# CO2 and the shrimp tank



## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

Hello

I was wondering what my fellow shrimpers set there tanks at when it comes to CO2 and CRS/CBS and RCS. I have a bookshelf tank 30*6.5*8 tall. I have it planted with various plants and just yesterday added DIY paintball pressurized CO2 using a chopstick as a diffuser. I also ran the diffuser into the outlet of my fluval submersable filter. I was carefully watching my shrimps for signs of distress....and had the CO2 set to 1-2 bps. After about 6 hours my plants were just starting to pearl....but my shrimps were showing signs of distress-approx 1/3 to 1/2 had moved away from the CO2 outlet to the far end of the tank. The rest were acting normal. I tested the water to find out what the CO2 saturation was.

My Ph was 6.25-6.50 and my Kh was 9!! Too much CO2! I did a WC and stopped the CO2 from running. I waited an hour and retested the water. Ph was 6.5 and Kh was 7...still high but comming down.

So my question it for all of you have had SHRIMP only planted tanks..... what do you have your CO2 set to? I thought that 1-2 bps would be okay.....but test parameters said other wise? II do still need to purchase a drop checker, so testing with my kit is what I have for now.

Should I add more plants? I have a bunch of rotala colorata that I could throw in there....but I dont want a tank of rotalas......that is what my 70 gal tank is... LOL!!

Here is the tank today...sprry for the crappy cellphone picture!


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## mordalphus (Jun 23, 2010)

Get a solenoid and a drop checker with some 4dKH solution. Then adjust your co2 output til you get it perfect.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

I would recommend a solenoid so that you can turn off your CO2 at night (this will also allow you to keep the CO2 as high as possible during the day, when the plants require the CO2, and not worry about suffocating your shrimp at night).

For checking CO2 levels, a drop checker with a 4 dkH reference solution is the most reliable method to check your CO2. Using the CO2/pH/kH relationship while measuring the kH of your water is not accurate, as there are other factors in a planted aquarium that will affect kH readings.


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

I dont use drop checkers either. I use fish. Are fish and shrimp about the same as far as how much co2 saturation you can have? I have plenty of shrimp tanks but none of them is on co2. Someday I might for the sake of the mosses.


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## wrangler (Oct 14, 2007)

Interesting information about just testing Ph and Kh.....I thought that that was reallly more accurate that the drop checker as it is instant....

Do they make solenoids that fit a paintball setup? How do they work?


Thanks for the comments so far.... I have the CO2 tank turned back to 1 bubble every 3-5 seconds. Shrimp seem to be doing better today.....


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

You should be able to find a solenoid with standard fittings (i.e. 1/8" NPT) and then find the appropriate adapters for your paintball setup. 

Solenoids are essentially just on/off switches that are controlled by electricity. You want one that is normally closed, and only open when electricity is flowing through it.


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## KrimsonRose (Jan 31, 2014)

I wouldn't use paintball co2. You really should use food grade co2. Paintball co2 usually has other gases in it like argon which can be very toxic to shrimp & fish.


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## mthomas356 (Jan 24, 2014)

KrimsonRose said:


> I wouldn't use paintball co2. You really should use food grade co2. Paintball co2 usually has other gases in it like argon which can be very toxic to shrimp & fish.


I've ran a paintball system with zero issues and had it filled at the local sporting goods store. 

Sent from my SCH-I605 using Tapatalk


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

KrimsonRose said:


> I wouldn't use paintball co2. You really should use food grade co2. Paintball co2 usually has other gases in it like argon which can be very toxic to shrimp & fish.


Why would argon be toxic to fish and shrimp? Do you have any evidence of this?


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## gopal87 (Dec 31, 2010)

Argon is an inert gas!


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

24-7 injected co2. Tigers and neos breeding normally. No solenoid. I use it to keep ph at around 6.8. I'm doing about .5 bpm. Plants are lush too. 

The best monitor is a calibrated ph probe. 
Not a colored reference drop checker. 





Argon is inert. Doesn't mess w anything.


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