Hello from Mississauga,

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?? The
bubbles from my unit just flow out of the tubbing at the bottom and bypass
the dispenser (for the most part)...and flow up to the top of the water and
then pop. I thought they should get trapped in the dispenser...so I
attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Are the bubbles all supposed to go into the dispenser?? Is it normal for
the bubbles to flow to the surface without entering the dispenser?? Some
bubbles get caught in it...but not many.

How is the dispenser supposed to work?? How does CO2 stay in the water??

Any help appreciated...

Dave

"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello from Mississauga,

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?? The
bubbles from my unit just flow out of the tubbing at the bottom and bypass
the dispenser (for the most part)...and flow up to the top of the water
and
then pop. I thought they should get trapped in the dispenser...so I
attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles
directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in
the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Are the bubbles all supposed to go into the dispenser?? Is it normal for
the bubbles to flow to the surface without entering the dispenser?? Some
bubbles get caught in it...but not many.

How is the dispenser supposed to work?? How does CO2 stay in the water??

Any help appreciated...

Dave


The bubbles a supposed to get caught at the bottom of the dispenser and work
their way to the top, decreasing in size as they go, thereby releasing CO2
into the water. They then leave the dispenser and escape to the surface.

I had similar problems when I first set mine up, I found that the end of the
tubing from the fermentation canister wasn't inserted correctly at the
bottom of the dispenser.

The instructions say that it is normal for bubbles to by-pass the dispenser
when you first set up the system, this should stop after 24 hours.

Tony

Yes, they're supposed to flow into the diffuser However, if the outlet is
not pushed in enough or the slant is facing the wrong way it will not work
properly.
Also, as it says in the documentation, it's normal that the bubbles from a
new batch may not stay in the diffuser at first.

HTH,

-Frank



"Dave" wrote in message
...
Hello from Mississauga,

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?? The
bubbles from my unit just flow out of the tubbing at the bottom and bypass
the dispenser (for the most part)...and flow up to the top of the water
and
then pop. I thought they should get trapped in the dispenser...so I
attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles
directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in
the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Are the bubbles all supposed to go into the dispenser?? Is it normal for
the bubbles to flow to the surface without entering the dispenser?? Some
bubbles get caught in it...but not many.

How is the dispenser supposed to work?? How does CO2 stay in the water??

Any help appreciated...

Dave

"Dave" wrote:

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?

Yes, they are.

Sounds like your tube may not be set in place quite right. The end of
the tube should have a little plastic nozzle thingy, cut at a slant.
The direction of that slant will steer the bubbles into the diffuser.

From there, the bubbles should zig-zag through the entire diffuser
from bottom to top, before finally floating out the top.

attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Bear in mind that when you first start up a new CO2 mix, you've got
mostly regular air in the CO2 bottle. That regular air has to be
forced out by CO2 production first, and it can take up to a day to do
that. Since your tank water is reasonably well saturated with the
components of regular air, these starting bubbles will remain pretty
much the same size as they travel through the diffuser.

However, once the regular air has been cleared from the CO2 bottle,
you'll start getting more-or-less pure CO2 gas. When these bubbles
travel through the diffuser, you'll see that they actually get much
smaller and slower by the time they reach the top.

This shrinking of the bubbles as they move through the diffuser is
your verification that CO2 is properly dissolving into the water, and
that the CO2 system is working correctly.


--
www.ericschreiber.com

I was thinking about getting one of these diffusers but had a couple
of questions. Do they sit inside the tank or outside the tank ? Okay,
maybe that's a dumb questions, since I assume they have to be inside,
however, are they very large ? Do they look ugly ? I am trying to make
my tank look natural and having a giant plastic thingy in the tank
would seem to defeat the purpose.



On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 01:49:35 -0600, Eric Schreiber
wrote:

"Dave" wrote:

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?

Yes, they are.

Sounds like your tube may not be set in place quite right. The end of
the tube should have a little plastic nozzle thingy, cut at a slant.
The direction of that slant will steer the bubbles into the diffuser.

From there, the bubbles should zig-zag through the entire diffuser
from bottom to top, before finally floating out the top.

attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Bear in mind that when you first start up a new CO2 mix, you've got
mostly regular air in the CO2 bottle. That regular air has to be
forced out by CO2 production first, and it can take up to a day to do
that. Since your tank water is reasonably well saturated with the
components of regular air, these starting bubbles will remain pretty
much the same size as they travel through the diffuser.

