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Got inspired by @Naturescapes_Rocco So I decided to do a full day of testing on my CO₂ levels yesterday for my UNS 60U before I add livestock, and I put together a graph. It was a pretty interesting test. My CO₂ comes on at 12 PM (3 hours before lights), lights run between 3–9 PM, and CO₂ shuts off at 8 PM. Injection during this test was 66 bubbles in 30 seconds, which equates to roughly (2.2 BPS)
I used an Apera PH60 for the pH curve and a Hanna HI3818 CO₂ titration kit to independently check CO₂ concentration
Current water parameters are GH 5 and KH 0
Hanna results:
12 PM (pre-injection): 8–10 ppm
3 PM (lights on): 41 ppm
8 PM: 49–51 ppm
pH went from 6.47 pre-injection → 5.61 by lights on, giving me a 0.86 pH drop by the start of the photoperiod. From there, it continued down into the ~5.5x range and plateaued through the rest of the photoperiod, putting the total drop at roughly 0.9–1.0 pH
Planned livestock is Cardinal Tetras, Pygmy cories, a few Amano shrimp, and eventually Caridina shrimp as the tank matures
What was interesting about this test was that as the photoperiod started, I was right where I wanted to be. It held a pretty steady curve, but later in the evening, just as the lights were about to go off, levels reached a little higher than I'd like. Ideally, I'd like to be somewhere around 40–45 ppm throughout the entire photoperiod, so I slightly adjusted my injection rate down to about 60 bubbles every 30 seconds, which equates to roughly (2 BPS)
I probably could've done just fine with livestock at my current rate, as I know guys like @Dennis Wong and Tom Barr run their tanks around ~50 ppm peak, but I know some shrimp, especially Caridina, can be sensitive to higher CO₂ levels. I'd rather be a little more conservative and play it safe. Plants are all doing very well
I'm going to do another full-day test at the new injection rate and see how the tank reacts. Hopefully I can balance the curve a little better and stay closer to that 40–45 ppm range throughout the entire photoperiod
I may also need to increase the CO₂ duration and start injection about 3½ hours before lights on instead of 3 hours. Ideally, I'd like CO₂ to already be around my target concentration when the lights come on rather than continuing to build afterward
Curious what those of you who run higher CO₂ with livestock think about this approach, especially those keeping shrimp. Has anyone else ever done a similar test?
I used an Apera PH60 for the pH curve and a Hanna HI3818 CO₂ titration kit to independently check CO₂ concentration
Current water parameters are GH 5 and KH 0
Hanna results:
12 PM (pre-injection): 8–10 ppm
3 PM (lights on): 41 ppm
8 PM: 49–51 ppm
pH went from 6.47 pre-injection → 5.61 by lights on, giving me a 0.86 pH drop by the start of the photoperiod. From there, it continued down into the ~5.5x range and plateaued through the rest of the photoperiod, putting the total drop at roughly 0.9–1.0 pH
Planned livestock is Cardinal Tetras, Pygmy cories, a few Amano shrimp, and eventually Caridina shrimp as the tank matures
What was interesting about this test was that as the photoperiod started, I was right where I wanted to be. It held a pretty steady curve, but later in the evening, just as the lights were about to go off, levels reached a little higher than I'd like. Ideally, I'd like to be somewhere around 40–45 ppm throughout the entire photoperiod, so I slightly adjusted my injection rate down to about 60 bubbles every 30 seconds, which equates to roughly (2 BPS)
I probably could've done just fine with livestock at my current rate, as I know guys like @Dennis Wong and Tom Barr run their tanks around ~50 ppm peak, but I know some shrimp, especially Caridina, can be sensitive to higher CO₂ levels. I'd rather be a little more conservative and play it safe. Plants are all doing very well
I'm going to do another full-day test at the new injection rate and see how the tank reacts. Hopefully I can balance the curve a little better and stay closer to that 40–45 ppm range throughout the entire photoperiod
I may also need to increase the CO₂ duration and start injection about 3½ hours before lights on instead of 3 hours. Ideally, I'd like CO₂ to already be around my target concentration when the lights come on rather than continuing to build afterward
Curious what those of you who run higher CO₂ with livestock think about this approach, especially those keeping shrimp. Has anyone else ever done a similar test?
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Staff member
I Donated 2026
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Hello Welcome, Binnhim
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @Binnhim!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
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Hi everyone, I'm curious. My pH is 0 and my GH is 7. My pH is 5.5/5.6 all day. I use CO2 24/7. My pH drop is 1.6/1.7. I degas the water with an air pump for two hours, then I check every hour until the pH becomes stable. Why does the drop control always stay green? Isn't the pH drop high for a 0KH? Should it be yellow? Or am I wrong? Thank you very much.
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814 views
Journal Quantum Entanglement
My new scape. It’s been a while. I’ve been busy finishing my novel. It’s published now so back to scaping.
It’s a classic triangular scape and I’m calling it Quantum Entanglement. It’s a working title, so I might change that. Sorry mods.
