[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

RE: Hagen Plant-Gro CO2 Natural System



If you want to spend money to watch bubbles I guess that's fine, but to me it sounds like they found a way to get people to pay for one of the cheapest and easiest do it yourself aquarium projects of all time!  I seriously doubt that you will see any improvement in growth using the Hagen system vs. the coke bottle system, and the coke bottle system costs all of 1-2 dollars.  I have the tubing release the bubble into my filter intake, when that bubble hits the impeller it is smashed in to lots of tiny bubbles that get mixed into my tank just fine.  When you are dealing with something as small as a 20gal. tank, the coke bottle is all you should ever need (heck, set up 2 bottles if you want more CO2!).

I'm not sure what the "stabilizer" is that they have but I bet it inhibits yeast growth.  Since there are many variables that control yeast growth and metabolism (and therefore CO2 production) including water temperature, sucrose concentration (i.e. how much sugar and water you added), and age of mixture (remaining sugar, alcohol concentration, etc.) I'm not sure how stable they could make it anyway.

For those not familiar with the coke bottle system I refer to, check out this link:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/co2-narten.html


Sincerely,

Kyle

-- 
Kyle Williams
kyle at onebox_com - email
(707) 583-2064 x2092 - voicemail/fax


Date: Wed, 23 Oct 2002 07:40:24 -0700
From: "Rachel Sandage" <rachelsor at hotmail_com>
Subject: Hagen Plant-Gro CO2 Natural System

Whoa, I just saw this thing for the first time last night at my LFS, and it 
has got to be the coolest piece of aquarium stuff I have EVER seen. I don't 
know if it works, but it is a neat piece of work for sure.

What it is: A CO2 system for small (<20 gal) tanks. It comes in two pieces. 
One is the CO2 generator, with Hagen's special CO2 mix - a yeast packet and 
a "stabilizer" packet, which is supposed to even out the CO2 production. You 
add sugar and water. That is not the cool part. The cool part is the 
reactor.

Have you ever seen those kids toys where you drop a marble in the top and it 
slides down a ramp, drops to the next ramp, and zig-zags back and forth 
until it reaches the bottom and rolls out. Same idea, except the CO2 goes in 
the bottom and the bubbles roll up the ramps. You can actually watch them 
get smaller as they go up! It is not 100% efficient - the bubbles don't 
completely disappear before they get to the top - but I would say that 75% 
or more of the CO2 is absorbed. And because of the fairly large size of the 
holes, I think it would resist clogging better than an airstone.

The packets are supposed to provide CO2 for a month. I don't know how much 
the refills cost, so I can't compare it to using something like carb-plus, 
fizz factory, or flourish excel. But watching those bubbles go up the ramps 
and shrink is worth the cost!

- -Rachel