Anyone have a Hagen CO2 Plant System?

I purchased one of these and would like to talk to someone that also has
one.

Yes, what do you need to know? I'll guess... first, the bubbles do tend to
stick until a bacterial film develops, it will get better in a day or two.
Second, if you don't see bubbles in a few hours, either the water was too
hot, or, more likely, you need to give the cap an extra 1/4 turn after you
think it is tight. Third, you can make the mix yourself with 1/4 teaspoon
regular yeast (be sure good dates and keep closed in the refrigerator after
opening) plus 1 teaspoon baking soda. Should last 3 weeks, refill before the
bubbles stop completely, if you only see two bubbles on the ladder it is
time to refill. Fourth, put the ladder on the side of the tank so you hardly
notice it, press it on good so not fish sneak behind, level by pressing
against a corner. Do trim the line as short as is reasonable, it helps flow
rate by reducing line losses. If you have more than 20 gallons use two sets,
if you have more than 30 gallons... consider a DIY CO2 bottle. Um, what
else... oh, how much sugar... see those vertical braces inside the canister?
The bottom ones will dissappear when you add the right amount of sugar (~1/2
cup) then fill with almost warm tap water to the top brace level.

"Cammie" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a Hagen CO2 Plant System?

I purchased one of these and would like to talk to someone that also has
one.

I've used them at work (a pet shop) and I can tell you that they are a
neat little system for small tanks, but there are ways that you can
retrofit them to go onto larger tanks and put out much more CO2.

"Ann Viverette" wrote...
first, the bubbles do tend to
stick until a bacterial film develops, it will get better in a day or two.
Second, if you don't see bubbles in a few hours, either the water was too
hot, or, more likely, you need to give the cap an extra 1/4 turn after you
think it is tight. Third, you can make the mix yourself with 1/4 teaspoon
regular yeast (be sure good dates and keep closed in the refrigerator
after
opening) plus 1 teaspoon baking soda. Should last 3 weeks, refill before
the
bubbles stop completely, if you only see two bubbles on the ladder it is
time to refill. Fourth, put the ladder on the side of the tank so you
hardly
notice it, press it on good so not fish sneak behind, level by pressing
against a corner. Do trim the line as short as is reasonable, it helps
flow
rate by reducing line losses.


LOL, you just about read my mind. I was hoping to find someone that used
this. My first attempt I had no bubbles, I then undid the hose and blew
threw it in case there was water, then I decided to tighten the canister
tighter than I had originally. I am at the 24 hour mark and I have about
5-6 bubbles, should I have more at this point?

I'm just happy to see some. Will the entire unit fill with bubbles. I'm
still not understanding how this thing works or what to fully expect, the
directions are just that. It would be nice if they had diagrams to show
what it should look like fully operational. Should the entire unit fill up
with bubbles and be replaced constently with new bubbles?

I have this in only a 10 gallon tank with about 5 plants, one fancy
goldfish, a pleco, small albino catfish, and a couple cherry barbs. Plants
aren't doing great, and it has black beard (hair algae) growing in tufts so
someone suggested CO2 may help get rid of this.

I appreciate your other suggestions and will use them.

Cammie wrote:
...
I'm just happy to see some. Will the entire unit fill with bubbles. I'm
still not understanding how this thing works or what to fully expect, the
directions are just that. It would be nice if they had diagrams to show
what it should look like fully operational. Should the entire unit fill up
with bubbles and be replaced constently with new bubbles?

It depends on the intensity of CO2 production. I run my system from two
bottles and when it gets up to speed it produces lots of bubbles (about
5-6 at every step of the diffuser). At this time you probably observe
that bubbles get stuck and tend to recombine with each other, forming
larger bubbles. This will stop soon and smaller bubbles will happily
skip non-stop from one step to another at uniform intervals.

The problem that you'll have later is that some white substance will for
at the point where bubbles exit the tube and enter the diffuser.
Initially it is not a big deal, but later it will cause the bubbles to
get stuck on the very first step of the diffuser (and again, recombine
into larger bubbles before traveling up). This reduces the efficiency of
the system, since rather large amount of CO2 will no be able to dissolve
in time. Then the white mass will grow to the point where it will
deflect the bubbles making them to miss the diffuser completely (shoot
straight to the surface). The morale of the story: don't forget to
remove this white stuff form the diffuser often.

