# How many bubbles per second for my CO2 setup?



## cooledwhip (Apr 3, 2016)

I have a 5lb co2 setup with a dual stage regulator from Co2art. I have a 3 way adapter for my 2 tanks. One tank is a 10 gallon aquascape with lots of stems and high tech plants. The other is a 29 gallon with monster plants like my mother amazon sword and many other crazy huge plants. More of a natural scape than an aquascape. Bigger plants, more plants. How many bubbles per second should I be pumping into these tanks? 

Also can I put my co2 output by the filter intake? That way the co2 gets sucked in the filter and destroyed by the blades, helps it diffuse into the water.

The filters are a national geographic filter on the 10 (eheim ecco rebrand) and a fluval 306 on the 29 gallon. Thanks!


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## Discusfan99 (Feb 25, 2017)

Do you have fish? Also, can you control the amount per tank? Over all, 1 bubble per 2-3 seconds is ideal, presuming you have high enough lighting so your plant can utilize all that excess Co2. As for putting it under the filter not a bad idea, as i would imagine that it would work something like a reactor. However air bubbles aren't the best for filter/pump motors.


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## Aqua99 (Jan 6, 2017)

In each one of my tanks it's more or less trial and error with the aid of a drop checker (w/4dkh), pH readings with CO2 off vs on, or closely observing the behavior of the fish. My bubble counters only assist me in visually representing what I'm injecting into that particular tank and mean little to nothing from tank to tank.

The pressure you run off your regulator, the method you choose to diffuse, the number of fish in your tank, the type of bubble counter you're using, and many other things will change from tank to tank... along with the number of bubbles (due to all those factors).

When I setup a new tank I gradually increase my bubble count from a bare minimum until I get it where I want via my drop checker. Plenty of people despise drop checkers but I tend to like them just for a rough idea.

Many steer clear of injecting CO2 into a canister intake for fear of Carbonic acid formation and suppression of the "fragile" bio media inside the filter.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Measuring the drop in pH would be your best check.
pH pen would help to target a 1.0 drop in pH.
Each 1.0 drop in pH is about 30ppm of CO2.


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## cooledwhip (Apr 3, 2016)

Yes my regulator allows me to control how many bubbles per tank. I do have a counter. There are fish in the 29 gallon and some shrimp in the 10 but I plan on putting puffers in the 10.

I'll use a dropchecker for the co2, but as for letting the co2 into the canister filter is this a bad idea? I need to know. I've been avoiding it but my plants are starting to die.


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## X45 (Dec 20, 2016)

Buy our build a reactor on the outflow side of your canister. Much more efficient. 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk


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## Shadar (Jan 30, 2017)

Maryland Guppy said:


> Measuring the drop in pH would be your best check.
> pH pen would help to target a 1.0 drop in pH.
> Each 1.0 drop in pH is about 30ppm of CO2.


Strictly speaking, each 1.0 drop in pH is 10 times the CO2 (pH is a logarithmic scale). Since water tends to absorb around 3ppm from the air without injection, a 1.0 drop means 30ppm has been added. Another 1.0 drop on top of that would actually take you to 300ppm of CO2.

At least that's how I understand it. I'm not an expert.


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## Discusfan99 (Feb 25, 2017)

cooledwhip said:


> Yes my regulator allows me to control how many bubbles per tank. I do have a counter. There are fish in the 29 gallon and some shrimp in the 10 but I plan on putting puffers in the 10.
> 
> I'll use a dropchecker for the co2, but as for letting the co2 into the canister filter is this a bad idea? I need to know. I've been avoiding it but my are starting to die.


I would imagine CO2 into the canister filter would be fine, however, many people claim that simply diffusing it into the water is better for the plants than getting dissolved in water (I personally don't know, my plants do fine with simply diffusing it).
As for bubbles per sec, I would suggest 1 per 2 seconds for the 29 gallon, and 1 per 3-4 seconds in the ten. As I've never kept shrimp (or puffers), I am not sure how CO2 affects them. Again, this can kind of be trial in error so keep a close watch on your CO2 levels, but as long as you have a powerful light, you should be OK.

PS, if you run CO2 at night make sure to keep aeration on, as your fish will suffocate from the excess CO2, since the plants also release it at night, without any surface agitation.


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