# baking soda/vinegar CO2 generator



## wizzin (Aug 14, 2007)

I posted this on "another forum", but wanted to post here to cover the topic.

Has anyone experimented with a baking soda/vinegar drip CO2 generator?

OR

A compost CO2 generator? I'm going to try the compost generator actually. I have a ten gallon test tank setup and some plants for the test. I'm going to use a 5 gallon bucket as the compost generator, with peat, and other organic materials plus water. The outcome will probably be unstable and inconsistant as far as CO2 production, but it will also cost nothing and only produce a good planting soil if it fails  The only bit I haven't figured out is the O2 part. If no O2 is present then it will produce methane. 

I thought about filling the bottom 1/3 of the bucket with water, and installing an air pump/diffuser in the bottom of the bucket to introduce O2 to the brew. That will of course mean that part of the output will be O2 also right? That's not a bad thing. What am I missing here? I've been researching and still am. I'll post the experiment here if anyone is interested.


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## HTN86 (Nov 2, 2007)

It'll works, but you'll get a nice burst of co2 for about 10 seconds.....then it's dead. Waste of money compared to the yeast method. The compost method will also work, but you really want that smell in your house? Plus, the compost method won't work because it requires air for the bacterial growth to be big enough to give off enough co2, and since we need all that stuffs in an enclosed contain to direct the co2 into the tank, so it will not work. You'll grow very bad fungus and mold if you put compost in an enclosed container because of the humidity. I wouldn't even touch that because some mold gives off poisonous gas. Just my .02


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## wizzin (Aug 14, 2007)

HTN86 said:


> It'll works, but you'll get a nice burst of co2 for about 10 seconds.....then it's dead. Waste of money compared to the yeast method. The compost method will also work, but you really want that smell in your house? Plus, the compost method won't work because it requires air for the bacterial growth to be big enough to give off enough co2, and since we need all that stuffs in an enclosed contain to direct the co2 into the tank, so it will not work. You'll grow very bad fungus and mold if you put compost in an enclosed container because of the humidity. I wouldn't even touch that because some mold gives off poisonous gas. Just my .02


well, the vinegar reactor uses an IV drip of vinegar, so, no it won't burst then fizzle out. Apparently it's used in hydroponics already.

As for the compost, as I said in my original post, I wanted to add an airstone in the bottom of the bucket to pump in O2. Also, if it's enclosed, how would it stink up the place. I'm not talking about putting dead animals in it, just leaves etc.


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## stamunga (Jul 27, 2010)

wizzin said:


> well, the vinegar reactor uses an IV drip of vinegar, so, no it won't burst then fizzle out. Apparently it's used in hydroponics already.
> 
> As for the compost, as I said in my original post, I wanted to add an airstone in the bottom of the bucket to pump in O2. Also, if it's enclosed, how would it stink up the place. I'm not talking about putting dead animals in it, just leaves etc.


The IV drip system actually works quite well. I have used it for some time. Set your drip lock to the desired level and drip into a large glass jar of baking sode. I drilled 2 holes in the lid. One for the drip line and one for CO2 exhaust that sends the gas directly to my desired location. Be sure that your bladder's capacity is lower than the capacity of the jar once accounting for the decomposition of H2CO3. I use 1g of sodium bicarbonate to 12ml of vinegar (5% acetic acid). Use your Ph meter to determine if your acid/base balance is nuetralizing correctly to prevent waste.

Setting your drip lock requires that you calculate the pure CO2 production against the amount of space you are planning to fill. Divide this number by your target ppm value and voila, constant regulated CO2. Monitor the CO2 levels regularly until you have reached a stabilized level. I use this for a small hydroponic set up to maintain levels at 2000ppm.


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## Dielectric (Oct 7, 2008)

seems like a lot of wasted time when you could just go pressurized.


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## jayheuk (Dec 23, 2010)

Dielectric said:


> seems like a lot of wasted time when you could just go pressurized.


Some people don't have 200 dollars to blow off.


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