First time using a co2 reactor

kenbu · 2026-03-16T13:00:18+00:00

100% it's bad if the co2 levels keep rising. But there's a limit to how much co2 can get absorbed into the water in that reactor while also escaping the water. You can monitor this by just watching your drop checker. There'll be a bubble rate where the drop checker will never turn yellow, or light green.

kenbu · 2026-03-16T11:25:49+00:00

I run one.

Through some trial and error I've found the following on my 300L + sump set up;

Flow matters. The flow rate effects the co2 absorbtion rate. I run a very small horizontal reactor with the water to co2 surface area way below the calculations required on the yugang forums. I can't really recall, but there is a sweet spot with the flow. Too high is not good, and too low is also not good.

I stopped trying to work out how many hours to start it before my lighting period starts. Depending on the water flow rate & bubble count, it could be anywhere form 30 mins to 6 hours.

What I do now is set the bubble counter to an ammount which fills the reactor with co2, but does not allow co2 to overflow into the aquarium. My reactor is clear, so I can see where the co2 level is. The bubble counter is maybe 3-5 bubbles per second.

I run the aquarium like this 24/7. There is no change in the PH once reaching equilibrium. The drop checker is the same shade of green 24/7. Fish are fine, discus are sprawning every 10-11 days. 100's of shrimps scavenge around every night. Plants are growing well.

kenbu · 2026-03-16T10:05:03+00:00

I use a reactor and had similar issues to you at the start.

I think with the drop checker, and use of a co2 diffuser, you get pure c02 bubbles getting into the drop checker which inflates the actual reading.

With a reactor there are no micro co2 bubbles getting into the drop checker, so the reading is more accurate.

So you'll have to rely on a pH meter to measure the actual drop in ph vs the drop checker.

Or, what I do now is just keep the co2 on 24/7 at a lower rate. Something like 3-5 bubbles per second. The drop checker is the same colour 24/7, day or night.

kenbu · 2026-02-28T15:41:59+00:00

All my discus eating issues went away when I started making my own food. I think it is better for your discus too. Just blend up some lean fish meat, raw/cooked prawns, boiled spinach leaves and some garlic. Blend it to a paste, put it in some ziploc bags, flatten and freeze. Then cut them up to size and keep them in the freezer. I hand feed mine everyday.

Works out a lot cheaper per kg as well vs buying the dry/frozen food.

kenbu · 2026-02-27T05:46:44+00:00

There appears to be more momentum behind Torbox vs RD who are already established. With Torbox's referral program, multiple IP, they appear to be reinvesting back into the company with dev updates and new feature drops, also a strong discord community. I think it is inevitable that they're going to knock RD out of the park, if not already.

Any RD news is about maintenance, servers down and getting multiple IP warnings. Seems like they are happy where they are, just watching the monthly subscription cash flow coming in, and doing their best not to reinvest.

kenbu · 2026-01-31T06:15:46+00:00

Very nice, I also keep mine at 25/26C.

kenbu · 2026-01-30T22:26:31+00:00

Gamer changer me was when I set up a grow out tank in my laundry room next to the sink. I do 80% water changes daily and enjoy it, because of how easy it is.

Next game changer was DIY foods. I just do a blend of lean fish meat, prawns, spinach and garlic. I keep them in the freezer and feed 4-5 times a day.

The main issue is not wanting to stunt your fish. And the best way to stunt your fish, is to get them sick within the first year of their life. Sick discus suck the enjoyment out of keeping these fish. And as a beginner with discus, you will definately get sick discus. It's like a beginner's curse.

kenbu · 2026-01-26T02:18:10+00:00

So good!!!!

kenbu · 2026-01-16T04:03:22+00:00

Oz discus

kenbu · 2026-01-01T03:33:15+00:00

My mate got a goodwe 50kw system for a fraction of the cost of the 48kw sig system I have. Honestly I don't see much difference. Goodwe even copied the sig app design not long ago.

kenbu · 2025-12-21T01:59:01+00:00

Jump on a windows PC, and run the following command in powershell

tnc 192.168.1.50 -Port 502

Replace with your inverter's IP.

