Increasing Co2

britt

Mostly New Member
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
38
Reaction score
0
Location
US
I have a 20 gallon fully planted tank I don't use additives but someone suggested a specific type saying it would help boost CO2 to match the lighting and nutrient needs that I had covered, any ways to do that without buying additives? I got a buddy looking into pumping CO2 into his tank using yeast, any thoughts?
 
There is liquid co2 (excel/easycarbo)
Yeast based co2 diy system
Pressurised co2

A lot of people use the liquid an yeast co2 with good results.
Are you currently adding fertilisers? How long has your tank been set up?
 
the DIY co2 system I use works well in my 5 gallon tank, I have had no issues with overdose, it just supplements the tank with a very usable amount of co2 for the plants.
 
EiYs2Jo.jpg

 
Ws2zmlR.jpg
 
been set up for months and i use kent pro plant food thats it
 
britt, sorry I didn't see this earlier, let me try to explain for you.    the DIY yeast system I use is a mixture of yeast and sugar water in the first bottle.  then from the cap i run an airline tube that goes down to the bottom of the second bottle.  this second bottle is referred to as a bubble counter, and it is just a chamber where you can see bubbles of co2 coming from the first bottle, as a reference for how much co2 gas is going into your tank, as well as a chamber for pressure build.   on that cap there is another hole, with a tube going from the top of the bottle, above the water line, out that cap and I have my line running directly into the outflow of a small internal filter.   i stick cigarette filter wadded tight into the end of the line that goes into the tank into the filter, to break up the bubbles good, and they are dispersed through the outflow bar.
 
separator.jpg


Some people just run the airline right into the intake on their filter, and the filter pump impeller actually chops the co2 bubbles up and releases them into pretty fine bubble mist that comes out of the filter outflow and seems to disperse well into the tank. 
 
How would you adjust ech0o, or is that all in the mix on the first bottle?
 
There's a great article here on setting up yeast systems.
 
There's also a very nice recent article on the pressurised options here for those who want more control.
 
Yea the adjustment is all in the mix, and the number of bottles, and its not a perfect science by any means.  Mine certainly produces more at first, and then tapers off slowly until the point in which I refill it.    I suppose you could run a valve on the line going into the tank, so that you could adjust it to blow off instead, to have the option to turn it on and off as to how much co2 you need, but I have found easiest is adjusting the level of co2 you need by adding or subtracting additional bottles of yeast/sugar.  Some people end up running 3 2liter bottles simply because that is when they achieve the amount of co2 desired.
 
Pressurized is more of a perfect science, where you can really hone your system to the perfect amount of co2, but I like the idea of all natural!  If only you could figure out a way to sustain the yeast indefinitely for a never ending co2 reactor ;p
 
the closest I've seen to that is a series of bottles tied in. Some produce quickly because they're new, some slowly because they're old.
 
They were changed one bottle at a time, so there wasn't too much variation, but even then external factors such as summer used to mess things up. The yeast was sustained by adding a small amount of liquid from the old container to the fresh new mix each time, rather than adding more yeast.
 
Thanks guys but any info on how to use a pressurized co2 bottle and not have to use an internal filter?
 
Not 100% I understand your question. There are a variety of ways of diffusing CO2, using ceramic diffusers, inline atomisers for externals and external reactors to name just 3.
 
How you do it depends on a mixture of the rest of the set up and personal preference.
 
ok i think i got the jist of it thanks
 
Awesome that was very helpfull thank you.
 

Most reactions

Back
Top