# DIY CO2- is it working??



## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

A quick overview of my CO2 setup- one 2 litre soda bottle with mixture- goes into a smaller bottle to catch drips, then out to the tank into a very fine airstone . There is a check valve pointing in the right direction between the reaction bottle and the catch bottle.

3 days ago I did the following-1/2 tsp of yeast to 1 cup warm water. mixed well. then added 2 cups sugar and filled the bottle 3/4 with warm water. I dont notice any bubbles from the airstone (I realize that it wouldnt look like it was hooked up to a pump)

Should I see anything going on in the yeast bottle???

 I was so excited to get this up and running to make my plants more lush- but I dont think its working!

TIA!


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

You should see bubbles from the air stone within an hour, the most likely problem is leeks, check it by making a soap water solution and spray / paint on the junctions.


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## Ransom (May 3, 2006)

aquariageek said:


> 3 days ago I did the following-1/2 tsp of yeast to 1 cup warm water. mixed well. then added 2 cups sugar and filled the bottle 3/4 with warm water.


Having been into baking bread, I always proof my yeast. Put 1/4 cup sugar into your cup of water and 1/2 tsp yeast and leave it for 15-30 minutes before doing the rest. If it doesn't get some foam on the top, either your yeast is bad (old, out of date, left in the hot car) or the water was too hot. If it does foam up, go ahead with the rest of it. This saves you wasting the rest of the sugar if it's not going to work.

Also, "warm water" is a relative term. Depending on what type of yeast you use, the temperature should be 85 to 105 degrees. 105 degrees doesn't feel very hot on your hand, but I never turn my hot tub up past 103.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Yup check for leaks, and if there are none, then maybe your yeast is dead and bad. 

Typically you should see bubbles coming out between 1-3 hours.

-John N.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

When I did DIY CO2 I only used "warm" water that was just a bit more than cool. I also used 3/8 tsp yeast in 3 liters of water with 3 cups of sugar. It always worked fine, and I got noticeable CO2 bubbles in an hour or so. I suspect you either have big leaks or you killed the yeast with too warm water.
I also always filled the bottle up just past where it starts to neck down, and never had any problems with foaming.


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## dukydaf (Aug 31, 2004)

IMHO your airstone need to much prsure from the CO bottle. Try to put the CO2 tube into the aquarium under "a co2 bell" you will also obtain better results.


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## Burks (May 25, 2006)

I did a simple CO2 DIY 2L setup. Just 3 cups of sugar, packet of yeast, warm water, and poof! CO2 like crazy.

Right now it's attached to an airstone beneath my filter intake. Diffuser is in the mail and will be used in place of the airstone (may still use the airstone and diffuser together). Lots of little tiny bubbles all the time.


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

Ransom said:


> Having been into baking bread, I always proof my yeast. Put 1/4 cup sugar into your cup of water and 1/2 tsp yeast and leave it for 15-30 minutes before doing the rest. If it doesn't get some foam on the top, either your yeast is bad (old, out of date, left in the hot car) or the water was too hot. If it does foam up, go ahead with the rest of it. This saves you wasting the rest of the sugar if it's not going to work.
> 
> Also, "warm water" is a relative term. Depending on what type of yeast you use, the temperature should be 85 to 105 degrees. 105 degrees doesn't feel very hot on your hand, but I never turn my hot tub up past 103.


I tried the above. I mixed well and let it sit. I noticed some foam, so I finished the mixture, shook it well, and let it go. An hour later I had CO2 bubbles! I have taken the air stone off and made a CO2 bell with the bottom of a container and a suction cup.


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## NE (Dec 10, 2004)

You should be able to get bubbles from an air stone as well, if you don't it's most certainly because of bad sealing / leeks.
The air stone must have higher pressure and if you don't get that the3 fas is escaping some were, it should work i have done it myself.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I'm surprised the airstone doesn't produce bubbles as well. If it isn't a leak, I guess it's simply not enough pressure. Maybe increasing the yeast dose to increase the CO2 production will generate that pressure. But since the CO2 bell seems to be working for you for now, I guess you can stick with that too. 

-John N.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

yeah i tried using an airstone once and the pressure wasn't high enough for the co2 to get through. i would touch the airstone a little to see if it would help, but all it did was release huge co2 bubbles from a leak between the plastic that connects to the tubing and the airstone material. of course, i should mention that the airstone cost me 30 cents =]

a quick note for aquariaguy, co2 enrichment won't show IMMEDIATE results. assuming that you'll follow a dedicated fertilization regimen, you'll see noticeable results in about a week or two. also, you might want to look into a better way to dissolve the gas into the water. only a fraction of the co2 trapped in teh bell gets exposed to the water. i highly recommend a cheap glass diffuser from aquaticmagic, or running the tubing inline with your filter, if possible.

anyway, good to hear your co2 is up and running


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

erijnal said:


> a quick note for aquariaguy, co2 enrichment won't show IMMEDIATE results. assuming that you'll follow a dedicated fertilization regimen, you'll see noticeable results in about a week or two. also, you might want to look into a better way to dissolve the gas into the water. only a fraction of the co2 trapped in teh bell gets exposed to the water. i highly recommend a cheap glass diffuser from aquaticmagic, or running the tubing inline with your filter, if possible.
> 
> anyway, good to hear your co2 is up and running


Im running a penguin biowheel. I tried launching some bubbles into the intake, but it cavitates. Id rather not use the 30 cent airstone then blow out a 30 dollar filter. 
Im trying to decide whether to buy one of those CO2 diffusers (the glass ones) or to make a reactor. The tank in question now is 10 gallon, but I plan on going for CO2 in the 20 as well. So should a diffuser be sufficient in there and a reactor in the 20 or should a diffuser be good in both??

I would go with a compressed CO2 system, but I don't think the resident life bosses at my school would appreciate a compressed CO2 cylinder 

My roomate had enough trouble hiding the snake...and now a 30 gallon tank this year :-o

Anyways, thanks for the tips.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

yeah running co2 inline with a biowheel will definitely result in a great amount of co2 loss. as for dissolving your co2, i usually hear that those who run their glass diffusers under their filter outflow get great results. the outflow pushes down the small co2 bubbles and churns them in the water. then again, i've never tried using a reactor so you should hear from someone who's tried both. 

as for the 20 gallon, people generally hook up more bottles of yeast/sugar and connect them all with T-valves to get greater/consistent co2 output for larger tanks. my friend actually uses two co2 bottles for his 10 gallon only, but i think you'd be OK if you used two co2 bottles in conjunction for your 20 gallon tank. the greater pressure in most cases creates a very fine mist of co2 from the glass diffuser. the only bad thing about more co2 bottles is of course the larger amount of work you have to input to keep your co2 going

the only disadvantages with glass diffusers is that they make a small *tweak!* sound whenever co2 is pushed through the sintered glass. i've gotten used to it though, but i remember the first night i had it i was going nuts. the other one is that a whitish algae grows on the diffuser and periodically needs to be cleaned off (maybe once every week or two). 

hope this helps


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## aquariageek (May 27, 2006)

I reattached the airstone. It is a very fine pore stone, and the gas is bubbling out of it quite well. The bubbles are very very fin, and look as though they dissapate before striking the surface. I have the stone underneath the output of the filter so they get mixed in the turbulence. How long does it take generally to notice a difference?


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