What's your DIY Carbon Dioxide recipe?

[Yenko]

I use 1/2 teaspoon of bread yeast, 1.5 liters of water and 2 cups of sugar. It takes a while to get started but runs for quite a while.

 

[Captain Canuck]

Thanks for all the great ideas, gelatin is something I had not read about. I am in the process of building my CO2 system and will probably try the gelatin option with some wine yeast from my local brew shop (LBS?), all I need is the bulkhead fittings that I ordered from a model shop.

 

[Colin_BC]

Thanks for all the replies so far, everyone! Does anyone else have any DIY Carbon dioxide recipes to contribute? I'm having a tough time deciding which one to go with first...

Colin

 

[SirMinion]

I have a question.

With this fermenting brew bubbling away, does it smell?

 

[English Lion]

Only when you take the lid off to change the mix. And not that much even then.

 

[Stryker]

No not really. If your feeling brave mix the brew with a carton of fruit juice and get merry.

 

[Colin_BC]

Does anyone else have any to add? I know there's many more user's here using their own DIY CO2 recipes....

Colin

 

[nonot8946]

out of curiosity, has anyone tried to make a homebrew with the diy CO2 leftovers?

 

[Undawada]

out of curiosity, has anyone tried to make a homebrew with the diy CO2 leftovers?

Wouldn't it make more sense to make DIY Co2 out of homebrew? If you are into both, that is...

Does anyone else have any to add? I know there's many more user's here using their own DIY CO2 recipes....

The recipe I am probably going to use is

1 cup sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 tsp active dry yeast

I don't know why bicarbonate of soda, but that's what someone told me would help. If anyone knows why, I am rather curious...

And I might try adding yeast nutrient too.

 

[Colin_BC]

The recipe I am probably going to use is

1 cup sugar
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/3 tsp active dry yeast

I don't know why bicarbonate of soda, but that's what someone told me would help. If anyone knows why, I am rather curious...

And I might try adding yeast nutrient too.

I was wondering this as well. I think the bicarb (baking soda?) acts as a stabilizer to an extent, but hopefully someone more knowledgable can shed some light on this...

Colin

 

[Terrorbyte]

I had my own DIY CO2 system going strong until for whatever reason the air tubing became clogged and massive amounts of pressure built up in the 2L soda bottle (of course, I was completely unaware of the pressure build-up at the time). I bumped the bottle (accidentally) one day while feeding the fish, and *BAM*, pieces of plastic bottle shrapnel went flying all over the place, it was a real nightmare (and a mess). I definitely cheated death on that one as 2 shards of sharp soda bottle plastic wound up lodged 1/4" deep in a nearby plaster wall.

At any rate, I've avoided the DIY CO2 ever since that incident. My plants seem to do just as well without the added CO2. Just wanted to share a "word of warning" with those of you setting up your own DIY CO2 systems...

 

[Undawada]

*BAM*, pieces of plastic bottle shrapnel went flying all over the place, it was a real nightmare (and a mess). I definitely cheated death on that one as 2 shards of sharp soda bottle plastic wound up lodged 1/4" deep in a nearby plaster wall.

Yikes!

I knew that the co2 pressure could get quite high, but I didn't know a plastic bottle woudl explode like that.

I figure'd it would've just split along the side or broke a seal or something.

I'm going to shell out $20 for the nutrafin co2 setup... I hope it's a little more sturdy.

 

[Terrorbyte]

Yes, the pressure will build up indefinitely if the CO2 cannot escape the bottle. If you're a risk-taker and just happen to have some spare dry ice around, chop up the dry ice (dry ice is frozen CO2 gas for those of you who didn't already know) with a fork or butter knife so that the dry ice chunks can fit through the hole in a 2L soda bottle. Put on some gloves to avoid instant frost bite, then place the dry ice in the 2L soda bottle, then add some cold tap water. Just a few small pieces of dry ice is plenty; the water should be boiling rather violently after contacting the dry ice (creating a nice fog effect). Screw down the cap nice and tight so that the bottle is sealed, then place the bottle outside in an open area, and wait about 5-15 minutes. The water will instantly "boil" the dry ice, creating tremendous amounts of CO2 gas; the bottle will literally become rock solid within a minute or so from the insane amount of CO2 pressure. Throw something at the bottle (from a safe distance, from at least 20 feet away), and your bottle will probably explode violently, just like mine did. The bottle might eventually explode on its own (or launch the cap far up into the air) due to intense pressure, or it might take a little "nudge" on your part to cause the explosion.

BTW, I take absolutely no responsibility for any potential injuries caused by the this experiment. High speed shards of plastic or a speeding bottle cap flying at over 100mph can cause injury. Do this at your own risk.

Also, for those of you thinking "hey, I could make my own CO2 generator using dry ice", I don't advise this. First and foremost, you'll only get CO2 production for a few minutes. Secondly, the probability of your DIY CO2 generator exploding goes up substantially. Finally, you may spike CO2 levels in your tank so dramatically that your pH plummets and your tank becomes a toxic carbonic acid bath.

 

[WhispTech]

Do I need to do this for my 3 gallon tank with live plants?

 

[Colin_BC]

Have you had any problems with your plants without CO2 yet? As well, how much light and what kind do you have over the tank?

Colin