JoeQ Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 (edited) Anyone here using an atomic defuser? I'm a bit confused why I can't use bubble counter oil with them. Can anyone explain it to me like im a 2 year old! Edited June 2 by JoeQ Added the word "oil" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 (edited) Looking at GLA website on the Atomic diffuser it does not appear to be a progibition on using a bubble counter but rather using any oils in your bubble counter. Ok to use with water in the bubble counter.. ”Do not use with bubble counter fluid or other bubble counter oils. Fill bubble counter with water only to avoid contamination of diffuser.” and if I was explaining it to a 2 year old, I would say, “Because Pepere says so.” Edited June 1 by Pepere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 Yes, how would oils contaminate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 1 Share Posted June 1 Given that an in.ine diffuseis typically much closer to the co2 tank and much closer to the floor and is typically used on larger tanks where you are flowing higher volumes, the oil can migrate to the ceramic element and block it up… i use in.ine diffusers from CO2art and they also reccomend not using oil inbubble counters. using water in them is not bad. I typically refill the water chambers once a month… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 1 Author Share Posted June 1 On 6/1/2024 at 7:38 PM, Pepere said: Given that an in.ine diffuseis typically much closer to the co2 tank and much closer to the floor and is typically used on larger tanks where you are flowing higher volumes, the oil can migrate to the ceramic element and block it up… i use in.ine diffusers from CO2art and they also reccomend not using oil inbubble counters. using water in them is not bad. I typically refill the water chambers once a month… I think we are talking of 2 separate products. Im talking about the difference between standard in tank diffusers and atomic in tank diffusers. Why is it ok for general in tank diffusers to use oil in a bubble counter but not with atomic in tank diffusers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 Sorry. Thought you were talking about inline atomic dufuser. Before I went with inline difuser from CO2art I tried their flux difuser. They recomended no oil in bubble counter for that as well. The Flux diffuser is supposed to make smaller bubbles than a standard diffuser so perhaps it is due to finer pores in difuser being more prone to blockage… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 I just purchased the flux v2 diffuser. GLAs atomic diffusers description made it seem a bit too fragile for my tastes, and also left me with questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 The flux diffuser does have finer bubbles. I definitely have no regrets switching to inline diffuser and spray dar. Definitely keeps the bubbles in suspension much better… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 (edited) On 6/2/2024 at 7:09 AM, Pepere said: The flux diffuser does have finer bubbles. I definitely have no regrets switching to inline diffuser and spray dar. Definitely keeps the bubbles in suspension much better… Problem with an inline atomic diffuser for me is I have no line to hook it to! 😂 I cut off my canister awhile back in favor of box filters. Ideally I'd like to transition to no filter aquariums, but baby steps. My next step is I think im going to cut my box filters off on my bare bottom 15g in favor of an under gravel filter. Edited June 2 by JoeQ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 (edited) On 6/2/2024 at 7:30 AM, JoeQ said: I cut off my canister awhile back in favor of box filters. Ideally I'd like to transition to no filter aquariums, but baby steps. My next step is I think im going to cut my box filters off on my bare bottom 15g in favor of an under gravel filter. Mechanical filtration becomes an issue with UGF only. I originally tried that route on my 17 gallon fish bowl with no CO2. I was aiming for a low tech tank with no algae. Icut a ugf plate to fit bottom of sphere with one riser tube and fitted an easy flow kit to the riser with a DIY adapter. The hair and filamentous Algae felt at home in the tank. I embarked on using a turkey baster to irrigate the substrate and hoover off the resulting cloud with a siphon…. I did this twice a week for 3 weeks… I then fitted a medium Lees triple flow filter in the back that the Easu Flow air collar friction fits to. Gravel in base for weight and polyfill on top. The easy flow kit puts astonishing flow through that box filter. Polyfill was brown by evening and by weeks end it was positively filled! Continued turkey baster substrate irrigation and hoovering was showing much less muck in substrate. I had Pygmy cories in tank as I was aiming for nano fish, but they dont do much to the substrate. I ended up adding 4 enerald green cories and since then the combo of the cories and the lees filter the substrate no longer liberates brown clouds when I attempt to irrigate it with the turkey baster. I no longer regularly irrigate but I give it a few test puffs once a month to check. I now only clean the Lees filter and water change. The lee filter has significant crud in it weekly but not as much as before. I do not replace the polyfill, but simply squeeze it out under old tank water like a sponge filter and replace it. The tank is free of any visible algae of any sort. Being non co2 plant growth is very slow. My Ludwigia Repens only needs trimming every 5th week….. Edited June 2 by Pepere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 The gravel should be more than enough mechanical filtration. It sounds to me like you had an immature eco system that you never let grow on account of distributing the process. IMO, for an algae free/non co2 tank your concentration needs to be on growing your eco system with a hands off approach. Then after a good 6+ months, choosing basic inhabitants that all work together, snails and ottos are a great 2nd step for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 On 6/2/2024 at 9:25 AM, JoeQ said: IMO, for an algae free/non co2 tank your concentration needs to be on growing your eco system with a hands off approach. Then after a good 6+ months, choosing basic inhabitants that all work together, snails and ottos are a great 2nd step for that. Well, I have a non co2 injected sphere that is free of visible algae… the UGF provides copious surface area for biofiltration and the box filter and larger cories keeps the substrate from filling with detritus. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 On 6/2/2024 at 9:51 AM, Pepere said: Well, I have a non co2 injected sphere that is free of visible algae… the UGF provides copious surface area for biofiltration and the box filter and larger cories keeps the substrate from filling with detritus. I know, im not sure what your point is? My point was your initial algae problem was from progressing too fast without the additional mechanical filtration. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 My point was that the addition of mechanical filtration, avoiding the detritus and decaying matter in the substrate got me where I wanted to be… It is one way that works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 Never underestimate the power of the lowly filter floss!!! 😂😂 All joking aside my goal is less equipment, less maintenance. IMO, algae is insanely benifical, it hurts nothing but people's pride! Embrace da algae! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pepere Posted June 2 Share Posted June 2 (edited) On 6/2/2024 at 12:08 PM, JoeQ said: IMO, algae is insanely benifical, it hurts nothing but people's pride! Embrace da algae And you don’t have to go buy it either. It arrives all by itself and is incredibly hardy and forgiving…. It is almost impossible to kill….. But, I don’t like how it looks and how it attaches to my plants I spent money to get…. Edited June 2 by Pepere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeQ Posted June 2 Author Share Posted June 2 On 6/2/2024 at 3:10 PM, Pepere said: And you don’t have to go buy it either. It arrives all by itself and is incredibly hardy and forgiving…. It is almost impossible to kill….. Killing it is the easy part, getting it to grow where you want it to, and the selected species is the hard part! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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