# Help me with my CO2 please......



## cheng (Nov 10, 2006)

I am having problem with my DIY CO2. Firstly, i joined 3 1.5L bottles to a bubble counter and then to a diffuser. This method did not work. Next i tried connecting it to a Nutrafin ladder. The bubbles released at the top of the ladder are very big compared to previously when i was using the Nutrafin bottle. In the end i tried leaving the end exposed and not in water and the bubbles produced in the bubble counter were bubbling at quite a fast rate. May i know what is wrong?


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Did you set up all three DIY CO2 bottles at the same time? If so, you can expect to have quite a bit of CO2 released initially. You may want to take a bottle or two off and see if your bubble count decreases a bit. You may simply have too much pressure from having three new bottles running at the same time. You can alternate adding a new bottle every week to even out your CO2 production.

What type of diffuser did you use (initially) that did not work well? Some airstones/diffusers need a lot of backpressure before they will work. DIY CO2 setups dometimes cannot provide enough pressure to make the diffusers work well. This may be the case since your description of the Nutrifin Ladder seems to indicate you have a lot of CO2 pressure. 

What size Aquarium do you have?


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

I'm not sure if I understand completely what you explained but it sounds to me like you raised the ladder so the top is out of the tank and you wondering why the bubble rate increased. If this is correct I would say that when you raised the ladder you releaved some of the back pressure on the CO2 system by not having it so deep in the water. I have noticed this playing a major role in my DIY co2 system. I used to have the whole thing set up feeding CO2 into a DIY reactor using a powerhead, I injected the CO2 into the intake of the powerhead. The deeper I placed the powerhead in the tank the lower my bubble rate would be even though really more gas is going into each bubble it seems to run more efficiently if the CO2 is injected with less back pressure. I haven't quite come to terms with understanding this but maybe the efficiency of the fermentation process with regards to CO2 production goes down as back pressure goes up, even though to make a bubble of the same size at that pressure its going to take more CO2. Wow I think I went off the deep end with that explanation but I hope I made a little sense.

I would consider the PH change observed as a better indicator of CO2 diffusion than just watching how many bubbles make it out the end of a ladder. Did you see any changes in your PH readings?


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## cheng (Nov 10, 2006)

other than the ladder, what other ways do you guys use to diffuse co2? can show me some pics of diffusers that work with diy prepared co2?


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## epicfish (Sep 11, 2006)

Ladder, glass diffuser, in-line reactor, straight into HOB intake.


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## tapscrew (Jul 1, 2006)

I've tried using a glass diffuser on my DIY setup but I just cant get the pressure for it to work, so at the moment I have it rigged up to an ordinary airstone, which is pretty rubbish TBH. 

I also have a hagen ladder running and the bubbles it produces are much larger to start with on a home made mixture, I reckon its always going to be a fairly irregular supply with DIY yeast, I also find the temperature of the room makes a difference to the supply too.

Another way you could try is to fix a bottle cap or something similar just above the end of the tube where the CO2 comes out to form a kind of 'bell' to catch the gas and stop it rising to the top of the tank so quickly. The idea with any of these things is to increase the surface contact area or surface contact time of the CO2 and water so more can be absorbed, so any way you can think of to do this is worth a go.

Sorry about the long post, but maybe its given you some ideas?


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## vic46 (Oct 20, 2006)

DIY CO2 System for Planted Aquarium

A good DIY CO2 read.
Vic


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