# Quick ? before I get it started



## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Got a quick ? about the bubble counter-Does this need to have water added to it-If so how much? Also does it need to be filled with water before I start up the canister filter? which everything will be powerd by-

On another note as well-Do I need to wait until I have started the cannister before I turn on the valvce for my co2?-How exactly will this work-Ne help would be greatly appreciated-


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## therizman1 (Jan 6, 2006)

One very key question... do you have anything to prevent water from flowing back into your regulator when your CO2 isnt running... like an inline check valve?

You do need to have water in your bubble counter so you can count bubbles... depends on the model, but most you fill around half way.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

you're gonna want a couple check valves. one between the regulator and the bubble counter. fill the BC enough so you can count the bubbles goin thru. it dosen't have to be filled ALL the way up tho. Then you're gonna want another check valve between the BC and the diffuser/tank/whatever.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

therizman1 said:


> you're gonna want a couple check valves. one between the regulator and the bubble counter. fill the BC enough so you can count the bubbles goin thru. it dosen't have to be filled ALL the way up tho. Then you're gonna want another check valve between the BC and the diffuser/tank/whatever.


For the life of me man i can't think of what check valves are exactly-But I will be uploading some pics today to better show what I am talking about-How do I know how many bubble I will need going through this?-Can you possibly show me what one of these check valves are that you are talking about-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Check valves = one way inline air adapters.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> Check valves = one way inline air adapters.


Dont believe I have ne of these-Now I believe I am going to run into problems as well-I have plants arriving today-How long will they survive with just light and ferts-i will be placine an order today-But I wont recieve it until late this week maybe next week-before I might beable to get my co2 setup going-


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

Here is what i have for this guys-

























And just to show the trouble I am still having here with the water-Tryin to just clear out the sh*t-Thats why the cheap crappy filters-
This is after a day of water changes about a good five hours straight of nothing but water changes-And gravel vaccing-LOL-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

you deff want the check valves in there. most likley there is one built in to the bottom of that bubble counter. so that saves you from water getting into the regulator. But you still should go pic up one for the other end. I think you can go ahead and set it up as it is and get the check valve as soon as possible.


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

looks good man....the fluorite is a pain in the ass to get settled. It took me about 3 days to get the water clear in my 75 gal, not to mention that the cloudiness would return slightly every time the substrate got kicked up by the pygos., there


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> looks good man....the fluorite is a pain in the ass to get settled. It took me about 3 days to get the water clear in my 75 gal, not to mention that the cloudiness would return slightly every time the substrate got kicked up by the pygos., there


Tell me about it man-I started this about five or six days agao-And am still haveing problems getting it settled-But I refuse to put n ekind of exspensive filtration on there-I dont want to ruin one-Thanksfully I will have one solo 6 inch gold mac in this setup-So hopefully that wont happen to often-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

The Selinoid, plug in it opens the supply of CO2. Unplug it turns it off. your PH controler or a timer will control that part. It should be closed when not powered. 
the check valve should be installed between the Selinoid and the bubble counter.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> The Selinoid, plug in it opens the supply of CO2. Unplug it turns it off. your PH controler or a timer will control that part. It should be closed when not powered.
> the check valve should be installed between the Selinoid and the bubble counter.


Well I have both-So which one should actually run it-The controller or the Timer-Or do I run the controller into the timer as well?

So I have to redo what I have setup already-

Does ne one have pics of one of these check valves they could show me-It would be greatly appreciated-Thanks-I have a ton of extra parts-But have no clue what they are used for-I would hate to go and buy something that I already have-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

Here is a high quality one sold by www.rexgrigg.com










Heres a cheap one that petco sells for 1.99








you can get the 2nd type but it will need to be replaced.

As for controler vs timer. Its really up to you. you have the controler so I would make use of it. But it is a either or situation. either you do semi auto with the timer and it is on all day and off at night. OR the controler where its on all day and night but only releases co2 to adjust the PH. 
with the PH controler you need to know a couple things. what your starting PH is. And what your goal PH is. Generally its semi safe to say that adding 30ppm of CO2 will drop your PH about 1 full point. So if you start with PH of 7.6 you would want a target PH of about 6.6. If the fish seem to be gasping for air at that level you would want to adjust it up.


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

LOL-Ne onjust want to buy a kick ass setup-

Damn this is getting confusing to me-

I will see if I can make heads or tails out of all of this-

Thanks for the help guys-

I have some of them check Valves already-thanks for the pics-


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

if you've got the controller you should use it like BS said.....it saves you gas

Also...and this is speaking from personal experience....make sure you're params are stable before you add the co2. Especially KH.....
My water had aboslutley no buffering capacity, so after a week of timed c02 application (day on and night off), i noticed that my ph was dropping to unsafe levels. At least with the controller, you can watch and see if there are any crazy ph swings occuring.


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

GODDAMNIT!! YOU ARE NOT SELLING THIS SETUP!! YOU WILL HAVE A PLANTED TANK WETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!!


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

This right-









Not this-











BlackSunshine said:


> GODDAMNIT!! YOU ARE NOT SELLING THIS SETUP!! YOU WILL HAVE A PLANTED TANK WETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT!!!


LOL-Just getting frustrated at trying tounderstand this-I wont sell ne time soon-I would love to get this figured out man-


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## flashover00 (Oct 19, 2006)

use the top one...the pinpoint controller

Make sure to properly calibrate the orb


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

flashover00 said:


> use the top one...the pinpoint controller
> 
> Make sure to properly calibrate the orb


I will work on getting it setup as well-Thanks for the help once again Guys-


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## BlackSunshine (Mar 28, 2006)

I dunno if you have it already. But heres a link to the instruction manual for that controler. It should shed some light on how to get it setup 
http://www.americanmarineusa.com/phcontroller.html

and here is the main site.
http://www.americanmarineusa.com/


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## AKSkirmish (Jun 24, 2005)

BlackSunshine said:


> I dunno if you have it already. But heres a link to the instruction manual for that controler. It should shed some light on how to get it setup
> http://www.americanmarineusa.com/phcontroller.html
> 
> and here is the main site.
> http://www.americanmarineusa.com/


Nah man-That will help a great deal sir-Thanks-Dippy gave me some instructions on setting this up as well-


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