Best position for co2 diffuser?

I just set up the neo co2 DIY kit on my 29 gal. I'm not looking to completely high tech but want to dip my toes into co2 for the first time so I just wanted a little boost to my planted tank to see the capabilities of co2 before I invest in a full blown system. I'm running one bottle on this tank as a test (I'm going to rescape my 12g long and will be running another one of these DIYs on it but wanted to try it with a larger tank volume first), although buceplant suggests 1 per 20 gal so i should probably have 2 if I wanted to hit 30ppm. The other thing is that I'm running a large sponge filter as well. I know that means I'm gassing out a lot of the co2, but since there is no way to shut off the co2 on this kit, I'd rather have less than more. Its been running for over an hour now, drop checker is still blue but I expect it to stay there even when the lights are out. Looks to be the co2 is in full blast now, coming out at around 2-3bps but it's hard to eyeball without a bubble counter. Can someone tell me where they think the best placement for my diffuser is? I'm trying to get the most out of it before the sponge gasses it out. Right now I have it way at the bottom, with the bubble stream right infront of my canister outflow. I originally had it on the other side of the tank, but the area was a bit of a dead spot and the bubbles were mainly staying in that corner instead of getting pushed around the tank. Thank you for the advice! I'm very new to co2!




In the far left of the picture you can see the large bubbles from the sponge, then the fine bubbles from the diffuser being curved to the left by the filter output. Basically the bubbles float up, get pushed to the left by the outflow, half go to the rest of the tank and half get pushed directly into the bubbles from my sponge filter. Im wondering if there may be a better placement for the diffuser to get more co2 dissolved into the water.

 

Placement in the tank is important. Diffuser should be placed in the down wash current; see picture below. Given the circulation flow pattern produced by the filter outflow; diffuser should be placed at where the blue X is. The current should carry the bubbles from the blue all the way to the other end of the tank.

i found this ^ and i have mine on the left wall of my sword at the bottom in this image and the other image is the example and what i used

 

Placement in the tank is important. Diffuser should be placed in the down wash current; see picture below. Given the circulation flow pattern produced by the filter outflow; diffuser should be placed at where the blue X is. The current should carry the bubbles from the blue all the way to the other end of the tank.

i found this ^ and i have mine on the left wall of my sword at the bottom in this image and the other image is the example and what i used

View attachment 790068 View attachment 790069

Cool tanks! Actually, I tried my diffuser in the same placement where it is in your second picture but it was a dead spot and most of the bubbles were hanging out in that corner. Where I have it now there's pretty good dispersement all over the tank (drop checker hit green finally while I was at dinner) but most of the bubbles are higher up in the water, not as many down low. Also, should I pull the diffuser out at night or do you think my fish will be OK at night given there's my sponge filter providing oxygen?

 

Cool tanks! Actually, I tried my diffuser in the same placement where it is in your second picture but it was a dead spot and most of the bubbles were hanging out in that corner. Where I have it now there's pretty good dispersement all over the tank (drop checker hit green finally while I was at dinner) but most of the bubbles are higher up in the water, not as many down low. Also, should I pull the diffuser out at night or do you think my fish will be OK at night given there's my sponge filter providing oxygen?

the second picture isnt one of my tanks it was just a guide i used along with the above text

what do you mean pull it out at night? just leave it where it is. if you mean turn if off? definitely have your co2 turned off. usually an hour before you turn the lights off. if you ran co2 when there is nothing in your tank using it. it will just suffocate your fish. i have my light and my co2 on seperate timers though i am using a regulator that is powered. i guess you would call a full blown system i guess. co2 turns on at 9am lights go on at 10am (co2 needs to pressurize the diffusor so it takes a while to start output) co2 goes off at 5pm, lights go off at 6pm (currently) so yeah dont leave your co2 on unless your lights are on and your plants are using it

edit: just looked up the kit , and now realized that yours is like an auto thingand dont have the option to "turn it off" i guess you would take it out. ive never used a diy kit. but you would be pumping in co2 for no reason because your plants arent using it so it would just be making it harder for fish to breath. if at all. but since you would be using co2 regardless. i guess you would take it out

when i started i used some kit with cartridges or something. but turns out that was just a waste of money because those cartridges go out so fast and you had to manually turn the thing on and off and that was not practical because you couldnt keep the time frams constant(at least i couldnt) switching to using a 5lb cylinder was definitely the way to go as i only have to refill it like once a year maybe two(using a 29 galon)? im not counting.

if you want to make your co2 amount simple for your tank bps is useful but this is cool imo. get yourself a checker . is super simple. green is enough blue is too low and yellow is too much.

https://www.amazon.com/Solution-Qui...ocphy=9031536&hvtargid=pla-351099160781&psc=1

