Hi-tech setup...what all do you need
Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 9:25 pm
Like many on this forum, I too started the journey into planted tanks sometime in early 2010. I decided early on that DIY CO2 was not for me - I needed the pressurised setup. Spoke to Nirav and had a setup delivered with the following components :
1kg cylinder
ESAB regulator
Techno solenoid
Techno needle valve
CO2 tubing (this is not supposed to turn yellow with use)
Started the setup and plants started growing very fast indeed.
Sometime 2 months back...trouble started. The solenoid stayed open. This means that it refused to stop the flow of air even when it was not receiving any current.The needle valve - well, it was quite useless to begin with and the tubing too started to turn yellow.
I need precise control of the CO2. The tank is 50 gallons and has Marseilia Hirsuta, H.Corymbosa,St.Porto Velho, E.Tenellus and Aponogenton Undulatus in it. FIlter is an Eheim Pro3, lighting is 100W , switched on for 6 hours during the day in two intervals of 3 hours each. Ferts dosing is using a solution of KNO3+K2SO4+K3HPO4 served by a peristaltic pump thrice a week , 10 ml each time.
I then began to find out what does it take exactly to make a good quality CO2 setup. Web search yielded the following :
1. Brass fittings should be Swagelok
2. Solenoid should be Clippard or Festo or Burkert
3. Needle valve should be Clippard or Swagelok or Ideal
4. The gas should ideally flow through a pipe diameter of 1/8". This small quantity of gas flow is easier to control.
5. You need brass check valves to ensure water does not flow back into the brass components
6. A CO2 reactor mixes the gas with water and throws it into the tank ensuring uniform mixing. This is by far the best option compared to diffusers.
7. A bubble counter tells you bps - useful since the needle valve can be very precise. How precise ? 0.5 bps...yes !! Thats a bubble every 2 seconds if you go for calibrated valves.
All this costs...quite a lot. I will be frank and honest - if you have do not have support from your wife, dont go ahead....you are asking for serious trouble.
Now comes the tough part - how does one get these components in India ?
1kg cylinder
ESAB regulator
Techno solenoid
Techno needle valve
CO2 tubing (this is not supposed to turn yellow with use)
Started the setup and plants started growing very fast indeed.
Sometime 2 months back...trouble started. The solenoid stayed open. This means that it refused to stop the flow of air even when it was not receiving any current.The needle valve - well, it was quite useless to begin with and the tubing too started to turn yellow.
I need precise control of the CO2. The tank is 50 gallons and has Marseilia Hirsuta, H.Corymbosa,St.Porto Velho, E.Tenellus and Aponogenton Undulatus in it. FIlter is an Eheim Pro3, lighting is 100W , switched on for 6 hours during the day in two intervals of 3 hours each. Ferts dosing is using a solution of KNO3+K2SO4+K3HPO4 served by a peristaltic pump thrice a week , 10 ml each time.
I then began to find out what does it take exactly to make a good quality CO2 setup. Web search yielded the following :
1. Brass fittings should be Swagelok
2. Solenoid should be Clippard or Festo or Burkert
3. Needle valve should be Clippard or Swagelok or Ideal
4. The gas should ideally flow through a pipe diameter of 1/8". This small quantity of gas flow is easier to control.
5. You need brass check valves to ensure water does not flow back into the brass components
6. A CO2 reactor mixes the gas with water and throws it into the tank ensuring uniform mixing. This is by far the best option compared to diffusers.
7. A bubble counter tells you bps - useful since the needle valve can be very precise. How precise ? 0.5 bps...yes !! Thats a bubble every 2 seconds if you go for calibrated valves.
All this costs...quite a lot. I will be frank and honest - if you have do not have support from your wife, dont go ahead....you are asking for serious trouble.
Now comes the tough part - how does one get these components in India ?