WARNING: Before you use DIY CO2...

[sammydee]

Ok, had a major emergency yesterday - my DIY bottle tipped over (damn cat!) and emptied its contents into the tank. I had a litre of sugar/yeast mixture go into the tank. Thank god it was a new mixture and had no alcohol in it.

I noticed quickly so I did an emergency 90% water change, and cleared most of it. I also added extra mechanical filtration for the night. This morning it was much clearer luckily. I hope the fish will be able to survive a bit of sugar and yeast.

Anyway, just to serve a warning to ANYONE who uses/will be using DIY CO2 - put an inline tank between the bottle and the main aqurium - this way if i tips over it will empty into this tank - not the main tank.

Don't think that it "won't happen to you" for whatever reason - it would take ten minutes to make an inline emergency reservoir. It takes an hour and maybe the lives of your fish the other way.

I would appreciate it if the mods could make this a sticky so that people who were thinking about using DIY co2 would be warned.

Thanks.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

i dont get? it tipped over and due to the pressure, forcibly injected the mixture into the tank ?

hmm i have a bottle thats serves as a bubble counter and white slime eliminator between my tank and c02 mix? are you thingking of the same thing ?

 

[Grey Legion]

No, he stated that his cat had knocked it over...I can see that happening cats get into everything

I have my bottle wedged between the filter and the side of my stand, I was thinking that while I was getting it ready my 2 cats watched every move I made. It is almost impossible to knock mine over but I keep a eye on it, I have a bigger fear from the little buggers biting into the line..

but a good warning for all to listen to

 

[Undawada]

I've heard of using two soda bottles with the mixture in the first, and the second is empty just to catch overflow if it happens.

That's the method I will probably use once I get my co2.

edit: added picture

 

[Lateral Line]

I use 3 bottles. Very much like the drawing above, but I have 2 reactors, one started part way through the life of the other so the production rate is more constant without the "no bubbles for hours while a new one gets up to speed or the long drawn out death at the other end.

The plenum is useful if a bottle gets extra warm or if, as has happened here, a bottle falls over, (my bottles stand in a large bucket, they couldn't fall over as such).

I have a couple of compression taps on the lines between the reactors and the plenum, and an inline anti siphon valve on the line that runs from the plenum to the tank.

The mixture looks horrid, and makes a real mess if it gets into the tank, but it is not overly toxic. I've seen "disasters" where an entire reactor has been unceremoniously dumped into a tank without any loses.

We have a "For Sale" section for your cat by the way

 

[smithrc]

I've heard of using two soda bottles with the mixture in the first, and the second is empty just to catch overflow if it happens.

That's the method I will probably use once I get my co2.

edit: added picture

i was just about to say that too

 

[sammydee]

Yes that's what I meant Undawada. That sort of system. The water has cleared up now, which is good. I don't thik sugar and yeast will be too bad, it would be the alcohol which kills fish. Luckily, as I said, it was a new mixture with hardly any alcohol in it.

Yes kenneth_kpe, the pressure injected the mixture straight into the tank. The inline tank idea will prevent this from happening.

A side note Undawada - your system could fail if both the bottles are knocked over (trust me cats can be really lethal like that) so I would use a very flat stable box-like container (maybe a tupperware box?) instead of another bottle.

 

[Discomafia]

And why does that slimely white residue collect on my CO2 ladder? I use the Nutrafin system... It even happens when I use the DIY method and use a bell ro allow diffusion. Is it something to do with the yeast reaction? More importantly, will it harm my fish? I don't think so as I don't really clean it up unless I'm doing a w/c, so it seems like they can live with a small amount of it in the water...

 

[sammydee]

Ok, this is a much more serious problem than perhaps some of you may have previously thought.

They all died. Two neons survived, the angelfish, the rosy barbs, the glassfish, the ottos, rosy tetras, all the other neons - they all died.

The yeast multiplied overnight. The rosy barbs ate it (you know how hungry they are) and swelled up and *ruptured* (I won't elaborate). The yeast used up all the oxygen in the water which killed everything else.

So now I have a clouded tank which is full of dead bloated carcasses. I think I need to nuke it completely and eliminate all traces of yeast. I want to try and preserve the plants though - any ideas on how to nuke plants whithout killing them?

It's a pain because I got sacked from my job, and I can't get another job until I'm sixteen, so I have no money. I'm devastated - why me?

 

[sammydee]

Guess i'd better put my marine tank on hold for a while, huh?

 

[Discomafia]

WOW! That's such a pity!

Let me be the first to tell you how sorry I am this has happened. RIP fishies, you WILL be missed.

You did a 90% w/c and still this happened... Not sure what you can do about the tank now.. First, remove all the dead fish and dispose of them properly if you haven't already done so...

Secondly, you're going to need to disinfect the tank or at least dismantle everything, and wash it throughly in hot water. As for the plants, just keep them in a bucket of water for a few days until you can set up the tank again...

How are those 2 remaining neons doing now?

edit - another reason why this thread should be pinned. IMO.

 

[sammydee]

What if the plants have traces of yeast on them? Should I soak them in salt water for a couple of minutes?

I'm going to wash out the tank with salt water, boil the gravel, boil or replace the filter media and run the powerheads through with salt water. I need to boil the wood, and wash the heater and other equipment in salt water too. Basically completely nuke the tank - I don't want the same thing happening again.

Anything I've missed?

 

[sammydee]

BTW luckily I have a three gallon hospital tank, which the neons are in now. It is not cycled though, so it will ahve to be a 25% water change every two days for a couple of weeks.

 

[jimbooo]

holy crap. sorry to hear that.

good luck with the rebuild. i have no experience with such disasters so cant add anything i'm afraid.

MODS: please pin this as sooo many people use this system, i had no idea how dangerous the mix is if it gets in the tank.

just a thought but wouldn't a 1 way valve (like you use for an airstone) do the same as the 2nd bottle?? i have one on both my nutrafin units

 

[Lateral Line]

>>> 1 way valve (like you use for an airstone) do the same as the 2nd bottle??

The one way valve, (anti siphon valve), that I have wouldn't work. Other types could depending on how they work. The CO2 or in this case mix is going in the right direction remember.

The problem is that if the bottle is tipped over, the line leading to the tank is now presumably beneath the level of the reactants. These will continue reacting and the CO2 released will increase the pressure in the space above the reactants forcing the reactants out along the line, and in the absence of a plenum, into the tank.

What puzzles me in this case is the wipe out. I've seen this happen several times, indeed, I got a call in the middle of the night once and drove 45 kilometers to help someone that this had happened to, (also cat induced by the way), but in no cases have I ever seen a wipe out. In fact, I don't recall anyone ever losing a fish.

How far into the fermentation was it when it got knocked over, i.e. are we talking about a fresh sugar/yeast or a fermented alchohol/yeast mixture?