STORIES BEHIND vol.003 -CO₂ System-

To grow beautiful aquatic plants: What type of environment do they prefer, and what makes them grow healthy? ADA is concerned about the growing environment of aquatic plants. The CO₂ System was born because of ADA’s genuine desire to grow aquatic plants. This article brings you the story behind the birth of CO₂ System.

Aqua Journal: When I saw CO₂ being injected into an aquarium for the first time, it seemed rather strange, although the idea of injecting CO₂ is quite normal for a planted aquarium nowadays.

Amano: Yes. But early on, there was a time that CO₂ was considered unnecessary. You see, a CO₂ injection volume is determined with human hands and eyes now. Actually, it was more automated or more advanced at one time. It was controlled with a pH controller with an IC.

Aqua Journal: Oh, really? What was it like?

Amano: The device controlled the CO₂ concentration automatically by detecting the pH level with a sensor. It was an excellent device that could adjust the pH value down to 1/100th. It was about 15 years ago. Back then there weren’t many things (related to planted aquariums.) After all, we only sold five of them. Two of them went to Germany.

Aqua Journal: Only five? Where in Japan did the remaining three go?

Amano: Ah, one of them is at home (laugh.) Looking back, I think it was a great thing. Long ago, I had a retail shop in Niigata. At that time, I was maintaining a 240 cm aquarium with it. It performed extremely well.

Aqua Journal: It must have been quite capable to be able to use it for maintaining a large aquarium. It’s not sold now. Why did you stop developing it?

Amano: Well, it caused a big accident with a real trifle error. The water level dropped in the aquarium where the device was used and the sensor probe came out of water. It was left unnoticed overnight and CO₂ kept going into the aquarium.

Aqua Journal: Wow, I suspect all fish and aquatic plants in the aquarium were all dead in the morning?

Amano: Exactly. It was a real shock. Something so trivial led to such an accident. It really drove home the idea that automation is convenient, but it can be a scary thing. It occurred to me then that controlling living things with a machine may be a conceit of human being. No matter how convenient, there may be a limit that we should not cross.

Aqua Journal: I think that relates to not only just CO₂ supply but to everything. As we rely on machinery, we must understand not only the machine itself but also the danger of the machine and of the dependence on the machine.

Amano: Yes. It really shook me up. As we advance, become more mechanized, and things get more convenient, I wondered if we are going to lose even our affection, too. So I gave it up, all at once. I don’t mean to criticize people who are using such a device now. It’s just that I came to think that, as a manufacturer, I should not produce such product. I am quick when I decide to pull out. I withdrew really quickly.

Aqua Journal: I see. That’s why only five of them were sold. How was CO₂ delivered to aquariums before small cylinders become available?

Amano: I tried a variety of things. I tried even fermenting a kippered herring in a bottle, which produced CO₂. I cultured bacteria to produce CO₂. I added dry ice to a tank, too. Nothing worked well. While experimenting with this and that, I happened to look at soda that I ordered at a pub. So I got a few bottles of them from the pub, took them home, and poured them into my aquarium at home. Lo and behold, aquatic plants started pearling big time.

Aqua Journal: Ah, the aquatic plants must have started photosynthesizing.

Amano: I was quite moved. You know, the value of adding CO₂to an aquarium was being questioned at that time. There was no evidence until just then. After that, the room got full of empty soda bottles in no time (laugh.) I did the same to 180 cm aquarium. I added four to five bottles a day. It got too costly, and I gave it up as well. Then I came up with a CO₂ generator.

Aqua Journal: CO₂ generator? What kind of thing was it?

Amano: If you add dilute hydrochloric acid over some marble chips in a wide mouth bottle, the acid breaks down the calcium carbonate content and CO₂ is produced. I developed it into a product and they sold well. But I stopped selling it shortly thereafter. After all, handling dilute hydrochloric acid is not really safe.

Aqua Journal: Then, you finally came upon a liquid CO₂ cylinder, right?

Amano: Liquid CO₂ cylinders were being used for beer for some time, but the regulators were made for beer and they were not usable as they were. So, I thought about producing a regulator dedicated for aquatic plants.

