Co2 diy

[roxcarr]

Hi - I'm about to make a homemade C02 diffusor/injector for my 55 gallon tank. Has anyone done this? Have any advice? Thanks - Roxanne

[Complexity]

I've known people who have used DIY CO2 systems where they use a sugar/yeast method to create the CO2, but they still bought a CO2 diffuser for the tank. With a tank as large as a 55g, be prepared to be making a whole lot of DIY CO2 with only mediocre results at best. I'd honestly recommend getting injected CO2 for a tank of that size. DIY CO2 is more appropriate for small tanks. I tried it for awhile on a 20g, but gave up very quickly because the DIY CO2 wouldn't create enough pressure for a steady CO2 dose, and I got tired of making more formula every other day or so.

However, if you'd really like to give it a try, here's a very detailed thread with all the information you need. It's 16 pages long continuing through 5 years in all. Let us know if you find a method that you like!

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/diy-aquarium-projects/14453-diy-co2-guide-pictures-recipes.html

[roxcarr]

Thanks! I've been reading the link you gave me. I made a very basic one before I read it, from info I got from other places on the internet - I'm thinking next week I'm gonna get a little more involved (I work on the weekends).

[Complexity]

Check out Youtube for demonstrations on how to put a diy setup together. Sometimes a visual can help put the words together.

[roxcarr]

I did. I kept reading explanations, but really wasn't getting it. After I watched youtube I went and got the stuff I needed. I just put a post here in case I could learn from anyone else's experiences

[davemonkey]

I had DIY on a 55 some time back. I used 2 x 1gallon-size OJ containers and alternated giving them fresh mixes on a bi-weekly basis. I think it would have been better to have 4 x 1/2gallon size containers though. DIY is highly variable, it starts off strong and putters out quickly, so it is extremely difficult to keep any kind of constant CO2 concentration in the tank.

Whatever you do, do NOT use fruit pulp. I used to make home-made wine and thought it would be great to run the CO2 from the fermentaion of the wine into my tank. It worked great until some pulp clogged the tubing...and then BOOM!

Oh, for a diffuser, I put the end of my CO2 tubing at the intake of a powerhead and that worked quite well. I'll see if I can find my old photos to give you an idea.

-Dave

[djmatthewblack]

I would recommend a carbon tank and regulator. It is going to be tough to get much benefit from a yeast setup on anything larger than say 20 gallons.

You will also need a diffuser, and this you can build yourself. Some people have recommended that you just have the carbon air go into the filter intake. I built a diffuser out of PVC filled with bioballs. It never was really effective until I figured out that you need the water column to flow in a downward direction. That way when the carbon bubbles are released into the chamber, they are blown down and churned till they dissolve in the water. After that my plants started pearling like crazy (in fact I had the carbon turned up too high and almost sufficated my fish, but once I turned it back down to a bubble every 2-3 seconds in the bubble-counter/regulator, everything was perfect).

[davemonkey]

Here, page 2 of THIS thread.

And HERE is the one from just a year ago where I had a blow-up.

At any rate, I agree with the above post...if you can afford pressurized, get it. But if you can't...then you just use what you got and make the best of it.

[jwh0818]

You could also use a cigarette filter. I did on my 30g and it worked great

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[tizzite]

+1 For pressurized. I have done both, and my pressurized is a paintball setup. I wish I'd have done a full blown high quality regulator though, because the needle valve on mine is finicky, and it would have been nice to have a solenoid.

You're looking at less than $100 for a paintball setup.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/diy/115850-paintball-co2-injection-diy-setup-tons.html

He sells them too, you can just PM him. It'll cost about the same amount if you buy the parts yourself.

[Totenkampf]

+1 to putting the co2 into the intake of a powerhead especially one that rotates like a wavemaker. U can inject it into the output of a canister filter but not the intake or u may end up losing the pump prime. The key to a diffuser design is to make the smallest bubbles possible and then agitate them further while keeping them in contact with the water column for as long as possible