Co2 DIY

[Matt Nace]

Here is what I use..it is common recipe actually.

For around a 30 gallon tank.

one 2 liter bottle.
2 cups of sugar
1/4 tsp of yeast "Fleischmann's active dry yeast" I use.You can use what you want.

You need to drill or punch a hole in the cap, then insert some airline tubing so about its an inch  inside the cap. Use a sealant to seal the air tubing in place. Let it set overnight to be safe. Rinse it lightly the next day.

Have the yeast come to Room temp first.Then add the sugar and yeast into the bottle.Fill the bottle up with warm water(not hot) half way. Shake up. Fill the bottle about 4 inches from the top.

For best results in my expierence, use a bucket or a small tank with a small heater.Fill the tank or bucket so that the DIY Co2 bottle is in a heated bath.If your house is in the 70's you might not need to do this.

I put mine below my tank with a check valve inline.
So far at 78 f, I get a bubble a second or every two.

Make sure your yeast is not older than 6 months.
Make sure you refrigerate the yeast or the yeast has been refrigerated(if open)
I found yeast in a seeled jar (with the air locked saftey cap) is best. Other yeast was not active for me(from a farmers market)

You can hook up two bottles with a "T" connecter for bigger tanks.

 

[Bettaman shane]

thats sounds greta im going to try that when i get my 33. it will be my first planted tank. Also how long does this mixture produces CO[sub]2[/sub]?

 

[Matt Nace]

Depending on how fast a bubble a second, the yeast will use up the sugar in 3 to 5 weeks.This I have read(The length of time) , I dont know for a fact as of yet.

I forgot to mention I have it attached to my magnum intake, so the impeller can disolved it more with the water.

 

[arcab4]

for your 30gallon. you have 1 bubble/sec? how much lighting do you have? i found that 1bubble/sec was too little. it acutally caused a major outbreak of algae. right now i'lve slowly bumped it up to about 2 bubbles/sec.

i've noticed a decrease in algae but i'm wondering if that's enough. maybe i should increase it more. hmm.

 

[Matt Nace]

My lighting is not what you have, but I feel it is not bad at all I have 80 watts.

Did you ever test your tap water for Phosphates?
This is usually added to public water and can be found in wells due to run-off. It is a major cause for algae.

I also feel this amount of Co2 combined with the amount of light should be good to prmote the growth and use of nutrients in the water , that the plants will utilize.

I am new to planted tanks, but I tried to read a lot about them. The more light you have the more your plants need Co2 to out compete the algae for nutrients.

 

[Bettaman shane]

I am definately going to have to try this when i get my new tank  

 

[clothahump]

Hey Barb, do you think it would be safe to actually make home made wine and use the Co2 from that, or would the fish be affected by the alcohol fumes. 8)

 

[Matt Nace]

hehe,

I think they would enjoy a buzz every now and then from it. 8)

 

[kitten]

hahaha..um...no.

 

[Bettaman shane]

Drunk fish would be funny. but very cruel

 

[kitten]

my goldfish act like they're drunk, i think they are braindamaged or something. They are feeders that i cycled my first tank with a few years ago. they are way too big to give to my oscar...(d@mn that would be cool)

 

[Bettaman shane]

i have a bettas that slammes himself against the glass. My oscars LOVE there twice a week feeders it makes tham happy ;D

 

[kitten]

I fed my white clouds that i didn't want to my oscar, omg, he totally ripped them apart. I feed him some guppies and he just gulps them down. But these fish...d@mn, it was so cool (sorry fishchick).

 

[Bettaman shane]

It is cool it was better when i had my piranhas (my they RIP) but they had a disagreement and both died :'(

 

[kitten]

they scare me. :-[

 

[Bettaman shane]

they scare you thats weird they look so cool 8)

 

[kitten]

a canadian is telling me that i am wierd

 

[Bettaman shane]

hey i found that very offensive j/k

 

[Matt Nace]

Been a month my Co2 is still going strong. The higher I heat the water bath the faster it pumps it out. SO there is a regulator for ya. I keep it at 80-81 f.

Arcab, How do you measure your bubble/sec for Co2??

 

[scrimman]

I don't know what Arcab uses, but I use a baby food jar.  Any sealable jar should do.
I drilled two holes in the lid, and I put two airlines in.  One airline goes just barely inside of the lid and the other is long enough to almost touch the bottom of the jar. The jar is filled half-way with water. The shorter line goes to my diffuser (an airstone with one of those candy machine bubble containers over it) and the longer one heads to my DIY CO2 reactor.  All airline penetrations are sealed with modeling clay. (Hey, it's what I had on hand)
The idea is this: the CO2 comes out of the reactor, is forced through the water in the baby food jar (which makes the bubbles countable), and then out to the tank to feed the plants.  The bubble counter also "cleans" the CO2 and doesn't let that white stringy-snotty crud that sometimes forms from clogging your airstone.  

Does that help?