# Multiple reservoir DIY CO2 for increased pressure and volume



## menguyen (Jun 21, 2009)

Hey guys 
i have an idea for DIY co2. i was wonder if you had multiple bottles connected to the same diffuser/ reactor if it would increase pressure and longevity of DIY co2? so to elaborate the tubing would "tee" off and split into multiple lines hooked up to however many diy co2 bottles. is this idea feasible? i'm probably just gonna try it soon to know the answer myself, but just wanted some input from ya'll
regards,
matt


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## huaidan (Mar 6, 2010)

I'm getting the feeling this has been discussed many a time here, and I'm just a newcomer myself. What you want to do is get some larger bottles if you can and stagger them. Use wine yeast if you can, and yeast nutrient. Check out some of the other threads here in the DIY. I've just set up a two X 4 liter setup, but not spliced with a T. I have them both flowing into a dual-purpose snot bottle/bubble counter. All that into a 100 gal and I've been keeping my drop checker green.


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

yep, that's a fairly well known technique... I use two 2 litre bottles with check valves, connected with a T fitting. each bottle holds roughly a two week supply. I replace one bottle's mixture every weekend, so the amount of Co2 getting to the tank is reasonably constant.
(edit.. added a picture I borrowed for clarity.. I do not use a proper 'reactor'.... just a mini elite submersible filter.)


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## Diana K (Dec 20, 2007)

The separator bottle is very important in yeast CO2 set ups.


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## menguyen (Jun 21, 2009)

awesome thanks for the input everyone. i'm considering making a co2 reactor as well. but let me get this straight, the goal of the reactor is to hold bubbles in place (in some kind of media) while running flowing water passed it to dissolve the co2 right?

i've been looking at some diy designs on here and i've come up with my own given the supplies i have..

so would it be feasible to stuff vinyl tubing..or some kind of tubing with spongy material, coil it up, and run CO2 and water through it? or has anyone used a "two little fishys" phosphate reactor with spongy material in it for a co2 reactor?


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## menguyen (Jun 21, 2009)

nvm i got it ^_^


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## huaidan (Mar 6, 2010)

Personally, I just feed the CO2 into a venturi outlet on a main filter powerhead in my tank. The bonus is that it really does a good job of atomizing the CO2 directly into the tank, but the downside is a million tiny bubbles of CO2 floating around my tank. I don't mind that, it's visually appealing.another downside is that the venturi gets clogged from time to time, either from aquarium garbage or from the yeast output. Separator bottle helps cut back on the latter.

Big Fish, I think feeding the lines individually into the separator beats joining them in a T and feeding one line into the separator. Reinforce the ends with a stiff narrow piece of tubing, and make sure the ends are immersed. Tada! An individual-read bubble counter! Now you can see exactly which bottle is doing what.

That's basically what I have now, except I doubled the recipe for 100 gal.


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## tbonedeluxe (Jun 29, 2009)

I like your idea on changing one of your bottles every weekend
Big Fish.Going to give that method a try. ;-)
I use 2 -2 liter bottles on my 55gwith 2 gas separators,one for each 2 liter bottle.One of the tubes is hooked up to a hagen mini elite UW filter.I took the sponge out of it and put it around the outflow to trap the co2 .It keeps the co2 in the tank for a longer period of time.The other tube is hooked up to the intake of my 40g
hob filter.Doing the weekend swap may/will give me a more stable rate of co2 output.Fluctuating co2 levels is probably the #1 problem with diy co2 systems.Leaks are up there too.


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## menguyen (Jun 21, 2009)

hey check this out. im probably make one of CO2 reactors for my tank. seems like one of the best ones i've ever really seen


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## Big_Fish (Mar 10, 2010)

menguyen said:


> hey check this out. im probably make one of CO2 reactors for my tank. seems like one of the best ones i've ever really seen


 http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...s/44053-tiny-super-efficient-co2-reactor.html
That's the one I use and I can vouch for the fact that it works very well.


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