The real star is the light. Off Amazon for around $130. Fully controllable with a remote. Great value. https://amzn.eu/d/0eRX5eCo
I want to plant it with mainly buces and small anubias spp. on the rocks and wood and MC carpet, with some crypt nevellii or C. X Willisii, and stauro in the shady parts and maybe a ludwigia mini super red highlight behind the last rock on the left.
It’s a classic triangular scape and I’m calling it Quantum Entanglement. It’s a working title, so I might change that. Sorry mods.
The real star is the light. Off Amazon for around $130. Fully controllable with a remote. Great value. https://amzn.eu/d/0eRX5eCo
I want to plant it with mainly buces and small anubias spp. on the rocks and wood and MC carpet, with some crypt nevellii or C. X Willisii, and stauro in the shady parts and maybe a ludwigia mini super red highlight behind the last rock on the left.
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314 views
I feel i need to do a journal so I have a internet calendar on what's happened or Ill forget lol! This is now 4 months back into the planted tank world and I'm happy to be back yet lost on true aquascapingI I have a current 29g as a farm tank for future builds going. zrdr 4l co2 bought locally full setup for 40.00, 29g free. A 20long I just bought with metal stand, hygger decent new led light.new heater. few foam bubble filters, ar a nice dual air pump. some new stratum about 16lbs , tons of good food, etc etc and 6 live plants crypts, swords, anubis about 30 stems of rotundifolia 12" tall for 85,00 it was a decent deal with what is came with , I thought!
Original plans was a 29 and 20 long. Well 3 weeks forward to 3 days ago picked up a free 36 bow front with stand, foods.heater, some dragon stone, bubbler all working freeby deal of the year for sure! The tanks pretty clean, some light hard water stains lll razor blade off very clean. Did come with about 35lbs stratum and blk rocks mix.
I threw substrate in tank after light rinse. LOL it went to pitch blk even after 2 big filters with filter floss still blk water after 36 hours later its muck now the stratum is crap imo other than deeper substrate to cover up with build. I have no clue on any age of the stratum 2 months or 5 years no info was free on side of road literally. I decided today to dump the stratum its a dam mess! may strain the stratum with my several size buckets to strain out small materials away from the blk gravel and use it with eco!? Just got 2 20lb bags of eco complete for 55 shipped my 2005 go to, easy no breakdown and same cost as bulk gravel from pet stores in the end.
I Would do the blk blasting sand its cheaper but don't want all sand and in end as I still do some gravel clean monthly oops.. The eco complete last imo forever I have 20 year old eco now in tank. Yeah its inert but still whole rocks. I"Ill be posting many pics of the my dry scapes holy hell! And more as it goes. Its been 19 years since I've done a planted tank def not a newbie just don't remember as much as I did and things have changed any help appreciated for sure! Joe burr has been help sure thanks dutchscape god!
Posted few pics of old tanks 19 years ago when I didn't know what an aquascape was lol no co2 just dry ferts, metride 14 and power compacts it worked! algae was very null. Im calling my new tanks the cheap skape 20 and now 36g the freebie. I usually try to go cheapo as I can get Im not rich rather spend 30.00 on steaks at home than 30.00 on stems lol. I'm mr diy I only buy what I cant build usually.
Original plans was a 29 and 20 long. Well 3 weeks forward to 3 days ago picked up a free 36 bow front with stand, foods.heater, some dragon stone, bubbler all working freeby deal of the year for sure! The tanks pretty clean, some light hard water stains lll razor blade off very clean. Did come with about 35lbs stratum and blk rocks mix.
I threw substrate in tank after light rinse. LOL it went to pitch blk even after 2 big filters with filter floss still blk water after 36 hours later its muck now the stratum is crap imo other than deeper substrate to cover up with build. I have no clue on any age of the stratum 2 months or 5 years no info was free on side of road literally. I decided today to dump the stratum its a dam mess! may strain the stratum with my several size buckets to strain out small materials away from the blk gravel and use it with eco!? Just got 2 20lb bags of eco complete for 55 shipped my 2005 go to, easy no breakdown and same cost as bulk gravel from pet stores in the end.
I Would do the blk blasting sand its cheaper but don't want all sand and in end as I still do some gravel clean monthly oops.. The eco complete last imo forever I have 20 year old eco now in tank. Yeah its inert but still whole rocks. I"Ill be posting many pics of the my dry scapes holy hell! And more as it goes. Its been 19 years since I've done a planted tank def not a newbie just don't remember as much as I did and things have changed any help appreciated for sure! Joe burr has been help sure thanks dutchscape god!
Posted few pics of old tanks 19 years ago when I didn't know what an aquascape was lol no co2 just dry ferts, metride 14 and power compacts it worked! algae was very null. Im calling my new tanks the cheap skape 20 and now 36g the freebie. I usually try to go cheapo as I can get Im not rich rather spend 30.00 on steaks at home than 30.00 on stems lol. I'm mr diy I only buy what I cant build usually.
