wagonman Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 thought i would start a progress thread on my recent attempt at diy co2. i have mixed 2cups suger 1 1/2 teaspoon of yeast and topped up with hot water and attached an check valve between second bottle and airstone in my water outlet flow. the lfs has ordered me 2 6700k 30in bulbs and i replaced the 24in bulb with an 8000k bulb. i have sum questions how long does it take for it to start bubbling? is it ok to have the airstone in the waterflow outlet just below the water surface? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 22, 2007 Report Share Posted June 22, 2007 First of all, that check valve is going to be a problem in the long run, and a lot of your CO2 may be escaping through tiny holes it creates in standard airline instead of going to the airstone. CO2 breaks down rubber and plastic, and even the siliconized rubber tubing isn't resistant to it. That said, nice job and keep up the good work. The CO2 yeast solution works better when warm so winter temps may be problematic. A quick solution for this is to use the tanks temps to keep the solution warm by strapping the bottle to the back of the tank - just make sure it doesn't fall down. I recommend dropping the airstone as low in the tank as you can. This will give the bubbles as much time as possible to be absorbed before they get to the surface. You may also want to take steps to slow down the flow of water going through your filter, as the agitation created by the returns releases a lot of CO2 into the air. Not really an ideal place for the airstone. HFF - Mt Eden I think? - have a similar tank with CO2 and the amount of pressurized gas they have to pump into it to keep up with the filter agitation is scary. I tried counting but it was going too fast. I think it was about 10 bubbles a second. You'll never be able to produce that much CO2 with a yeast solution so getting your water as calm as possible is the next best thing. Best of luck and let us know when the CO2 starts going or the bottle bursts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonman Posted June 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2007 ok so i took that check valve out, had sum bubbles for a while but has since stopped, would this be because the yeast solution is cold, i was thinking of putting it in a bucket of water with a spare heater i have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaNs Posted June 23, 2007 Report Share Posted June 23, 2007 Did you just drill holes in the top of the bottles? What about getting 2-5 smaller bottles and putting them above your tank in the light hood if there is room as that heat is going to waist. No reason waisting money on heating more water Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonman Posted June 23, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2007 Did you just drill holes in the top of the bottles? What about getting 2-5 smaller bottles and putting them above your tank in the light hood if there is room as that heat is going to waist. No reason waisting money on heating more water yip pic above shows setup and there isnt any room in the lighthood and i'd rather have it hidden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wagonman Posted June 24, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 ok this setup aint working (dribbles then stops bubbling) so i am thinking of this http://www.trademe.co.nz/Business-farmi ... 280809.htm would this be any good for a 150l tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted June 24, 2007 Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 People already tried it out and there's a thread on here somewhere. Three people purchased it and eventually all moved on due to a large amount of CO2 lost when connecting it and trouble controlling the flow with the very simple reg on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted June 24, 2007 Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 I use them (for other reasons and dont have any probs with CO2 lost Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rockerpeller Posted June 24, 2007 Report Share Posted June 24, 2007 I'm currently using it as well but with a bigger bottle. But I would rather have a purpose built set-up. This set-up does work but it does have its faults Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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