Co2 & water change?

[JoeQ]

How should I handle water changes on a tank with co2? Do I turn it off the night before,  and change early in the morning? Do l I keep it on and do my water change later in the day? What I'm trying to do is avoid rapid changes (mainly for the inhabitants). But at 1 bubble per second, does it really even matter? What's the general procedure among guys running co2?

Edited December 6, 2022 by JoeQ

[Jungle Fan]

My CO2 keeps bubbling along while I do my water changes, never harmed my fish even though I do 50% water changes.

[Mmiller2001]

I really pump my CO2 and have my CO2 off 1 hour before lights off so I do my water change around the last 30 minutes of light. My CO2 turns back on 2 hours before lights on. It takes me about an hour and a half to complete all my changes and will keep the lights on at about 20 percent so I can see throughout the process.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[JoeQ]

On 12/6/2022 at 2:39 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

I really pump my CO2 and have my CO2 off 1 hour before lights off so I do my water change around the last 30 minutes of light. My CO2 turns back on 2 hours before lights on. It takes me about an hour and a half to complete all my changes and will keep the lights on at about 20 percent so I can see throughout the process.

I might actually turn mine down, just the aerial root growth alone makes me rethink the co2...... Im not into all this work! Then again maybe it's from the EI dosing regimen.

On 12/6/2022 at 12:58 PM, Jungle Fan said:

My CO2 keeps bubbling along while I do my water changes, never harmed my fish even though I do 50% water changes.

Is that weekly?

[Mmiller2001]

On 12/6/2022 at 1:01 PM, JoeQ said:

Im not into all this work! Then again maybe it's from the EI dosing regimen.

You and me both. It's a lot of work.

A combination of both for sure.

[Jungle Fan]

@Mmiller2001 my CO2 turns off an hour before lights out as well, and turns back on an hour before lights on, the exact opposite for my air pump. Running CO2 at night would be a waste and cut the time in between refills down over half. 

@JoeQ The 50% water changes are weekly, or at the very least bi-weekly, with all the doctors appointments I've had recently, and I do maintenance on my canister filter also at least once a month.  While I do the water change I also vacuum the soil some, clean the glass with a scraper, and use a credit card to clean the glass beneath the soil, I trim any plants, that need it, or because a friend asked for some, and I have areas in the tank that get their root tabs replenished on a rotating basis so I don't have to do the whole tank at once. The surface skimmer I clean out daily, although mostly to bail my all too curious Blue Dream shrimp out of skimmer jail. I started with 6 of them and they are so prolific that I now have probably well over a hundred but everyone is happy the fish, and the inverts.

This might sound like a lot of work but my lights are fully automated, as are the CO2, and the air pump, and the only time I lost fish in this current tank was when they first arrived in cold weather at the LFS, later I had one Rummynose that committed suicide by banging its head on the glass lid when it thought it was a trout, and I had one Cardinal that arrived with a curved spine birth defect that was a happy fish in spite of it until it died a few months ago, other than that  the frequent water change routine has paid off for me over the years. I have kept that routine for over two decades now and it has helped me tremendously with plant growth, algae control, as well as minimizing fish losses. I would have clicked like on both your comments but I spent so much time on the forum today that I'm once again ORD. Will post some likes tomorrow with reactions replenished.

Edited December 6, 2022 by Jungle Fan
typo

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I run C02 on 4 of my thirteen tanks. If I remember, I’ll just pull the power, do the water change, and then plug it back in. I’ve also completely forgotten to turn them off. Either way I’ve seen no detrimental issues, but I’m also not cranking to 30ppm. 

[Jungle Fan]

Forgot to ask @JoeQ how big is your tank?

[JoeQ]

On 12/7/2022 at 1:37 PM, Jungle Fan said:

Forgot to ask @JoeQ how big is your tank?

It's a 36g Bowfront, also on your magnet fix, LIKE, be careful!! I got a nice big scratch on the outside of my acrylic that serves as a permanent reminder to always think before blindly following anyones advice....

[Jungle Fan]

@JoeQ With a 36 gallon Bowfront at 1 bubble per second you won't have to worry about turning the CO2 off while doing a water change. Acrylics are easy to scrape, that's why I don't use them. My current stand would not even work for an acrylic tank because it basically just sits on an open  square tubing steel frame inside the oak cabinet. I believe the magnet fix you are referring to is the scraper? I have a magnet on my tank which I use for light dust algae near the surface in between cleanings because of the relatively high PAR rating of the Kessils. The scraper I was referring to is a handled plastic scraper that doesn't scratch glass, the credit card is also plastic and aqua soil consisting of tiny baked clay balls doesn't cause scratches. The tiny gravel pebbles are a different matter but so far I haven't caused any scratches. The only scratch on my tank is tiny and was caused by the stone on  the ring of my friends' wife when she excitedly pointed at a huge Amano shrimp, and at 2/8 of an inch length I'll polish that out with some ultrafine grit some time but so far it doesn't bother me enough because it is on one of the sides. I've kept fish for 54 years now and over time you build discernment for which advice to follow, and which to file away.

