# Running CO2 24/7 ????



## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

Can you run it 24/7 if you have a long air stone going at night?

it's a 72 bow front, 2 filters eheim 2234, xp4

I use a inline 1000 reactor through the 2234 filter outflow...

maybe 2 +/- a second bubbles per second

somethine like 50ish rummy nose, 1 angel, some shrimp, otos, bristlenose

if not 24/7 how soon before lights come on should I be turning it on because my plants do well with CO2 pumping before lights come on...


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

are you running pressurized co2 or DIY? Alot of guys who run the paintball run co2 24/7 with no effects. Personally me with pressurized co2 I turn mine off at night.


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## three105 (Nov 15, 2007)

pressurized... maybe I'll just have it come on like... 2-3 hours before lights?


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

If you have a solenoid on the regulator, you probably would want to start the CO2 1 to 2 hours before lights on and shutoff CO2 1 hour before lights off.

If you don't have a solenoid, running CO2 24/7 can be done, just make sure you have sufficient surface movement to introduce O2 into the water. The more O2 you have, the higher concentrations of CO2 can be tolerated by your animals.


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

three105 said:


> pressurized... maybe I'll just have it come on like... 2-3 hours before lights?


What i do with mine is i turn on my co2 30 minutes before my light comes on. I have 3 lights and only one turns on for 2 hours and then the other 2 follows. 

Seemed to work for me


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## oscarsx (Mar 15, 2011)

Don't mean to hijack thread.. but would be the reason for running the co2 all night?


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

oscarsx said:


> Don't mean to hijack thread.. but would be the reason for running the co2 all night?


I don't think its necessary. But some have to do it because they use DIY co2


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## larams67 (Jan 24, 2006)

I do it because I have an inline co2 diffuser and if the pressure is shut off it fills the diffuser with water.


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## oscarsx (Mar 15, 2011)

Ohhh okay I get it now... but larams67 you can always get a check valve for that purpose


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## accordztech (Dec 6, 2004)

oscarsx said:


> Ohhh okay I get it now... but larams67 you can always get a check valve for that purpose


+1 for checkvalve to prevent that


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## larams67 (Jan 24, 2006)

Do I put the check valve just before the diffuser and it will hold the pressure?


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## pupdawg (Mar 31, 2011)

larams67 - There are two different check valves to use. One is a Co2 check valve that goes inline between the regulator and the diffuser. This won't keep the diffuser from filling with water though. The other is a water check valve which will keep tank water from siphoning into the filter and will still not keep water out of the diffuser cavity when CO2 is off. In order for this to work you would need to turn off your filter which you obviously don't want to do.

What brand of inline diffuser are you using? If it's a GLA type then the diffuser cavity is not supposed to fill with water when the CO2 is off. 

Your best bet might be to just leave the CO2 on like you said.


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## FDNY911 (Dec 6, 2009)

I was never told that you can't let the cavity fill with water. There's no way of preventing that. I have a check valve between my Inline diff from gla and the bubble counter on the manifold and I haven't had problems. The water reaches the check valve but nothing happens. Co2 pushes it clear once it's on for a couple minutes.


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## pupdawg (Mar 31, 2011)

And now I see I read the original post from larams67 wrong. 

I somehow thought that he had pressure on and the cavity was filling with water.... 

Yes larams you just need a CO2 check valve. Inline between regulator and diffuser like FDNY911 stated above.


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## vespers_ (May 6, 2011)

i used to turn mine off at night, but ever since i started adding dry ferts using the EI method the drop checker goes to blue in a few hours (sometimes as little as 3-4 hours) if i turn it off.

now i have to run it all the time to get it to stay green.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

My inline diffuser fills up with water at night but it's never been a problem. When the CO2 turns on, it forces the water out through the ceramic tube.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

vespers_ said:


> i used to turn mine off at night, but ever since i started adding dry ferts using the EI method the drop checker goes to blue in a few hours (sometimes as little as 3-4 hours) if i turn it off.
> 
> now i have to run it all the time to get it to stay green.


There's no need to have extra CO2 in the water during night hours, because the plants only use it during the lighting period. Get yourself a solenoid, set it on the same timer the lights use, and forget about it.


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## vespers_ (May 6, 2011)

kevmo911 said:


> There's no need to have extra CO2 in the water during night hours, because the plants only use it during the lighting period. Get yourself a solenoid, set it on the same timer the lights use, and forget about it.


but if it is going blue so quickly, doesn't that mean the plants are using it even at night? it used to stay green over night, but like i said it goes blue really fast now.


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