Re: 2002 AGA Convention <-- Test Kits / Observation?

["Adam Shaw" <adams1 at comcen_com.au>]

Thanks Tom for your input,

With regards to my statement on weighing up CO2 losses etc I was
actually talking about the system itself rather than the cost of the
gas. The cylinders here are cheap, but the injection systems themselves
are very expensive. 

The methods here are the same as overseas in the US/UK etc - we're not
backwards you know :) All of the stuff you get in US/UK has Australian
distributors - Eheim, Dupla, Tetra, etc etc and all that commercial gear
are all available here. Like I said, it's just expensive. Not too much
demand for it here since the 99% of aquaria owners starting out are
generally told that CO2 is a pain in the butt, expensive and "not
necessary". I get mad when I hear that. Nonetheless, since demand is low
and with less importing etc, prices are very high.

A reason why I had brought up the idea of wet/dry and lost CO2 etc was
for this reason: Most people would agree (I'd imagine) that by
increasing surface turbulence of water by adding an airstone or such
will rapidly drive out CO2. What is the difference between this, and
dividing up the water into tiny aliquots as it falls over bio-balls in a
bio tower? The amount of surface area of the water is increased GREATLY
as the water is dispersed over the bio-balls. This is why wet/dry's have
such a great biological capacity - greater oxygenation for the aerobic
processes, and then bio-balls submersed for the anaerobic process. Now,
like you said, diffusivity of gases is 10000x greater in air than water,
then by increasing the surface area exposed to the air, the gas will
*rapidly* escape (it's an entropic principle).

I have not tested it all - the last time I used wet/drys was years ago
when I had marines. Coming back into aquaria a year ago, I went to fresh
rather than salt this time around. My experience is in reef tanks, not
planted tanks. Boy it's a lot less mucking around :) But anyway, rather
than spend the money I thought I'd ask around before I spent $1k on a
filtration system and it flops. Parroting or not, I'm open minded and
would love to hear what's out there. Clearly you're a clever,
experienced bloke and I appreciate your input.

Cheers,
Adam Shaw