 

the second picture isnt one of my tanks it was just a guide i used along with the above text

what do you mean pull it out at night? just leave it where it is. if you mean turn if off? definitely have your co2 turned off. usually an hour before you turn the lights off. if you ran co2 when there is nothing in your tank using it. it will just suffocate your fish. i have my light and my co2 on seperate timers though i am using a regulator that is powered. i guess you would call a full blown system i guess. co2 turns on at 9am lights go on at 10am (co2 needs to pressurize the diffusor so it takes a while to start output) co2 goes off at 5pm, lights go off at 6pm (currently) so yeah dont leave your co2 on unless your lights are on and your plants are using it

edit: just looked up the kit , and now realized that yours is like an auto thingand dont have the option to "turn it off" i guess you would take it out. ive never used a diy kit. but you would be pumping in co2 for no reason because your plants arent using it so it would just be making it harder for fish to breath. if at all. but since you would be using co2 regardless. i guess you would take it out

when i started i used some kit with cartridges or something. but turns out that was just a waste of money because those cartridges go out so fast and you had to manually turn the thing on and off and that was not practical because you couldnt keep the time frams constant(at least i couldnt) switching to using a 5lb cylinder was definitely the way to go as i only have to refill it like once a year maybe two? im not counting.

Yeah I can't shut it off or regulate co2. It's just a starter kit to see if I like co2 injection enough to start investing in real systems. I'll probably end up doing pressurized with the aquatek paintball adapter and get like 5lb canisters filled at my local welding shop. But I like this DIY kit so far. I'm going to try just running it 24/7 since I have a sponge filter most of it gasses out either way. I'm probably only pushing 10-20 ppm of co2. Worst case I can just pull the diffuser at night, it's wasting co2 no matter what so I might as well try it in the tank first. I checked the drop checker after 1 hour of lights off so far its the same color as when the lights were on, dark green.

 

Yeah I can't shut it off or regulate co2. It's just a starter kit to see if I like co2 injection enough to start investing in real systems. I'll probably end up doing pressurized with the aquatek paintball adapter and get like 5lb canisters filled at my local welding shop. But I like this DIY kit so far. I'm going to try just running it 24/7 since I have a sponge filter most of it gasses out either way. I'm probably only pushing 10-20 ppm of co2. Worst case I can just pull the diffuser at night, it's wasting co2 no matter what so I might as well try it in the tank first. I checked the drop checker after 1 hour of lights off so far its the same color as when the lights were on, dark green.

yeah i read it takes a while for the drop checker to update. so it could be fine. pretty sure you want your day time to be bright green though thats probably not bad

 

yeah i read it takes a while for the drop checker to update. so it could be fine. pretty sure you want your day time to be bright green though thats probably not bad

Just woke up in the middle of the night to check the drop checker and fish, drop checker is still green and all the fish are at the bottom "sleeping", no one was at the surface gasping. I probably won't be able to achieve lime green on the drop checker (30ppm). Technically I should have 2 of these DIY kits for my tank volume and again, I run a large sponge which does gas off some co2 so I never expected to hit 30ppm but I'm fine with that as I don't have any high requirement plants in this tank anyways. Currently I have 2 lights on this tank, one light runs for 6.5 hours and the second light flips on for 2 hours midday, acting as sort of a "high noon" effect.

 

Just woke up in the middle of the night to check the drop checker and fish, drop checker is still green and all the fish are at the bottom "sleeping", no one was at the surface gasping. I probably won't be able to achieve lime green on the drop checker (30ppm). Technically I should have 2 of these DIY kits for my tank volume and again, I run a large sponge which does gas off some co2 so I never expected to hit 30ppm but I'm fine with that as I don't have any high requirement plants in this tank anyways. Currently I have 2 lights on this tank, one light runs for 6.5 hours and the second light flips on for 2 hours midday, acting as sort of a "high noon" effect.

eh. i just run my light for 8 hours. i have one of those 24/7 light fixture things that supposed to simulate the day/night cycle(i dont really see it), but they are pretty much just a gimmick imo also my tank is in my bedroom. so cant be having those 24/7 lights

 

eh. i just run my light for 8 hours. i have one of those 24/7 light fixture things that supposed to simulate the day/night cycle(i dont really see it), but they are pretty much just a gimmick imo also my tank is in my bedroom. so cant be having those 24/7 lights

I just have all my lights on timers lol! I have 2 current satellites on this tank, I like them because i can program different cloud cover settings but usually I just run the highest white and blue and then the second light that comes on for a few hours I have slightly dimmed. Eventually when I get into pressurized co2 I'll just run that on a timer as well.

 

yeah. everything is on timers. except my feeder . im either that lazy or its too much work

 

yeah. everything is on timers. except my feeder . im either that lazy or its too much work

I used to think timers were a waste of money until I found some old school mechanical ones on Amazon for like $11 for 2 of them, and now every tank I have has timers on the lights. Now I realize how much of a luxury it is to literally never have to worry about turning them all on before I leave for work in the morning and off at night before I go to bed. Helped solve some algae issues too