Misting co2

[Jubs]

I setup a new misting system so I figured I would post a how to on it.

I used a Fluval Plus 1 internal filter


I drilled a hole for the co2 line to go into the side of the filter, this will suck the co2 into the filter and chop up the co2 into micro bubbles and shot them across the tank. Adds more circulation to the tank as well.


Put the line into the filter like so


Reassemble the filter


Put in the back corner of the tank


Here it is in action, I just blew into the line as I didn't have the co2 set up yet, but you get the idea

[Carr]

Nice. My internal filter came with a hole for adding airration...I just used that and it really works great I have to say. Works better than any other diy diffusion method I've tried.

[Jubs]

I agree I have tried everything but inline on a cannister with limited success and this method has worked great for me as well. I have always used the intake side to do this, are you using the venturi port on yours?

[Carr]

I'm not sure exactly what it is...no I don't think it's exactly a venturi port because it doesn't really suck anything through. It's just a little hole on the front....the UVC LED's are inside and this hole is on the housing where they are, so the co2 gets sort of sucked into the same area where the water is being UV'd. There is another hole I could use that's just on the top of the outlet port housing....that would be more of a venturi thing. But the co2 doesn't really get chopped up that way, this way it has to go through the impeller and stuff first and it works better for making the bubbles super tiny. One other thing I discovered the other day is that if there is a lot of moisture in the co2 lines it makes the co2 come up in sort of large bursts as opposed to a constant small stream. The large bursts don't work as well because the bubbles come out kind of big and a number will just float directly up. After I cleaned out my lines by spinning them around like a crazy person around the living room (centrifugal force) the co2 came out in a much steadier stream and the bubbles are super tiny. Plus I added more yeast too which helps but I think it was the moisture buildup causing the erratic co2 bubbles.

[Jubs]

Oh ok yeah I was wondering if you were getting it chopped up by the impeller or not. It's not really effective if they aren't, I didn't know the pump had another hole in it like that. That's an even better selling point for me I might have to look more into that pump.

[helenf]

I'm currently using the system described below (converted Elite Mini filter) to diffuse CO2 into my tank.   

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-yourself-aquarium-projects/44053-tiny-super-efficient-co2-reactor.html

The basic idea is like Jub's thing.  I have the CO2 airline going into the bottom of the filter, attached to an airstone, so the airstone breaks the CO2 into small bubbles, that are smashed up by the impeller into tiny bubbles, that shout out the filter exit and (mostly) get caught in the sponge over the outlet.

As I understand it, the idea is that if you use a sponge to catch the bubble, rather than have them shoot around the tank, more of the CO2 in the bubbles gets dissolved by the water exiting the filter, so you get better diffusion.    It makes sense to me.    My diffuser gets a few tiny bubbles floating off the top of the sponge with each CO2 bubble going into the system, but I know that most of the CO2 stays in the sponge until it dissolves, because when I squeeze the sponge all this CO2 comes out. 

But if you read the thread (its quite long), some people seemed to think it's better to not use the sponge and have the bubbles shoot around the tank.  I've not tried that (yet). 

Does anyone have an opinion of the benefits of having little bubbles shooting around the tank (and then presumably rising to the top) as compared to having little bubbles caught in a sponge which has water flowing through it?  I've have thought you'd get more efficient dissolving of the CO2 with the sponge and better spread of it around the tank without the sponge, but not sure.

It's interesting!

[bughole]

I had my 75g setup with the co2 running through an airstone below the intake of a powerhead.It did a great job.But the 5lb tank of co2 did empty quick,so I changed this setup to what I had on my 60g and 110g.I ran it into the canister filter.I used a magnum 350 for this because the impeller is in the bottom.I found that I could controll the co2 levels easier and had 100% of the co2 going into the tank.A 5lb tank of co2 would last for 6-7 months on the 75g.

[Jubs]

I'm currently using the system described below (converted Elite Mini filter) to diffuse CO2 into my tank.   

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/do-yourself-aquarium-projects/44053-tiny-super-efficient-co2-reactor.html

The basic idea is like Jub's thing.  I have the CO2 airline going into the bottom of the filter, attached to an airstone, so the airstone breaks the CO2 into small bubbles, that are smashed up by the impeller into tiny bubbles, that shout out the filter exit and (mostly) get caught in the sponge over the outlet.

As I understand it, the idea is that if you use a sponge to catch the bubble, rather than have them shoot around the tank, more of the CO2 in the bubbles gets dissolved by the water exiting the filter, so you get better diffusion.    It makes sense to me.    My diffuser gets a few tiny bubbles floating off the top of the sponge with each CO2 bubble going into the system, but I know that most of the CO2 stays in the sponge until it dissolves, because when I squeeze the sponge all this CO2 comes out. 

But if you read the thread (its quite long), some people seemed to think it's better to not use the sponge and have the bubbles shoot around the tank.  I've not tried that (yet). 

Does anyone have an opinion of the benefits of having little bubbles shooting around the tank (and then presumably rising to the top) as compared to having little bubbles caught in a sponge which has water flowing through it?  I've have thought you'd get more efficient dissolving of the CO2 with the sponge and better spread of it around the tank without the sponge, but not sure.

It's interesting!

What I was gathering from a quick skim of that thread is that he liked the fact it was going up from the sponge and into his cannister filter intake. Then he tried it without and got better co2 levels. I like it this way as it spreads out and circulates the co2 better around the tank. If I end up putting one of my extra cannisters on there I will be doing inline as well. I need to go pressurized but have just been putting it off for some reason but I think I will have to spend the money soon.

[Essabee]

I have read Tom Barr writting about micro CO2 bubbles mist getting more plant growth than dissolved CO2 in an experiment by him. The only draw back is some may like the looks of their tank with micro-bubble mist some may not.

[Carr]

The thing is that if the bubbles are small enough they don't really rise right to the top anyway. Mine shoot across the entire 30" length of the tank and then lots of them even get trapped under the plant leaves so they are all acting as mini diffusers. It makes it hard to tell if things are pearling or if it's just co2, but I think it looks neat and the fish seem to like it. The input on my filter is after the sponge (at the point where it's getting the UVC), so it just goes through the impeller and then out so there's nothing to really stop the bubbles.