# DIY Diffuser?



## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

Hi all,

I've been toying with the idea of making some haphazard DIY diffusers to stick on the ends of my equally haphazard DIY CO2 bottles (seeing as everything I do screams "aquarium on a budget"). But, while I have some ideas as to how I could make an imitation plastic version of the glass housing, I'm a bit stuck as to what I might be able to use as a substitute for the ceramic bubble disk thing. Has anyone tried to make a DIY diffuser before? Any thoughts?

Currently leaning toward some kind of craft foam, which is both porous (I'm currently working on figuring out _how_ porous) and cheap. Not yet entirely positive it's aquarium-safe, which will probably be my next experiment. Or, possibly, some sort of thin terra cotta pot or something along those lines? Maybe even some kind of polyester felt? I dunno.


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## LiveHumanSkeleton (Jun 25, 2010)

I'm not sure how helpful it'll be but this topic was discussed in an oldie thread. I'm placing the link below to get you started on some ideas.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/diy-aquarium-projects/57823-diy-co2-diffuser.html


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## ghengis (Jun 11, 2008)

I am a DIY nut and anything that I can do to save myself money and have some fun along the way (be it making my own furniture or whatever) is all good in my book.

In this case, though, I think your endeavour to follow the "aquarium on a budget" rule, may just end in alot of wasted money, for little return. Given that most glass diffusers will sell on eBay for under fifteen bucks, you'd have to be mad not to go that route...

If, however, you are in fact mad (aren't we all?? lol), take some airline, kink the end and tie off with a zip-tie. Grab a bamboo (kabob) skewer, snap it about an inch and a half from the pointy end and spear it into your airline, just above the kink. Set this inside your tank, connect the gas and marvel at the pretty bubbles....thus.


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## asukawashere (Mar 11, 2009)

ghengis said:


> Given that most glass diffusers will sell on eBay for under fifteen bucks, you'd have to be mad not to go that route...


I'm not just mad, I'm absolutely furious 

In all seriousness, though, that's probably true, right up until you consider that a.) I'm a student working part-time for minimum wage, and b.) I have about 10 CO2 bottles in various tanks that still need diffusers. With plans to build a fishroom one of these days (probably won't get around to it for several months or a year, but still)

In short, it's not so much a question of a single $15 diffuser so much is it is trying to avoid sinking $150 into anything if I don't have to. That would, honestly, be more than I make in a week at my job 

I like your bamboo thingamabob. It looks like a good method for me to try. Do you know if it's strictly necessary to do the kink-and-spear thing, though? I'm tempted to grab a chopstick (on account of them being free), chop it into 1" bits, and shove it into the end of the airline, possibly after heat-bending it to point upwards. Would that work, too?

Anyway, chopsticks are free and I have tons of airline lying around, so I'll probably try that method first. If all else fails I can just whittle a sharper point onto the chopstick and poke a hole in the airline instead. 

Thanks a bunch!


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## khanzer22 (Nov 30, 2009)

Nice DIY ghengis...

I think the reason why there's a kink is to close the hole at the end of the hose so no gas will leach/expel from there... And puncturing a hole with the bamboo stick on the side will allow a nice and tight fit to the tube with minimal chance of gas leaching out from the small crevices around it compare to sticking it to the end of the airline... Or (I thought of this just now while typing ), you can use the end of the airline but you got to have some putty/epoxy type thingy to seal the gap/crevices...That should work (I think hehe)...


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## ghengis (Jun 11, 2008)

asuka, understood mate. I know what it's like to be scraping the barrel in money terms...

Yes, you can use a chopstick. I have heard that this works quite well, also. You shouldn't need to bother about upturning your airline though, as the bubbles will still rise to the surface, regardless which way your "diffuser" is pointing... The reason for the kink and spear idea, was (as pointed out by khanzer) to try to reduce any possibility of leakage occuring. Just make sure the chopstick you use is bamboo...that is the critical bit, cos bamboo has the tiny pores running thru it's length...

All in all, it's a pretty crude idea (and I have come a loooooong way since that pic was taken!), but it is effective and very cheap.


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