Aqua Journal: I see. I suppose that there wasn’t any regulator for a planted tank back then.

Amano: Right. I was making needles in a small machine shop with a guy who was developing the equipment with me, while the machine shop made the parts. We were making the regulators ourselves. We used oxygen for pressure testing. It’s scary to think about it. It was suicidal (laugh.)

Aqua Journal: You mean, if it had ruptured, it would have been curtains (laugh)?

Amano: Yep. The needles were especially difficult to make. It’s the needle that punctures the seal of the cylinder. We made the needles by changing the angle of a cut needle. If it was slightly off position, carbon dioxide spewed out. I got my hands frost bitten so many times. It was really miserable. It took about a year to develop the needle. After many attempts to improve it, we finally perfected the needle that never allows CO₂ to leak --in that small machine shop!

Aqua Journal: So, it was all handmade. Was that TA/Ver.1? What kind of response did you get when you finished developing the CO₂ system?

Amano: Well, it did not sell at all initially. I felt like a new kid on the block. (Laugh) But, gradually it started selling. We could not keep up with the demand making them by hand. So we got Nippon Tansan Gas Company to produce it. It has evolved to a floating needle design now, but it started out as a hand-polished, handmade product.

Aqua Journal: I believe that it has evolved further to a new type of regulator with its pressure regulating ability that allows manifolds and a timer to be connected freely. It is truly advanced now in terms of functionality.

Amano: Yes. When it didn’t have the pressure regulating ability, attachments like those couldn’t be connected. Unless the supply stops automatically when more than a certain amount of pressure is applied, the injection volume has to be adjusted daily. Since CO₂ supplied to aquatic plants requires a fine adjustment, doing it daily is a lot of work. Pressure regulating ability meant a lot in that respect.

Aqua Journal: I see. It is because of the pressure regulator that we can inject CO₂ by simply opening and closing a valve, isn’t it? We can say that the pressure regulator enabled the system to advance by leaps and bounds.

Amano: For example, a timer that can only turn off the light and stop CO₂ supply would be useless. When it stops the CO₂ injection, it must be able to switch on the night time aeration. Aeration plays an important role for microorganisms in particular. When CO₂ is supplied to an aquarium, aquatic plants perform photosynthesis and generate oxygen inside the aquarium. Then a liquid fertilizer is added….Basically, everything is interrelated inside an aquarium. Microorganisms have an especially important function in it.

Aqua Journal: In other words, the lack of aeration damages the microorganisms in the filter and substrate.

Amano: When microorganisms are damaged, the condition inside an aquarium may suddenly become out of balance. Microorganisms colonize various places like the surfaces of driftwood, the substrate, and roots of aquatic plants in the substrate. They are everywhere and feed on organic substances in those places. If microorganisms disappear, organic substances start accumulating. A filter purifies water, taking advantage of the function of the filter bacteria in it. The night time aeration is much more important than most people imagine. During the daytime in a planted aquarium, oxygen is provided through the photosynthesis of aquatic plants.

Aqua Journal: I see. NA Control Timer for ADA’s CO₂ system is designed with considerations for not only supplying CO₂ to aquatic plants but also for conditioning the environment within an aquarium.

Amano: I believe that people who enjoy planted aquariums are concerned about things like the significance of CO₂ supply and the ecosystem balance. Global warming is becoming an issue and CO₂ reduction is talked about. But I think what we must do first is to stop the detrimental things like cutting down trees. You know, there is a very close relationship between CO₂ and plants, which is quite important. The amount of CO₂ that is absorbed by plants is much more significant than we expect. The uptake of CO₂ by plants leads to the purifying effect of plants and various other factors. All these things are intertwined intricately like a network.

Aqua Journal: It means that the CO₂ system is a system of supplying CO₂ to aquatic plants as well as a system of conditioning the environment within an aquarium.

ADA’s CO₂ System evolved rapidly with the advancement of the regulator. The use of a liquid CO₂ cylinder led to pressure regulation, fine-tuning ability and the development of the floating needle. They enabled us to enjoy a planted aquarium a lot more easily than in the past. All of this started out with a handcrafted regulator build in a tiny machine shop.