval packaged this with the fluval flora kit. does anyone here own it? what do you think about it? how often do you have to replace the cartridges? can i use the bibi gun co2 cartridges? i have loads of them sitting around

how does it actually work? does it release co2 into a chaimber and diffuse through water surface? or mini bubbles?

i'm thinking about getting a kit for my fluval ebi.

[aquabee]

fluval packaged this with the fluval flora kit. does anyone here own it? what do you think about it? how often do you have to replace the cartridges? can i use the bibi gun co2 cartridges? i have loads of them sitting around

how does it actually work? does it release co2 into a chaimber and diffuse through water surface? or mini bubbles?

i'm thinking about getting a kit for my fluval ebi.

I have the one that comes with the Flora. It only gives you about 10 ppm of CO2 (almost nothing), and you have to keep refilling the chamber every 3-4 hours, which obviously doesn't work unless you're home all day with nothing to do. I only replaced the cartridges every month to 6 weeks. Plus, you can buy the cartridges from FG or any other LFS, 3 for $20.

The chamber just diffuses CO2 without bubbles. It has to be in a high flow area, and you don't see bubbles. I have since upgraded to this: http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co...m-premium.html .

This is $100 but well, well worth it. It has a bubble counter. It's also the cheapest regulated pressurized CO2 system I could find. To keep things very basic, you usually want to drop you pH by a full log (for example, 7.8 to 6.8) in an hour's time. That will roughly give you about 20-30 ppm of CO2. For my Fluval Flora 7.9 gallon tank, that means setting the CO2 bubble counter to 1 bubble every 4-5 seconds. Ever since I switched over to the new system, my crypts have been growing beautifully, as have my narrow leaf chain swords. The swords put out a new daughter plant every 3 days, and the crypts have new leaves every 4-5 days.

For more on CO2, you can check out this thread:

http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/showthread.php?43306-exasperated.&highlight=exasperated

It gets pretty in depth and complicated but it's good info to know.

[Ca Nguyen]

isn't that GLA co2 kit exactly the same as the fluval 88 kit with different marketing?i guess i could fork out 100 buck. are you still using the light that come with the flora? i swapped my ebi light for a 26 watts clip on.

[aquabee]

isn't that GLA co2 kit exactly the same as the fluval 88 kit with different marketing?i guess i could fork out 100 buck. are you still using the light that come with the flora? i swapped my ebi light for a 26 watts clip on.

LOL you're right, I guess it is... Go with the Fluval then. You can get it on Amazon for $80, and maybe cheaper elsewhere. I'd have gotten that if I had put in the time to research the Fluval 88.

I am using the light that came with the Flora but I tacked on another one. That gives me 3+ wpg but according to people on this forum, a nano needs much, much more wattage than a larger tank. 3+ wpg in a nano is considered lower light, whereas 3+ wpg in a larger tank would be moderate to high. I didn't believe that at first, but my struggles with hair algae and the fact that my dwarf baby tears barely grew at all convinced me that that might be true. I've done high ferts, low ferts, root tabs, Excel, and CO2. What's working for me now is Excel once weekly, CO2 daily, root tabs, and no other liquid fertilizers. Still, that hair algae is ruthless.

All in all, I don't think I'd buy the Flora again. It would be much more successful to get a 10 gallon and put the appropriate lighting and fixtures and CO2 and on it yourself.

[Ca Nguyen]

yeah, i've read about the nano light theory too. i got 65 watt over my 10 gallons planted and algae was out of control until i added a pair of otos. they went to town on the algae and left my tank spotless in 24 hours. if you don't have anything that might attack the otos, i'm sure a single one of those would clean out your flora in a couple days.

i'm already stuck with the ebi, so i'm trying to make the best of it haha.

[aquabee]

yeah, i've read about the nano light theory too. i got 65 watt over my 10 gallons planted and algae was out of control until i added a pair of otos. they went to town on the algae and left my tank spotless in 24 hours. if you don't have anything that might attack the otos, i'm sure a single one of those would clean out your flora in a couple days.

