My Home Made CO-2 Generator :)

[s3xtcy]

Hey all, I decided I like my plants too much to let them get a little brown so I decided to try a co2 generator..

Ive read a few horror stories about bottles exploding etc and about how its bad to put co2 into the tank overnight, so I figured out a way to keep it tidy and still functional..

Parts List

1x 2.25 Litre Coke Bottle

1x Pump Bottle

1x Coke Bottle lid

3x metres of air hose

1x 4way gang-valve (and a hacksaw 8) )

1x tube of aquarium safe silicone

1x check-valve

Tools

Hacksaw,

Drill

Misc Drill bits

Side-cutters

Method :

Drill one hole in the top of the 2.25 litre bottle lid, run one end of the air hose into the end of this, silicone it in place on both sides - good way to get the inside to set is just to fill it up, wait till it gets quite tacky, then screw it onto the bottle, the bottle cuts where it needs to go and the rest of the silicone shapes into the lid better for a better seal later

Drill 2x holes in the other lid, run the piece of air-hose out of the coke bottle right down to the bottom through one of the holes, and run the rest of the hose out of the 2nd hole in the lid to the check-valve (by the tank)

Connect the check valve the correct way around (pointing into the tank) to the pump bottle hose.

**Note at this stage you need to cut the 4way gang-valve in half (or just use a 2way with inlet) and cap off the cut end so no air can exit.**

From the other side of the check valve run the hose to the inlet of you're now "2way" gang valve

One outlet of the gang-valve can just have a short length of air-hose attached to it as a vent,

The other outlet goes to the intake of the filter..

Now the way this works, is when the co2 goes into the inlet of the gang valve, you can open the first outlet, and close the 2nd, this will let the co2 just vent direct to the atmostphere, if you close the first outlet, and open the 2nd, the co2 goes straight into you're intake, is bashed around by the impeller and is put out through the intake..

And there you have it! easy, effective, and looks gooooooood 8) 8)

Pics

:bounce: :bounce:

[breakaway]

This is exactly how I have mine set up, but if you're serious about growing plants you'll soon grow tired of swapping the mixture out, and the unreliable amount of CO² that these produce and spring for a pressurised system

[s3xtcy]

Thats the plan and I haven't even changed the bottle yet, its enough of a struggle to keep the bottle warm - i only have one heater so putting a heater in a bucket isn't a reasonable option...

Will be looking for a "cheapish" co2 setup once I see how this one works, at the moment its not working too well, I think i have the hole into the intake too low so the water pressure is pushing the co2 back down the pipe till it builds up enough...

that or i have a very minor leak.. Or its dissolving into the water without needing to be smashed around by the filter?

Anyway the system looks great and seems to be working okish whenever i look, how long before I should start noticing a change?

[breakaway]

My CO² runs really well for the first day after I make it. Plants pearling all over the place and all. But on the 2nd day, only one or two plants are pearling. Third day, nothing. Bubbles are still coming out of the bottle, but the CO² concentration has gone down by tons.

I'm about to get a pressurised system myself. Going to import a regulator + solenoid for ~$120NZ. Then buy a bottle in NZ for about $200-$250. Total cost about $3-400 worst case. Locally, just the reg+solenoid will set you back $500. Bottle extra.

[s3xtcy]

ouch!! wow $120 seems really cheap then, sorry im new to this, what do you mean by "pearling"? When are you looking at getting in this system? is that $120 etc including freight? and what extras are needed? Cheers

[breakaway]

$120 including freight. Pearling is when plants release oxygen into the water (in the form of little bubbles) right from the leaves because they're thriving.

"Extras" needed would be some tubing (cheap), check valves (cheap) and bubble counter (~$9USD tops) and diffuser (another $20USD tops).

[kiwiplymouth]

This thread has lots of interesting pics of pearling plants.

http://www.fishkeepers.co.nz/forums/vie ... 5075&hilit

[s3xtcy]

wooo, I havnt noticed that! but they do look a bit greener and seem to be happier, its starting to keep the pH in check too, found something interesting today, I recently moved my tank and as a result i now use a different tap in the house for water changes, the water out of this tap is yellow (aprox 6.1-6.2) when i test it with the ph kit, when i test my old tap its pretty much bang on 7.0!

Breakaway would there be any chance of getting a co2 unit ordered with yours? when are you looking at getting it?

[Brennos]

$120 including freight. Pearling is when plants release oxygen into the water (in the form of little bubbles) right from the leaves because they're thriving.

"Extras" needed would be some tubing (cheap), check valves (cheap) and bubble counter (~$9USD tops) and diffuser (another $20USD tops).

Can you pm me some links? do you want to do a double buy and split freight?

[breakaway]

Hi,

Don't wanna buy double - I already have mine.

