Making A DIY C02 Unit and C02 Mixture Article

[Big Vine]

I actually came across that earlier---I went through the entire thread!
I think I'm being a tad paranoid, so I'll probably just stick with the mixture bottle...I'll be running two of them at once, so I won't have much room to work with for using a bubble-counter bottle in between.

Which brings me to my second main issue of where to put the bottles...
I'm thinking inside of the cabinet under the tank, but that would mean running a good 4ish feet of tubing from each bottle to the HOB filter intake tubes.

Is that too much tubing? I don't see how CO2 would be lost (even with longer tubing)---just as long as the seals are good where the tube comes out of the mixture bottle, right?

Hmm...let's see how many more questions I can come up with before I fall asleep here...gettin' late...

Mostly I'm just being overly paranoid, but when I read that the yeast mixture could kill the entire tank, I decided it's best to cover all my bases before disaster occurs! LOL

Big Vine

[drumminfish]

Well mine was on a shelf above the tank, so it had a hose about 4 feet long running to the tank, and I never had any apparent shortage of CO2 in a 20g...I'm not sure about the seals, as you can see I used rubber bungs and they were a tight fit, i never had any leakage that I saw...and the good thing about those bungs, if pressure ever built up too much, it would just pop the bung out instead of pumping the mixture into the tank.

But yeah, back to your question, unless the tubing leaks, I don't think you'll lose much if any CO2. The only loss I can think of would be lack of pressure pushing the CO2 up, but I don't really think you'll have a lack of pressure until the yeast are almost all dead, and at that point it's time to change the bottle anyways. (If CO2 is lighter than air, you wouldn't have that problem anyways, but I'm not a chemistry major)

<edit>Sorry I re-read that after I posted and realized that every time I meant to type "bung", I spelled it with an "o" instead of a "u" lol</edit>

[Big Vine]

Originally Posted by drumminfish

I re-read that after I posted and realized that every time I meant to type "bung", I spelled it with an "o" instead of a "u" lol

Haha! I won't tell the authorities that you've been using "bungs" (spelt with an "o"). LMAO

Seriously though...is that really what they call those black rubber stopper thingies---"bungs"?

Whatever they are, where did you find ones that specifically fit the 2L bottle opening?

Big Vine

[drumminfish]

Yeah, I believe that's what they're called...if not, bungs are similar. As to where I got them....don't tell the authorities haha but I "borrowed" them from a drawer in my high school's chemistry lab. It's ok though, I had the permission from the department head to take a couple, since there were 3 drawers full of them. The two I took had never even been used, they were still sealed in a plastic bag but I cleaned them anyways. There were a bunch of different sizes, but I grabbed two that fit...one had two holes, the other one....the holes were the perfect size for that plastic tubing I got at Petco.

[Big Vine]

Sweet!
You know, it should've occurred to me that my wife might be able to get me some from work...she is a microbiologist, after all. Guess I forgot. LOL

With my luck, "bungs" will be the one thing they don't have there!

Thanks for all your advice, Drummin.
I'm sure I'll have more questions later, but for now it's

Big Vine

[drumminfish]

No problem, yeah I just got lucky in that I had most of my credits done by my senior year, so I was a teacher aide for my old chemistry teacher for the last two semesters of high school....basically I got to hang out in the chemistry lab surfing the internet while she ran around doing stuff (it was her planning period, so she didn't have her classroom - it was being used by another teacher for another class, one of the problems of overcrowding at our school). The best part was, she was always buying me food and stuff....it was sweet. When I told her what I was doing and mentioned I wanted some of those things, she let me have them. My only regret was that I only took two, because it's 3 years too late now to go back and get some more.

Sleep? What's that? lol

[Big Vine]

Free stuff's always good!
By the way, are you supposed to disconnect the CO2 at night? If so, for how long? Until tank lights go back on?


Oh...and here's how the conversation with my wife went this morning:

Q: "Do you have any of those black rubbery 'bung' things at work?"

A: "Isn't that sh_it or something...you know...like when you're 'all bunged-up!?"

Q: "No, that's 'dung'! Well, I guess it could be 'bung' too...
Anyway, those things that go into the top of a bottle and sometimes have a hole in them for tubing."

A: "Oh! You mean 'stoppers!' Sure, I can steal you some."

Big Vine

[drumminfish]

I never disconnected my CO2 at night, some people say you should because the CO2 isn't getting used because the plants aren't photosynthesizing without light...some people say the CO2 buildup isn't bad...I guess you can try it, and if your fish start gasping at the top of the tank by morning, then you should turn it off. I left mine on overnight for 2 years, though, and never had any fish die from CO2 poisoning....I guess it just depends on your tank.

Haha at least you didn't ask her if they had any "bongs" at work...

[Mahamotorworks]

I run my CO2 24/7 I dont have any problems wiht it but I also have a bubble curtain the Runs 24/7. If you are worried about it run an air pump when the lights are off. It will help move the water and gass off the CO2. I would have the pump turn off 1 hour befoe the lights go on.

MAHA

[Big Vine]

Alternatively, could I simply turn the flow adjustment back up all the way on the two HOB filters? (which I will be running at the lowest flow setting during the day)

Big Vine