# What happens to DIY CO2 bottles that run for more than a few weeks?



## abdb (Mar 8, 2012)

I'm sorry if this topic has been covered before. I'm wondering what happens if you leave a DIY CO2 bottle in operation for a month or more. If they are still producing bubbles, are the bubbles CO2 or does it start producing some other gas?


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## JeffyFunk (Apr 6, 2006)

The bubbles being produced are CO2; However, the byproduct of anaerobic CO2 production is ethanol. This substance is toxic to the yeast so the accumulation of this byproduct will eventually kill the yeast, ending your CO2 production. Most sources simply recommend changing your DIY CO2 bottle every 2 weeks because the CO2 production after this amount of time starts to decrease due to the death of the yeast from the ethanol.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

And if you take a tank down and forget to empty the bottles they really do not smell bad even after a few months. :doh: 
I think they smell worse when they are just 2-3 weeks old (and something is still going on in there)


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I think it smells quite good ...just like alcohol....haha. Try leaving the bottle for a few months, maybe you'll get a bottle of beer. Don't blame me if you get intoxicated or poisoned to death for drinking it...hahaha. You wouldn't want to try this with milk though. I encountered the milk version due to the fact that I had a crazy curious housemate back in the uni days.


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

Perhaps if you started with the yeast used to make champagne?
I remember reading a few years ago that an aquariust had a deal with the local moonshiners. He would sterilize everything and use their recipe, their equipment. He got the benefit of the CO2, they got the liquid result.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Wow! I could be running a brewery if I didn't give up on DIY CO2 :rofl: Anyway, getting the license is not easy unless I migrate


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## abdb (Mar 8, 2012)

Thanks for the replies. I don't think drinking it is worth the risk of going blind 

Maybe someone can figure out how to convert it to bio-diesel or some other fuel.


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