Here's the solenoid + regulator setup I got - same seller, same model. I can confirm it fits the NZ bottles out of the box: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0578967676

If you want to save a bit of money, you can get a single stage regulator: http://cgi.ebay.com/CO2-Diffuser-Atomiz ... ltDomain_0 or http://cgi.ebay.com/Aquarium-CO2-Regula ... plies_Fish

I wouldn't recommend it though, as the single stage regs apparently cause 'end of tank dumps - i.e. when the CO2 tank runs out, a dual stage regulator keeps the operating pressure (i.e. gas going into your aquarium) very stable as the bottle finishes. A single stage reg however will just dump all the gas, at once, into your aquarium and cause harm to your fish. However, if you keep an eye on tank pressure, you can avoid such an event easily by refilling the tank. The tank _SHOULD_ last for several months. Mine lasted for 2 months while gassing both my tanks, but I think that may be because I opened the valve without hooking up the reg to see what would happen And a good amount of gas escaped due to me being overly curious.

I'd get the dual stage personally - it's a one time investment.

You also need the following parts

- US -> NZ wall socket power adapter (if you get the solenoid reg)

- Timer (so you can set the CO2 to come on and go off with your lights). My CO2 is on a separate timer - it comes on 1 hr before lights, and goes off 1hr before lights.

- Diffuser (Ceramic, In-Line, your choice. I run an in-line one on my 200L, ceramic on my 38L)

- Brass Check Valve

- Bubble counter (not critical, but makes fine tuning CO2 injection really really easy).

- Polyurethane tubing (I recommend the black tubing, not the clear, - their diameters seem slightly different, and I could not fit the tubing onto my my glass diffuser. The black tubing, worked perfectly.)

- CO2 Cylinder/Bottle (Obviously). I got mine from a place that sells refurbished fire extinguishers - $200 for a 3.5kg bottle IIRC. $11/refill IIRC.

- Drop Checker (checks CO2 saturation - not critical but useful)

The above information is all you need to set up your system _b Decided to post it here rather than PM so everyone can benefit from it, rather than pay >$600 for a local package with a 0.5kg cylinder that will be out in half a month.

[land_lubber]

just the reg+solenoid will set you back $500. Bottle extra.

Not sure where you got that price from but thats pretty expensive. I brought my reg with solnoid, bubble counter, tubing and diffuser for $215 from trademe which is the same reg that you post from ebay. I also brought the bottle for $200 with the first two refills for free from here http://www.wises.co.nz/p/pressure-check ... ting/nzf5/ so all up it only cost me $415. If anyone is interested let me know and I can pm you the buyer I brought it from as I think he has a few for sale. He also gave me a heap of plants as well.

[breakaway]

I was talking about the "ready made" units they sell in pet stores, i.e. the Sera CO² systems, the Red Sea CO² systems and the like, - the ones that come with regulator, solenoid, drop checker, diffuser and bubble counter. I believe some of them also come with a small CO2 cannister (like the ones in the soda stream systems.)

[land_lubber]

Ahhh that makes sense. I thought you were talking about a system for a big tank :lol:

[breakaway]

What kind of diffuser are you using land_lubber?

[land_lubber]

Its just a plastic/ceramic one. It looks pretty cheap but I'm very surprised at how well it works. The bubbles are so small and by the time the reach the top of my tank they are pretty much gone. Its called a Hexa I think well thats what is written on it. I tried looking around on the net for it but couldn't find any info about it. Like I said it came with the reg and so on.

[Joe]

I'm about to get a pressurised system myself. Going to import a regulator + solenoid for ~$120NZ. Then buy a bottle in NZ for about $200-$250. Total cost about $3-400 worst case. Locally, just the reg+solenoid will set you back $500. Bottle extra.

$3-400 for a pressurized CO2 system... That is SO cheap! Is all of the gear really good quality (like all those shiny brass-looking things you see people use on overseas forums)?

[breakaway]

Nope, its the cheapest, nastiest asian made garbage money can buy. But I've had mine set up for several months now, and has have others on the forum, and it works perfectly.

[Joe]

So how much would it cost for good-quality stuff?

[Disco Dan]

Yeast based CO2 generation is very cost effective when setup right. I have used it for over 10 years in all my setups.

One pearl of wisdom I will say though on DIY versions:

Fluid trap. If you get the mixture wrong your yeast mixture will travel up the tube and enter your aquarium. The yeast will then multiply faster than you could imagine and turn the entire tank cloudy killing everything in it.

You can make a fluid trap very easily:

Jam jar - make two holes in the lid and put silicone the tube around each hole. That way if fluid travels up the tube it will have to fill the jam jar up before it is able to travel up the other tube to your tank.