However, once the regular air has been cleared from the CO2 bottle,
you'll start getting more-or-less pure CO2 gas. When these bubbles
travel through the diffuser, you'll see that they actually get much
smaller and slower by the time they reach the top.

This shrinking of the bubbles as they move through the diffuser is
your verification that CO2 is properly dissolving into the water, and
that the CO2 system is working correctly.

It sits on the inside. However it's pretty flat and can be at least
partially hidden by a tall plant.



wrote in message
...
I was thinking about getting one of these diffusers but had a couple
of questions. Do they sit inside the tank or outside the tank ? Okay,
maybe that's a dumb questions, since I assume they have to be inside,
however, are they very large ? Do they look ugly ? I am trying to make
my tank look natural and having a giant plastic thingy in the tank
would seem to defeat the purpose.



On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 01:49:35 -0600, Eric Schreiber
wrote:

"Dave" wrote:

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser
that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?

Yes, they are.

Sounds like your tube may not be set in place quite right. The end of
the tube should have a little plastic nozzle thingy, cut at a slant.
The direction of that slant will steer the bubbles into the diffuser.

From there, the bubbles should zig-zag through the entire diffuser
from bottom to top, before finally floating out the top.

attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles
directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly
into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed
out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in
the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Bear in mind that when you first start up a new CO2 mix, you've got
mostly regular air in the CO2 bottle. That regular air has to be
forced out by CO2 production first, and it can take up to a day to do
that. Since your tank water is reasonably well saturated with the
components of regular air, these starting bubbles will remain pretty
much the same size as they travel through the diffuser.

However, once the regular air has been cleared from the CO2 bottle,
you'll start getting more-or-less pure CO2 gas. When these bubbles
travel through the diffuser, you'll see that they actually get much
smaller and slower by the time they reach the top.

This shrinking of the bubbles as they move through the diffuser is
your verification that CO2 is properly dissolving into the water, and
that the CO2 system is working correctly.

You put the diffuser inside the aquarium and you can either hang the
cannister on the outside of the tank or put in in the stand underneath the
tank (the latter is what I do with my two). The diffuser is clear plastic
so the background of the aquarium will show through. Ideally you could hide
the diffuser with some plants like vallisneria spiralis.

wrote in message
...
I was thinking about getting one of these diffusers but had a couple
of questions. Do they sit inside the tank or outside the tank ? Okay,
maybe that's a dumb questions, since I assume they have to be inside,
however, are they very large ? Do they look ugly ? I am trying to make
my tank look natural and having a giant plastic thingy in the tank
would seem to defeat the purpose.



On Mon, 31 Mar 2003 01:49:35 -0600, Eric Schreiber
wrote:

"Dave" wrote:

I recently set up a 33 gallon planted tank and purchased one of these
Nutrafin thingys. I have a few questions about the bubble dispenser
that
attaches to the side of the tank with suction cups. Are the bubbles
supposed to flow directly out of the airtubing into the dispenser?

Yes, they are.

Sounds like your tube may not be set in place quite right. The end of
the tube should have a little plastic nozzle thingy, cut at a slant.
The direction of that slant will steer the bubbles into the diffuser.

From there, the bubbles should zig-zag through the entire diffuser
from bottom to top, before finally floating out the top.

attached a small pce of plastic to the bottom to guide the bubbles
directly
into the dispenser. When I did that....all the bubbles went directly
into
it....and then flowed up each level of the dispenser...and then flowed
out
the top of it to the surface and popped. No bubbles actually stayed in
the
dispenser...they just flowed out level by level up to the top.

Bear in mind that when you first start up a new CO2 mix, you've got
mostly regular air in the CO2 bottle. That regular air has to be
forced out by CO2 production first, and it can take up to a day to do
that. Since your tank water is reasonably well saturated with the
components of regular air, these starting bubbles will remain pretty
much the same size as they travel through the diffuser.

However, once the regular air has been cleared from the CO2 bottle,
you'll start getting more-or-less pure CO2 gas. When these bubbles
travel through the diffuser, you'll see that they actually get much
smaller and slower by the time they reach the top.

This shrinking of the bubbles as they move through the diffuser is
your verification that CO2 is properly dissolving into the water, and
that the CO2 system is working correctly.