fire extinguisher co2 set up

can any body give me some insite on how to set up a c02 fe set up? and how will i be able to stop a ph crash ?

after having scouted the net im left frazzled with the whole situation! obviously it comes down to tank size ect but if i had some straight forward info i might be abl to start getting my head round it!!

HELLLLPPPP

it is not a straight forward thing so a straight forward answer is nigh on impossible but I have done a lot of research into this and have run CO2 in the past so here goes.

Using a presurised CO2 cylinder there are three ways of doing this. First is to just have the CO2 bubbling into the tank at a constant rate. This will help the plant grow a bit but you with either be running at low concentrations of CO2 which makes the whole exercise useless or causing huge fluctuations in the pH level and killing your plants and fish.

The second option is to go with a solinoid setup which will turn the flow of gas off and on. this is generally attached to a timer that comes on an hour after lights on and shuts off half an hour before lights off. This means that the CO2 is only pumping when the plants need it. this will reduce the pH swing but not eliminate it. Again you will be aiming to run the CO2 at a lower concentration than optimum as you do not want to risk running it too high.

The final option is to attach the solinoid to a pH controler which will regulate when the CO2 is pumping. As the pH drops too low the controller will turn the gas off, as the plants use the CO2 and the pH rises it will switch it back on again. This allows you to maintain the optimum pH concentration without risk to your fish.

I never recommend anything but number 3 as even with that there are still pitfals and you can easily kill off an entire tank of fish. And i am not just running my mouth here, i lost $100s of discus when i first started as i measured my KH wrong and set the pH too low.

The other thing is that fire extinguishers do not use food grade CO2. They use a very crude CO2 that is full of impurities and who knows what else. I would be using food grade CO2 avaliable from most big aquarium stores or better (and cheaper) from home brewing places. Much better stuff. Not to mention beer tastings

These days it is quite cheap to set up a fully automatic CO2 system. i set mine up for $750ish with two bottles and an external reactor and like i said I would be going this way or not at all. DIY CO2 can be fun and does work but it is only ever a low concentration of CO2 which is good for a plant boost but not for the full glory of CO2.

Hope that helps

Thanks Doug, the 3rd is the way I want/wanted to go, ive used diy o2 a few times successfully but it clearly has its problems im guessing a in depth chat with my lfs is the real option cos I dont want to wipe out my wild angels :@

be careful even with that. You need to find someone who has done it before. I got all my advice from a shop from a guy who claimed he had all the answers and infact had never done it before...hence the loss of fish. here is what i suggest.

1) buy your gear. Online is a good idea as it is massivly cheaper. I bought the CO2 Pro kit which had almost all the gear i needed and it is all good gear. I then bought a pH controller and an external reactor (not included in the kit). The controller for obvious reasons and the external reactor to make the whole thing more effecient.

2) buy a KH test kit

3) set the whole thing up on the tank. without opening the bottle up! make sure you calibrate your pH controller properly (should have instructions on this in the box)

4) see what the pH and KH of the tank is

5) use this table to set your desired pH, the pH along the top is what you are going to set your system to, you are aiming for the green section, about 25 is a nice safe bet.

6) turn it on and enjoy!