I have this in only a 10 gallon tank with about 5 plants, one fancy
goldfish, a pleco, small albino catfish, and a couple cherry barbs. Plants
aren't doing great, and it has black beard (hair algae) growing in tufts so
someone suggested CO2 may help get rid of this.

It might help. But small tanks are usually problematic when it comes to
algae (I have a 5.5 gal one) and other issues depending on stability of
environmental parameters. I tried some AlgaeFix (Aquarium
Pharmaceuticals, the one for planted tanks) in my small tank and it
looks like it seems to work pretty well against all types of algae,
except that green clumpy one that forms on the leaves (which I take care
of myself, when it appears). It is up to you to decide whether you want
to try to go that way.

--
Best regards,
Andrey Tarasevich

I would strongly recommend going with a CO2 tank system. You wont be sorry ,
it lasts a long time and is cheeper in the long run than the hagen system.


"Cammie" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a Hagen CO2 Plant System?

I purchased one of these and would like to talk to someone that also has
one.

Ah, yes, but different solutions for different problems! Small tanks, 5 and
10 gallons are equally well served by Seachem Excel and the Hagen system,
although over the long run the Excel gets expensive. But, it is a great way
to begin, perhaps for the first year, to see if a planted tank is
worthwhile. Hagen works fine for 20 gallons, but above that you need two and
ought to consider a DIY set up. Somewhere around 40 to 50 gallons, the
pressurized system gets to be a good thing, althought the initial set up is
costly, running costs are near nothing and the time svings is great since
the larger tanks require several bottles of DIY yeast CO2 to put out enough
bubbles to do the trick.

In every case, one must balance time and money. You will invest one or the
other.

And always, monitor your CO2 levels by measuring pH and KH. CO2 overdose --
and dead fish -- only happens with high bubble rates or low KH water (also
end-of-tank dump from pressurized but that is another issue). It can happen
in larger (55) tanks if the water is low KH, or at high or very efficient
input rates in tanks with moderate KH. Before you begin, know your target pH
and the lowest safe pH, and monitor pH at morning and late day before lights
out. If you get near that danger level, do something before nightfall.


"CJV" wrote in message
...
I would strongly recommend going with a CO2 tank system. You wont be sorry
,
it lasts a long time and is cheeper in the long run than the hagen system.


"Cammie" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a Hagen CO2 Plant System?

I purchased one of these and would like to talk to someone that also has
one.

I got a used unit from eBay for $15 shipped. Cleaned everything good and I
used you formula and got bubbles!
TY

"Ann Viverette" wrote in message
...
Yes, what do you need to know? I'll guess... first, the bubbles do tend to
stick until a bacterial film develops, it will get better in a day or two.
Second, if you don't see bubbles in a few hours, either the water was too
hot, or, more likely, you need to give the cap an extra 1/4 turn after you
think it is tight. Third, you can make the mix yourself with 1/4 teaspoon
regular yeast (be sure good dates and keep closed in the refrigerator
after
opening) plus 1 teaspoon baking soda. Should last 3 weeks, refill before
the
bubbles stop completely, if you only see two bubbles on the ladder it is
time to refill. Fourth, put the ladder on the side of the tank so you
hardly
notice it, press it on good so not fish sneak behind, level by pressing
against a corner. Do trim the line as short as is reasonable, it helps
flow
rate by reducing line losses. If you have more than 20 gallons use two
sets,
if you have more than 30 gallons... consider a DIY CO2 bottle. Um, what
else... oh, how much sugar... see those vertical braces inside the
canister?
The bottom ones will dissappear when you add the right amount of sugar
(~1/2
cup) then fill with almost warm tap water to the top brace level.

"Cammie" wrote in message
...
Anyone have a Hagen CO2 Plant System?

I purchased one of these and would like to talk to someone that also has
one.