[JoeQ]

On 12/7/2022 at 3:29 PM, Jungle Fan said:

@JoeQ With a 36 gallon Bowfront at 1 bubble per second you won't have to worry about turning the CO2 off while doing a water change. Acrylics are easy to scrape, that's why I don't use them. My current stand would not even work for an acrylic tank because it basically just sits on an open  square tubing steel frame inside the oak cabinet. I believe the magnet fix you are referring to is the scraper? I have a magnet on my tank which I use for light dust algae near the surface in between cleanings because of the relatively high PAR rating of the Kessils. The scraper I was referring to is a handled plastic scraper that doesn't scratch glass, the credit card is also plastic and aqua soil consisting of tiny baked clay balls doesn't cause scratches. The tiny gravel pebbles are a different matter but so far I haven't caused any scratches. The only scratch on my tank is tiny and was caused by the stone on  the ring of my friends' wife when she excitedly pointed at a huge Amano shrimp, and at 2/8 of an inch length I'll polish that out with some ultrafine grit some time but so far it doesn't bother me enough because it is on one of the sides. I've kept fish for 54 years now and over time you build discernment for which advice to follow, and which to file away.

Im well aware of how easy they scratch, I don't have much of an algea issue but when I do scrap my tank I use a credit card at the gravel line or on tough algea. And a new soap less dish sponge for general cleaning.   

 

The magnet fix im talking about was a hack by Dr Novak on attaching magnets to the Ehime skimmer.... My dumb butt thought it was a good idea,  so i glued a acrylic safe magnet to the device,  and quickly grabbed a standared magnet for the outside. As I dragged the outside magnet into a more optimal skimmer spot I heard (and felt) that trademark gouging sound....... it was at that point I knew i screwed up! 🤣 

Like you I could probably buff out the scratch but thats too much like work. Id rather just plant plants where itll draw your eyes away from the scratch.

[Jungle Fan]

@JoeQ Oh wow, I did not apply a magnet to my Eheim skimmer because I haven't had an issue with the suction cups so far. it seems to be quite an expedient fix. Another aquarist friend of mine actually once used a neodymium magnet on his aquarium not considering the force they're capable of, and cracked a tank when the outside magnet slipped out of his fingers and slammed into the glass. If at some time I'm going to apply this fix I'll use some of my older glass cleaner magnets from some of the old 20 gallon tanks I had that are actually flat and not rounded like the Mag-Floats. They have felt on the outside magnet and the velcro like scraper plastic on the inside. Sorry that your tank got scratched up that way, my former boss kept a coral reef acrylic tank and had something like that happening when a light fixture broke off and scratched along the side of his tank he said he used Rolite Ultra Fine Scratch Remover for Acrylic Aquariums to fix it but I've used toothpaste before to remove very light fine scratches even from glass aquariums. There are actually more ways to fix acrylic scratches than on glass. You might know this already but I had this link in my bookmarks:

 https://ouraquariums.com/how-to-remove-scratches-from-the-acrylic-aquarium/

[JoeQ]

On 12/7/2022 at 6:29 PM, Jungle Fan said:

@JoeQ Oh wow, I did not apply a magnet to my Eheim skimmer because I haven't had an issue with the suction cups so far. it seems to be quite an expedient fix. Another aquarist friend of mine actually once used a neodymium magnet on his aquarium not considering the force they're capable of, and cracked a tank when the outside magnet slipped out of his fingers and slammed into the glass. If at some time I'm going to apply this fix I'll use some of my older glass cleaner magnets from some of the old 20 gallon tanks I had that are actually flat and not rounded like the Mag-Floats. They have felt on the outside magnet and the velcro like scraper plastic on the inside. Sorry that your tank got scratched up that way, my former boss kept a coral reef acrylic tank and had something like that happening when a light fixture broke off and scratched along the side of his tank he said he used Rolite Ultra Fine Scratch Remover for Acrylic Aquariums to fix it but I've used toothpaste before to remove very light fine scratches even from glass aquariums. There are actually more ways to fix acrylic scratches than on glass. You might know this already but I had this link in my bookmarks:

 https://ouraquariums.com/how-to-remove-scratches-from-the-acrylic-aquarium/

Thanks, ill bookmark that for later reading,  and I had a magnet with a pad on it for the front glass.... In my haste I just grabbed the wrong one not thinking. To be honest the scratch is a great reminder to slow down and think!

[nabokovfan87]

I just wait until CO2 is done for the day.  Similar to those mentioned above, 1 hour before lights out, CO2 is cut off. so I'll have the CO2 off at 4 PM or so. do my WC after dinner to avoid any issues with changing the PH or wasting all the CO2 dosing efforts.