Simplest co2...a crazy idea...or just stupid?

[tim_in_brighton]

Crazy idea, laugh at me if you want. I've been reading up on DIY co2 a bit recently and got thinking...if we humans exhale co2 (and we do, don't we?), couldn't a simple co2 system be made up that just required someone to breath deeply into a tube? I was thinking a if "co2 bell" was used to contain the "gas", just like in some simple full DIY systems, there would be time for the water to absorb the presumably small amount of co2 we exhale. I'm guessing it would just be too little to really help, but it does side-step a lot of the struggles with the set-up people seem to have. Maybe if you held your breath for half a minute first, that should increase the amount of co2 you exhale. I only have a 60 litre tankat the moment so it shouldn't take much!

An obvious disadvantage is that my family already think I'm wierd enough without me holding my breath before exhaling into a fish tank!


Have fun laughing at/with me...

Tim

 

[smithrc]

there is actually not a lot of CO2 in the 'air' we breath out... try breathing into and out of a bag... you'll be ok for quite a while..

deffinatly better (and easier) to use a yeast sugar mix.

 

[Idolz]

We don't even use all of the oxygen that we breath in. I can't remember exactly but I think we only use about 14 to 24% of the oxygen in the air we breath...
Hey, you could try it but I think there will be a lot of huffing and puffing

 

[Mr Miagi]

Idolz is correct. That would recquire alot of breathing. Id stick with the sugar/yeast mix. And your right, i did laugh at u! But in a good way!

 

[kenneth_kpe]

hmmmmmm

 

[OohFeeshy]

Stick to the yeast. Easy and you'll get a nice home brew. Mine smelled really badly like beer, didn't want a taste though...

 

[Dorkhedeos]

maybe if you fart into the tank.......

 

[isu_guy]

I make my own wine, it does have a bad smell while its fermenting. So Ohhfeeshy is not too far of in saying you could have a nice homebrew. I haven't had a need to hook up a co2 to my tanks, but if I do I would think about hooking up my wine making fermenter since its both my fermenter and those sugar yeast are almost the exact same thing... sugar (or a grape juice of sorts) and yeast.

 

[chkltcow]

I make my own wine, it does have a bad smell while its fermenting. So Ohhfeeshy is not too far of in saying you could have a nice homebrew. I haven't had a need to hook up a co2 to my tanks, but if I do I would think about hooking up my wine making fermenter since its both my fermenter and those sugar yeast are almost the exact same thing... sugar (or a grape juice of sorts) and yeast.

I don't think you'd want to drink the resulting cocktail from a CO2 generator though It produces ethanol, which is the part of drinking that produces the drunk But... remember this. Yeast can survive up to 14 or 15% alcohol content. After that, it dies, and CO2 production stops. What's left over in that bottle is a mix of 15% ethanol, and 85% sugary water with dead yeast suspended in it.


MMMM.... tasty!

Now your idea of venting CO2 from a wine distilling thing might work. Only thing is, what else gets vented off other than CO2? When you distill, you have to heat the mixture right? Would that send any moisture with odd things through with the CO2?

 

[isu_guy]

most wines aren't actually distilled.

Right now I have a valve that allows the CO2 to vent out but no O2 to get in (this is for my wine, not connected to my tank at all). You are correct that at about 12-15% the yeast dies (depending on what strain of yeast you have).

You are also correct that to distille you have to heat a mixture, but for distilling it is actually the alcohol that turns to gas and then is cooled leaving the water behind... so that you would not want to go into your tank.

But back to the topic at hand, I believe that it would only be water vapor and CO2 that would be vented off my wine fermenter if I were to have it connected to my aquarium, and this would be the same as any other diy CO2 injector (water vapor and CO2)

- i could be wrong though.