Diy c02

[Slopster]

Does anyone have a good DIY C02 system, I'd kinda like to try one out before buying into one, as i see they are a bit expensive.

[taureandragon76]

You can always make your own.

[bingerz]

have you seen that diy with 2 liter bottles and tubing to push air through air stones? i don't know anything about planted aquariums and co2 systems for aquariums. is a matter of just blowing c02 into the water? and if that's the case...could you use that diy and combine it with the whole "baking soda+water blowing up the balloon" science project to create co2?

[neven]

i personally like jello co2. If you have a container with a larger footprint (ocean spray bottle, oil plastic jug, gasoline jug sealed) you'll outperform most yeast based systems without needing to change the batch every 2 weeks.

As with most diy set ups, the pressure isn't strong enough to get decent diffusion through a standard airstone, but you can get away with the wooden air "stones"

I use my success on my 29 gallon to factor in how to supply my other tanks with jello co2. I use a 3 Litre canola jug, its got depth and a large footprint, making it perfect for jello co2. I find the 1.89 Litre cranberry juice jugs to work great for a 5-10 gallon, and its about 1/3 the footprint of my 3L jug.

the recipe is in my jello co2 thread
DiY Jello Co2

[Slopster]

Well right on I'm going to give it a whirl i guess, I got all the eupiment Milk Jug, tubing, check valve, just gotta get a wooden airstone and make up the product, Probably on Sunday, now I'm a little confused as to the PPM part of it, is there a good point and a bad point to this?? what happens if it's to high or to low? any risk to the fish?

Do I need to get a test kit for C02, I've never seen one before..

Sorry if it seems that I'm asking to many Questions and thanks to everyone that is helping out here on this Discussion..

Rob..

[neven]

if its too low, you risk algae, if its too high you get fish gasping at the surface. There is no test kit for co2, what there is though, it called a drop checker. It changes colour depending on the ppm of co2 in the water. Its hard to get too much with diy co2, with jello its possible, but its normally just barely, easily fixed by making more surface agitation. I normally use a drop checker, but i ran out of regeant for it :/ But since i know from experience the signs of a tank getting enough co2, i can do without for a while. If you are just doing yeast water i'd suggest something called a bubble counter. SImply put, a pop bottle half filled with water, with two air lines going into it, one just into the cap, and one to the bottom of the bottle. It lets you see when your batch is starting to die (or if it failed to start)