DIY Co2

[Grey Legion]

Hello all...

Been wanting to add co2 to my tank for some time and finally got the time to do it
so I thought I would share my findings.

Materials used:

2L pop bottle
1/4 tubing
silicone
sugar
water
"traditional" baking yeast

Mixture
1 teaspoon yeast to 1/2 cup warm tap water ( stir and let sit )

2 cups of sugar in pop bottle filled to top of label with warm tap water

add yeast/water mix

lightly shook bottle to make sure all was mixed.

Results

within 1 hour I saw my first bubbles, now I am about 1 bubble per second

I will note how long mixture lasts.

all and all the entire project took about 15 mins and cost about 4 dollars

I really want to see some pearling from my plants, I have neglected them so long

This is probaly one of the most rewarding projects I have done for my tank and I look forward to postiong my results and of course learning some more !!

 

[kenneth_kpe]

next stop DIY c02 reactor hehehe

 

[Grey Legion]

What is the difference between what I made and a reactor ??

 

[smithrc]

what you made was the generator... it makes the CO2.

How are you adding the CO2 to the tank? (as thats where the reactor comes in)

We started with a 'bell' reactor. this is where the co2 bubbled into tthe tank and is trapped under the water in a bell (or the top of a small coke bottle )

from there we bought a ladder deffuser. this is where the bubbles work their way up a zig zag 'ladder' untill its dissolved.

we then started forcing the co2 into our external filter filter intake. this worked ok but we couldnt tell when the mix was running out.

I then decided to fork out for a proper reactor - the Aquamedic 500 - It's great we are now finally getting the co2 concentration we need

 

[DannyBoy17]

now I am about 1 bubble per second

Isn't that waaay too much? Do you have fish in the tank?

--Dan

 

[smithrc]

now I am about 1 bubble per second

Isn't that waaay too much? Do you have fish in the tank?

--Dan

it depends how much of it is actually being disolved.

I was given a guide to the bubble rate that has held good.

tank size (Litres) x KH (degrees) / 50

so in our 200l with a KH of 9deg

200 x 9 = 1800

and 1800 / 50 = 36 bubbles per minute.

We now have a good diffuser and this bubble rate is good for a PH of 7

 

[Grey Legion]

what you made was the generator... it makes the CO2.

How are you adding the CO2 to the tank? (as thats where the reactor comes in)

We started with a 'bell' reactor. this is where the co2 bubbled into tthe tank and is trapped under the water in a bell (or the top of a small coke bottle )

from there we bought a ladder deffuser. this is where the bubbles work their way up a zig zag 'ladder' untill its dissolved.

we then started forcing the co2 into our external filter filter intake. this worked ok but we couldnt tell when the mix was running out.

I then decided to fork out for a proper reactor - the Aquamedic 500 - It's great we are now finally getting the co2 concentration we need

ah, ok...I have it going into my external filter, I would like to try a more visible method maybe this weekend I'll make a bell of some sort.

 

[Grey Legion]

now I am about 1 bubble per second

Isn't that waaay too much? Do you have fish in the tank?

--Dan

Of course I have fish and I have a 27 Gal tall tank, it only ran hard for the first day with not alot of intake, since then it has slowed down to about a bubble every 3-5 seconds and seems to be steady at that... I have noted no problems with any of my fish..if anything does happen i will be sure to post the results..

 

[kenneth_kpe]

btw, i think its better to use a inline reactor for your external canister rather then just plugging it in because the air pockets might cause your filter to conk out just to be sure ? and IMO reacators diffuse c02 better then bell type diffusers buuuuut bell type diffusers are much easier to make and IMO inject a constant amount of c02 into your tank regardless of bubbles per minute

sombody correct me if im wrong

 

[Grey Legion]

Sounds great Kenneth !!

how could I go about making my own inline reactor ??
any sites with plans or instructions ??

any help would be great, I would like as much knowledge as possible before I start building anything..

thanks