iisfaq Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 Does anyone have any complete instructions on creating your own CO2 system on the cheap that will not kill my fish. What about Bubble Counter/Diffuser - how do people create these? I see the Nutrafin product as being mentioned on a lot of sites for a commercial product but these only do 75 Litre tanks which means I would need 4 of these units at $70 each for my 300 Litre Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faran Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 For the $280 you would spend on that you should try and get a proper "pro" setup. This will consist of a CO2 bottle (sometimes old fire extinguishers are used) with a needle valve and regulator. You'll be controlling the flow so you don't need a bubble counter, though they're easy to DIY or buy a pro one. Either way, it'll be as simple as refilling a CO2 bottle instead of playing with little sachets of mix and making a mess. Others out there will recommend making a DIY solution out of two empty coke bottles... mix yeast and some other stuff in one sealed bottle with a air tube going to a second sealed bottle. Then a second air tube from that bottle to the tank. The purpose of the second bottle is to collect any gunk from the yeast mix and keep it from going into your tank. You should, of course, do a search on these forums for CO2 and be sure and Google it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HummingBird Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 $70 each is a little extreme for a Nutrafin one, you can get them for $30 on Trademe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 Inclined to agree with B&K although i set mine up for a bit less than 280. With a tank your size (mine is 250l) the yeast+sugar+baking soda is a bit of a PITA. Dont get me wrong... DIY will still work tho. I did my fiirst DIY set up for about $20 and most of that was buying some "Bioballs" the rest was made up of plastic containers, old sippa bottles, and air tube.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slash Posted November 9, 2005 Report Share Posted November 9, 2005 and did it work as good? just not apealing to lok at? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iisfaq Posted November 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 $70 each is a little extreme for a Nutrafin one, you can get them for $30 on Trademe. I had a bit of a look on Trademe and only found one starting $60 Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iisfaq Posted November 10, 2005 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 For the $280 you would spend on that you should try and get a proper "pro" setup. This will consist of a CO2 bottle (sometimes old fire extinguishers are used) with a needle valve and regulator. You'll be controlling the flow so you don't need a bubble counter, though they're easy to DIY or buy a pro one. I checked out a local fish shop and they are selling a pro kit for around $400 which is a quite a lot but may be well worth it. It was a german product made by JBL but I have not found it online. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Buy some fish and place them in the tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubbieBoy Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 The JBL stuff is at www.jbl.de but I think one can assemble a better system for less dosh. That sort of kit can be terribly overpriced. If you should decide to go down the pressurised route (soooo worth it)... IMHO, this would be one good way to go about it... CO2 bottle – try and get one of these... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/cheap- ... t8340.html A good buy. Regulator – BOC or welding supply shop can provide a cheap, bog-standard CO2 regulator ($70-80) which will bring the bottle pressure down to manageable levels. With one of these though, you also need a needle-valve for precise control of the gas flow. For this, you cannot beat these http://www.swagelok.com/PRODUCTDETAILS. ... SCKey%3D69. These are fantastic needle valves, available from Fluid System Technologies NZ (about $90) (http://www.swagelok.com/auckland/), or call the Christchurch office on 338-1830. These valves offer extremely fine control of the flow and are worth every cent. For an extra $30 you can install a Vernier Handle on it so you can actually dial up a particular setting by number! Alternatively, you can opt for an all-in-one regulator/valve combo for more $$s of which the Aqua-Medic is one of the more reasonably priced ($169) and a good quality regulator. (discussed here... http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/comple ... t3589.html). Don’t be tempted to order one of the, admittedly very nice, CO2 regulators for aquarium use from the States, they are not compatible with NZ bottle connections. Although the regulators are fine, it’s a different thread to connect to the bottle (although you may be able to find some sort of adapter...). Reactor/diffuser; In vogue at the moment are the sintered glass diffusers which break the gas into very tiny bubbles so it dissolves quickly. Also, tiny suspended bubbles of CO2 coming into direct contact with the leaves has been suggested to greatly increase plant metabolism. These are inexpensive but not readily available in NZ, of course. I got mine from aqua-essentials in the UK for £14.99 http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.p ... cts_id=501. These diffusers are not powered, so no additional pump is needed. An additional, highly desirable but not strictly necessary, accessory is a solenoid valve to turn off the gas at night. Roughly $65 from www.valves.co.nz But there is LOTS of info on these pages describing different ways to assemble the gear. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiverJohn Posted November 10, 2005 Report Share Posted November 10, 2005 Nicely put Dubbie, dont think you missed a thing I managed to get another brand "Tunze" works well, threads are the same as the bottles you can hire ( or buy ) in NZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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