I have otos... unfortunately they don't touch hair algae.

[muuunkeeyy]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/115850-paintball-co2-injection-diy-setup-tons.html

i was reading on the Fluval co2 too, but someone recommended this. cheaper, lasts longer, and doesn't look that hard to put together. lol still thinking bout it myself. price of refilling paintball tank is cheaper in comparison to the fluval branded co2 cartridges. supposedly the fluval should be changed every month with 2bps. not sure exactly on this information, but im still researching. hope this helps you too. lol

[Ca Nguyen]

haha!! you know what? i just putted one together yesterday. i found it on google and decided to pull out the old paintball tanks. academy refilled my 20 oz for 8 buck. got the asa valve off ebay for 10 bucsk, went to lowes and picked up a needle valve for 7 bucks, had a 1200 psi gauge laying around, threw it on. all in all, it only costed me 25 bucks. i think i got the 20 oz tank for about 16 bucks on sale back in the day. also had a cheap ceramic diffuser.

make sure you use plenty of teflon tapes. i manually turn mine on every morning when i turn on the light, and turn it off when i turn off the light. my substrate already keep the ph low, don't want it to get too low.

[muuunkeeyy]

lmaooo!! how funny. i js wanna make this and use it, but i don't know if i actually wanna do planted. it js looks like a fun project to do and a cool looking container sitting next to my tank. LMAO i don't really know if i wanna do planted tank..

[muuunkeeyy]

and do you mind showing me which ASA adapter you purchased? most of them on ebay look small or flimsy.

[Ca Nguyen]

i try to keep my shrimp tank simple in term of plants. i got dwarf baby tears, java moss on drift wood, frog bit floating on the surface, and just ordered some pelia for more drift wood. i got 52 watts of light over my 7.9 gallons and the dwarf baby tears aren't spreading at all, so i hope co2 would do the job. i'm working on moving everything into a 20 gallons long soon.

[muuunkeeyy]

fluval ebi not cutting it? i was thinking bout purchasing one the other day too. lol.

[Ca Nguyen]

i got one of these, but in blue.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/System-x-ASA-paintball-Marker-Red-/260828195371?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cba926a2b

i have had very few breeding in the last 6 months. i read on another shrimp forum that they breed alot better in a 20 gallons long. you're basically looking for big foot print and shallow tank. any bigger and you wouldn't benefit from it.

problems i had with the ebi were; i don't trust their filter, 13 watt light that came with it is basically good for java moss, java fern, and moss balls, i immediately replaced it with two 26 watt light with built in moonlight led, and in my own opinion, they didn't give enough substrate to really plant, i had to mix in some ada amazonia to help the plants.

[Ca Nguyen]

but if you like the design, by all mean get it. it's gorgeous and it's my gf's favorite tank. once i move all the shrimps to the new home, i'll do an iwagumi with maybe 5 green neons for her.

i got it from buy.com earlier this year for 80 buck.

http://www.buy.com/prod/fluval-10511-7-9-us-gallon-ebi-nano-shrimp-glass-aquarium-with-cover/q/sellerid/16616284/loc/67447/221636412.html

[Tetranerd]

haha!! you know what? i just putted one together yesterday. i found it on google and decided to pull out the old paintball tanks. academy refilled my 20 oz for 8 buck. got the asa valve off ebay for 10 bucsk, went to lowes and picked up a needle valve for 7 bucks, had a 1200 psi gauge laying around, threw it on. all in all, it only costed me 25 bucks. i think i got the 20 oz tank for about 16 bucks on sale back in the day. also had a cheap ceramic diffuser.<br />
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make sure you use plenty of teflon tapes. i manually turn mine on every morning when i turn on the light, and turn it off when i turn off the light. my substrate already keep the ph low, don't want it to get too low.

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If you live on north belt and 45, you can get 20 ounce filled for around 3 bucks at army navy surplus store.