19 Replies
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1188 views
Supporting
I Donated 2026
Rockstar
I hadn't seen it mentioned by others that attended Aquashella, but if you hadn't already heard about it or seen it in Aquashella videos, ADA has come out with Amazonia Pro. It's not a replacement for Version 2, but an addition. It is essentially Version 2 on steroids with higher nutrients and of course the negative side effect of potentially higher initial ammonia leaching and, if your not prepared and skilled, more chance of algae. That's even from the mouth of Homma-san himself. The scaping competitors were using it in the competition and AFA was selling 9l bags at the show. They said it would be available on the website within the next couple weeks.
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947 views
In my never ending quest to piddle around, I have been looking at setting up a nano eco tank/bowl with minimum maintenance. The main issue I have is controlling the temp. The temps in my house fluctuate between 68 - 71 degree regularly and can drop to lower 60s a few weeks in the fall and spring when we do not have the heater on.
Has anyone thought about or had success using an animal heating pad under the bowl/tank? While most are designed for reptiles and regulate between 100-120F, there are some for more mixed use that can be controlled from 68F and up. I don't think this would be too hard to set up. Could be to keep the inside of the tank clear of equipment. Radiant floor heating for your shrimp/fish.
Heating Pad
Has anyone thought about or had success using an animal heating pad under the bowl/tank? While most are designed for reptiles and regulate between 100-120F, there are some for more mixed use that can be controlled from 68F and up. I don't think this would be too hard to set up. Could be to keep the inside of the tank clear of equipment. Radiant floor heating for your shrimp/fish.
Heating Pad
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129 views
Hello, can anyone running the ARC small acrylic reactor on a 40 breeder tell me what your outlet position is and what ph drop or co2 ppm you are getting?
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I Donated 2026
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Let's get this party started.
LANDEN Aquarium Shallow 22 Gallon Ultra Clear Glass Rimless Fish Tank 75S
LANDEN Aquarium Shallow 22 Gallon Ultra Clear Glass Rimless Fish Tank 75S
3 Replies
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67 views
Staff member
I Donated 2026
Founding Member
Hello Welcome, ROWEBLAST
Welcome to ScapeCrunch, @ROWEBLAST!
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
We would love to get to know you. Please tell us about yourself. What tank do you have?
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Supporting
Expert in Residence
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Article Contributor
I want to thank @Unexpected for introducing me to this new forum, but most importantly for him being the first ever to build the Horizontal CO2 Reactor. I feel honored that "Yugang Reactor" as he calls it (Yugang 鱼缸 means fish tank) is introduced in @Unexpected journal, but it would be a pity if that journal gets cluttered with too much reactor talk. So let me open a dedicated thread for discussions, questions and help on this Horizontal Reactor.
I have been experimenting for years with CO2, and at some time I took videos of my (modified) Aquamedic reactor to watch the bubbles in slow motion. To my surprise I found that the combined surface area of the bubbles was not very high for achieving a 1.5 pH drop in my 250 liter tank, and that CO2 absorbs so fast in water that the lifetime of bubbles is quite short. So .... we don't need to juggle bubbles at all, we can just create a very simple absorption interface between flowing water and a pocket of CO2 above it. The Horizontal reactor is surprisingly simple, and has some benefits that we won't find in diffusers or conventional Cerges / Griggs bubble reactors:
Or a multi stage version ...
A detailed thread can be found on UKAPS, linked with the kind permission from Scapecrunch forum moderators #1
I am happy to help new users to verify the calculations on reactor dimensions for their tank, please send me a PM.
I have been experimenting for years with CO2, and at some time I took videos of my (modified) Aquamedic reactor to watch the bubbles in slow motion. To my surprise I found that the combined surface area of the bubbles was not very high for achieving a 1.5 pH drop in my 250 liter tank, and that CO2 absorbs so fast in water that the lifetime of bubbles is quite short. So .... we don't need to juggle bubbles at all, we can just create a very simple absorption interface between flowing water and a pocket of CO2 above it. The Horizontal reactor is surprisingly simple, and has some benefits that we won't find in diffusers or conventional Cerges / Griggs bubble reactors:
- Simple rules to find the correct dimensions for any tank, a small nano tank or a huge tank the size of a swimming pool.
- Very easy and cheap to build with plumbing materials. No fragile parts, low risk of leakage or malfunction.
- 100% CO2 absorption efficiency
- No need to experiment with vortices, venturis, diffusers, needles wheels, impellers / rotors, multi stage reactors - it is just a pipe with a gentle flow of water.
- No noise
- No mist in the tank
- No maintenance, and stable performance over time
- Virtually no reduction of flow from pump
- A purging valve is optional, as the reactor will purge itself from excessive trapped air.
- The reactor can be configured so that in the event of a failure, CO2 injection will not exceed a limit and fish cannot be gassed. Inherently safe.
- The reactor can be configured so that we do not need a precision regulator, because the reactor controls the CO2 injection rate
Or a multi stage version ...
A detailed thread can be found on UKAPS, linked with the kind permission from Scapecrunch forum moderators #1
I am happy to help new users to verify the calculations on reactor dimensions for their tank, please send me a PM.
533 Replies
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98047 views