I think I have stumbled upon a DIY Co2 breakthrough. I have results on my end but, would like help from a few volunteers to help confirm what I've found. I have set up my DIY Co2 like this:
The actual set up looks like this:
As you can see, it's simply a cut in half 20oz. soda bottle, silicone air line, and a check valve. One thing I have found is, with standard size silicone airline, a 3/16" hole provides a tight fit and holds up under pressure with no adhesive needed. You'll need to really work the airline through the hole to get it in there but, it does offer an air tight fit. Back to the task at hand. The bottle needs to have a suction cup attached to it to keep it in place on the tank wall. I have one tube flowing from the spraybar on my XP3 into the bottle in the tank. This should hang about 3/4 of the way into the bottle and provides the water circulation. The other tube pokes about 1/2" into the cap of the bottle and runs to a check valve at the other end as seen in photo #3. Now for the simple part. I blow into the end of the tube with the check valve and fill the bottle in the tank with the contents of my lungs. BEWARE, you will have to blow hard. I then just let it go until the Co2 is disolved into the water and then I simply blow into the tube to refill the bottle again.. I have had to turn my airstone on 24hrs a day to keep the amount of Co2 in check. Here are my results:
Tap water:
KH 130ppm
PH 7.6
Co2 5.5ppm
tank water not exposed to any Co2:
KH 100ppm (Softness probably due to the substrate and driftwood)
PH 7.6
Co2 4.2ppm
Morning reading of Co2 tank water with air stone bubling all night:
KH 100ppm
PH 6.7
Co2 33.5ppm
Midday test:
KH 100
Ph 6.4
Co2 66.8ppm
Co2 is way too high. Fish were lethargic and not moving around very much. Not gasping for air but, definately not acting normal. This is the point I turned the air stone back on and let it run.
Evening test:
KH 100ppm
Ph 6.6
Co2 42.2
Co2 is still too high but, It did come down after I turned on the airstone and, I think with the air stone on all the time, it should come down by morning. Fish were much more active and alive. They show no ill effects at this level but, I would still like it to come down a bit just to be safe.
Here's what I need. I need volunteers to test this as I've described to see if human breath contains enough Co2 to power a 55gl tank as it seems to with mine. I'll answer questions if you have them. If you can come up with any explanation as to my numbers that would be appreciated. The point of this experiment is to disprove the fact that I can get my Co2 without a canister or yeasty mess.
Thank you very much.
The actual set up looks like this:
As you can see, it's simply a cut in half 20oz. soda bottle, silicone air line, and a check valve. One thing I have found is, with standard size silicone airline, a 3/16" hole provides a tight fit and holds up under pressure with no adhesive needed. You'll need to really work the airline through the hole to get it in there but, it does offer an air tight fit. Back to the task at hand. The bottle needs to have a suction cup attached to it to keep it in place on the tank wall. I have one tube flowing from the spraybar on my XP3 into the bottle in the tank. This should hang about 3/4 of the way into the bottle and provides the water circulation. The other tube pokes about 1/2" into the cap of the bottle and runs to a check valve at the other end as seen in photo #3. Now for the simple part. I blow into the end of the tube with the check valve and fill the bottle in the tank with the contents of my lungs. BEWARE, you will have to blow hard. I then just let it go until the Co2 is disolved into the water and then I simply blow into the tube to refill the bottle again.. I have had to turn my airstone on 24hrs a day to keep the amount of Co2 in check. Here are my results:
Tap water:
KH 130ppm
PH 7.6
Co2 5.5ppm
tank water not exposed to any Co2:
KH 100ppm (Softness probably due to the substrate and driftwood)
PH 7.6
Co2 4.2ppm
Morning reading of Co2 tank water with air stone bubling all night:
KH 100ppm
PH 6.7
Co2 33.5ppm
Midday test:
KH 100
Ph 6.4
Co2 66.8ppm
Co2 is way too high. Fish were lethargic and not moving around very much. Not gasping for air but, definately not acting normal. This is the point I turned the air stone back on and let it run.
Evening test:
KH 100ppm
Ph 6.6
Co2 42.2
Co2 is still too high but, It did come down after I turned on the airstone and, I think with the air stone on all the time, it should come down by morning. Fish were much more active and alive. They show no ill effects at this level but, I would still like it to come down a bit just to be safe.
Here's what I need. I need volunteers to test this as I've described to see if human breath contains enough Co2 to power a 55gl tank as it seems to with mine. I'll answer questions if you have them. If you can come up with any explanation as to my numbers that would be appreciated. The point of this experiment is to disprove the fact that I can get my Co2 without a canister or yeasty mess.
Thank you very much.
//C