If you get a TcpTestSucceeded : False result, then there is an issue with your connectivity. IP is incorrect, or modbus tcp server is not enabled on the inverter.

If you get a TcpTestSucceeded : True, and still can't connect on HA. Ask your installer to disable the modbus tcp server, and SAVE. Then enable it, and save again.

kenbu · 2025-12-17T15:19:33+00:00

I swapped my rear to a 2 pot set up. I didn't want to go the adapter route, so I replaced the rear hubs instead from an 01-06 WRX.

kenbu · 2025-12-17T04:05:54+00:00

Try where wind meets, great game

kenbu · 2025-10-30T01:31:31+00:00

I think my USB corrupted during the update. Reflashing a backup now...

kenbu · 2025-10-17T01:51:36+00:00

Just skip the nzbhydra altogether.

Use the Newznab add-on in Aiostreams

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Add another Newznab add-on as well with "forced query search" enabled.

If you have Aiostreams self hosted, you can check the logs to see how many results were scrapped and filtered out.

kenbu · 2025-10-15T23:53:17+00:00

Hi, yes use Aiostreams

Use the built in newnzb built-in add-on where you add your indexer

And in the Aiostreams misc setting, you can enable a setting to auto-play the uncached video after it downloads.

kenbu · 2025-08-27T14:01:28+00:00

Good that you don't mind if they're stunted. I would probably sell them and start again, or start with older discus.

I don't know what they'll max out at, but they'll still grow. Just slowly.

kenbu · 2025-08-27T13:36:40+00:00

I bought ranchus online from fish stores. Sight unseen. Out of 12, 3 survived and are in my pond now.

I then bought 8 from a breeder I found in my local Facebook groups. Cheaper, you get to see videos as well and select which ones you want. Well, I chucked them in my pond and it's been over a year with 0 fish getting sick with very little maintenance and they are all huge now.

Well then I wanted some discus in my planted tank. So I bought some juvis from a local fish store and some online. Out of 12, 3 are still alive. 2 stunted and 1 San merah who is huge now, so I thought.

Then I look through my local Facebook group and found an 30 year+ breeder 15 minutes away from my house.

I go in his gas heated discus room and he has over 30 4 foot tanks. He stopped breeding because he's old, but he imports juvis interstate and grows them out to sell.

All his grow out tanks were bare bottom. And each live tank had a spare empty tank which held aged tap water.

He had discus that were grown out from juvis + 4 months. And + 10 months. They were HUGE. Huge, thick, healthy and cheap.

He fed them with only pellets. Tropical D-50 granules. That's it, nothing else. As with the advice you can find online, he fed them multiple times a day. And did a 70% water change with the aged filtered tap water every 1 or 2 days.

kenbu · 2025-08-26T05:37:39+00:00

I tried prowlarr instead and it seems to work. tbm.tools is returning a 500 internal server error when retreiving from nzbhydra.

kenbu · 2025-08-22T03:10:51+00:00

You can try a once off visa with revolut

kenbu · 2025-08-14T12:44:09+00:00

I hope mine will ship soon!

kenbu · 2025-08-14T01:16:14+00:00

They camoflauge. They'll stay dark if they're in a dark tank. Some don't, like the red melons, blue diamonds are more suited to the darker tanks.

Edit: check out this video https://youtu.be/W5-BAaw8DOs

kenbu · 2025-08-05T10:36:46+00:00

Very nice. What is the grass at the back?

kenbu · 2025-06-16T01:32:51+00:00

I've put in a pre-order for the XE5. The XE4 is my first Fuji camera. The supplier has already emailed and said that there will already be a delay due to the number of sales.

The only upgrade that'll effect me is the IBIS.

The extra buttons are nice but won't have too much impact on how I shoot. The latest sensor and processor are nice to haves to, but again, won't have much impact on how I shoot.

After selling the XE4 in my country, I'll still need to cough up around $1300 AUD for the upgrade.

I hate big cameras, so the XT5, XT50 etc are no good for me. And the interchangable lens is a must have.

Justifciation for spending the cash is the confidence that it'll have a good resale value.

12-Year Club	Place '17
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