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Hi all,

Hope someone out there can give me some info on the Sera CO2 tablet system. Would like to give it a go, seems really easy to do but I would like to hear some feedback from anyone who has used this system.

I'm thinking the results may not be as good as having a proper co2 system in place. I have been using the Sera Florena as Flourish products are really hard to find locally to where I live.

Looking forward to your comments.

Crusha /:'

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

Hi Crusha,

I don't have any experience with this product, but anything for which you have to buy specialized refills is a minus in my book. The cost will build up over time. Instead I would get the Red Sea Bio-CO2 kit, which is essentially a DIY yeast/sugar CO2 system. The advantage is you can make your own mixture cheaply (just use sugar, yeast, and water) to replenish it. Of course you can also make your own DIY system using a soda bottle and it will work just as well, but I just couldn't be bothered.

You can read about my current experience with the Red Sea kit here.

Cheers!

-P

Would the Red Sea Bio-CO2 be ok for a 55 gallon aquarium? Maybe the sera tablet method wont work on larger aquariums?

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

You'll need to supplement it with another bottle or two for that size tank. I think it's recommended up to 160L, but personally I think a bottle is only enough for a 20-30g tank. Not sure about the Sera tablet, but I doubt it will be sufficient for such a large aquarium. I think for larger aquariums it's more cost and time efficent to go all out with a pressurized system instead of DIY. That's why I keep my planted 42g low tech (non CO2).

-P

Hi , just thought i'd chip in here with my recent experience with diy co2. I had it working fine on my 30 gallon and decided to try it out on my 55 gallon using 6lts instead of 2lts of mixture..

I set up a 2lt pepsi bottle(pet) and a 4lt glass bottle in tandem thru a separator/bubble counter 1.25lt pet bottle. this then feeds into my canister filter inlet..

I dropped my ph from 7.5 to 6.85 , kh is 4.6 or 82ppm.
according to chuck gadds calculator thats 20ppm , so thats working fine for me.

I use 1 level teaspoon of yeast with 2 cups of sugar in the 2lt and 3 cups of sugar in the 4lt...and a pinch of baking soda....

Thanks for your replies ... it all sounds so hi-tech to me!

I think i'll do a little more research before I launch into the tablet method. Spoke to the assistant at the lfs and they told me the Sera would do up to 200 litres (not sure how many gallons? I would say around 55).

Cheers everyone
Crusha

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

200L is about 53 US gallons.

I am also running DIY CO2 right now on my 40G. I have three 2L bottles of brew hooked up. Two are running into a bubble ladder/counter. The other into a corelife limewood air stone. I have not tested to see how much CO2 this is but my plants are doing well and my fish are not freaking out. The only down side to this method is you have to say on top of changing the brew. I do it about once every week and a half to two weeks just to keep the system running the best it can.

gmonster,
Thanks for posting your readings on your DIY CO2. I have been looking to find out how much I might be running for a while now. (Just really don't want to buy a test kit...and if my fish and plants are both doing fine then there is nothing to worry about.)

crusha,
Ok so you are running a 200L tank. How much light do you have on it? What plants are you using? You might not have to go through all the trouble of running CO2 if you have mid to low light on the tank and low demanding plants.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Wingsdlc

Can you tell me how to work out the wpg for lighting, is it to divide the light wattage by the tank capacity or is it the other way around???

I have anubias, a few different varieties, which I know are low-light and a couple of swords. They all seem to be growing ok so maybe I dont need it.

I know that my wpg will be low, the tube is only 36watts.

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

Watt/Gallons

You might be able to get away with out it.

55G Planted tank thread
19G Container Pond
[IMG]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y118/Wingsdlc/Ric

Thank you Wingsdlc. It works out to .67wpg. Do you think I can get away without the CO2?? I leave the lights on for roughly 10hrs each day.

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

Yes you can, but you only have a limited range of plants to play with (not that's a bad thing either). I kept my 42g at the same light level (0.7wpg) for almost a year using only low-light plants and they all grew quite well (albeit very slowly) and no annoying algae. The trick is to minimize surface agitation to minimize any CO2 in the water from escaping (I put the outflow from my canister just below water level) and to space out your water changes (I do it every 1-2 months, when the plants need pruning). Plants can adapt to low CO2 levels by using special enzymes, but water changes add CO2 back in the water, thus destroying those enzymes.

You can read more about it here.

-P