GTA Aquarium Forums banner

Co2 disaster - lost all fish in tank - help

4K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Will 
#1 ·
CO2 DISASTER - LOST ALL FISH IN TANK - HELP

I'm a newbie to Co2!

I have a fully planted tank with 3 small discus, 15 neons, 8 guppies, 3 oto cats, shrimp and some small koi and smoky angels(I got @ London auction).

Yesterday I came home from work to find all my fish & shrimp dead and the diffuser in my tank running full tilt with LARGE bubbles. Shocked the heck outta me!

I did a 50% water change, pulled out the dead and put in an aerator.

What to do? :mad::eek::(:confused::eek: My drop checker is yellow, probably 6.0 - 6.2.
 
#3 ·
Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but you should probably focus on figuring out your Co2 system - running it for a a few weeks until you can get it stabilized - before you even begin to contemplate adding fish.

What kind of regulator and needle valve are you using? Is the needle valve faulty? Was this an end of tank dump? All good questions that should come first!
 
#4 ·
Not to sound like a jerk or anything, but you should probably focus on figuring out your Co2 system - running it for a a few weeks until you can get it stabilized - before you even begin to contemplate adding fish.

What kind of regulator and needle valve are you using? Is the needle valve faulty? Was this an end of tank dump? All good questions that should come first!
No Worries! I'm the embarrassed one :eek: :eek:

Good advice.

I'm running a DC AQUA Co2 solenoid regulator i bought @ Aqua Inspiration.
I think it may have been a user error caused by myself! I turn the tank off at night and back on in the morning cause I don't have it on a timer yet. I'll fix it today and get the timer on & leave it to do what it's supposed to do.

I just checked the ph is 7.2

Thank you
 
#7 ·
In all honesty, I do not not see why plugging/unplugging should make any difference. You achieve virtually the same end. If doing this, I.E. turning the soliniode on and off is messing with the flow off the needle valve, then you will see the same problem when its on a timer. That said, I have only been running pressurized Co2 for a year and have only used two regulators - a Milwaukee and more recently, the Green Leaf Primo. Given I have not seen many posts in the last few weeks from the more experienced users, it may be best to post this problem on Planted Tank and see what they come up with.

Do also keep in mind there is lag time involved, which seems to increase with cheaper units. Did you recently increase the bpm and then walk away? I can take minutes for the bpm to stabalize.

I love Aqua Inspirations and, have bought several tanks and lights there and been very happy with them. However there is some stuff they are selling that is not worth your time or money. In my experience, the NAG equipment is useless for anything over 10 gallons. I have not used their regulators, but given the price point, I'm skeptical. The only reason I have the Milwaukee is because it is backed by a major brand, and this is the absolute cheapest regulator i was comfortable using given other user reports. A reliable solenoid and needle valve are essential, and i fear these are two things lacking in the AI regs.

You might also want to look deeper into Discus/planted tanks/ and pressurized Co2 - it is my understanding that this is a difficult task, not suited for beginners.
 
#16 ·
In all honesty, I do not not see why plugging/unplugging should make any difference. You achieve virtually the same end. If doing this, I.E. turning the soliniode on and off is messing with the flow off the needle valve, then you will see the same problem when its on a timer. That said, I have only been running pressurized Co2 for a year and have only used two regulators - a Milwaukee and more recently, the Green Leaf Primo. Given I have not seen many posts in the last few weeks from the more experienced users, it may be best to post this problem on Planted Tank and see what they come up with.

Do also keep in mind there is lag time involved, which seems to increase with cheaper units. Did you recently increase the bpm and then walk away? I can take minutes for the bpm to stabalize.

I love Aqua Inspirations and, have bought several tanks and lights there and been very happy with them. However there is some stuff they are selling that is not worth your time or money. In my experience, the NAG equipment is useless for anything over 10 gallons. I have not used their regulators, but given the price point, I'm skeptical. The only reason I have the Milwaukee is because it is backed by a major brand, and this is the absolute cheapest regulator i was comfortable using given other user reports. A reliable solenoid and needle valve are essential, and i fear these are two things lacking in the AI regs.

You might also want to look deeper into Discus/planted tanks/ and pressurized Co2 - it is my understanding that this is a difficult task, not suited for beginners.
Re: End Tank dump. Never heard of this. Interesting!
I did notice that the Co2 tank is close to empty.

I just installed a timer and i'm going to keep a close eye on this Co2 system, tank & aquarium. I want to know if its something mechanical or if its something I did. I was really tired the night before & I had to get up at 5:30am the morning of the disaster, so I want to rule out human error.

Thanks for the help everyone.

:cool: GTAAquaria forum is cool :cool:
 
#8 ·
Very sorry to hear your horrible experience!! I am no expert in co2 system but I second on what Robert has said. The system should be working consistently with or without solenoid/timer.

When I first started co2 injection, I spent a lot of time on adjusting the needle valve needlessly. I was expecting the co2 bubbles to come as soon as I turn it on. When I don't see bubble, I'll start adjusting the valve and made things worst. I have done this quite a few times. Of course, now I learn to be more patience and leave it alone once its set up properly. It has been working flawlessly for a year. :)
 
#9 ·
Sorry to hear that Scotmando.

Is this one reason why people are using the Milwalkee PH Controllers? To disable a haywire system before the PH shocks your fish?
Seems like they make pressurised CO2 safest for the fish by keeping a constant PH, but not as stable for the plant's Co2 availablity.

Been looking at some Pressurised CO2 options latey, and have wondered this. Figured this might be the right time to ask.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top