# Carbonated Water Experiments



## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

I remember seeing a thread about using Carbonated Mineral Water for aquariums (seen here: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/aquarium-equipment/41247-carbonated-mineral-water.html), and I decided I may as well experiment some. I've seen the method mentioned in one of Takashi Amano's books, I believe it was Nature Aquarium World, Book One.

Just to start off, I'll say right now that I'm far from an expert. I'm far from even knowing what I'm doing with plants. Anything I write from here on should be taken with a grain of salt, and if possible (and I urge you to) critqued to the extreme so I, aswell as others, can learn something.

First, I emptied 1 liter of water into a 2.5g (9.46l) tank. The tank has no other added C02. I used Perrier's non-flavored carbonated mineral water. To my amazement, this addition set the plants into a pearling frenzy. I sat in my room, on my couch, and occasionally glanced from the television to my little tank to see if it was still going on. The pearling lasted for about 5 hours, so I imagine this is a good thing. The next day, the plants pearled for another 2-3 hours after the light was on for 50 minutes. I'm not sure how this really stacks up to Pressurized C02, but I can say it was quite the leap from DIY C02, in my experience. (It's worth noting that this tank has no fish, and the water is 1% Sodium Chloride. I myself don't know if this has any bearing, but I'm sure more experienced people will). After I finished this up, I did a 50% water change to clear atleast some of this water and start off with a new semi-clean slate.

Second, I tried something different. This time around, I bought an 89 cent bottle of Canada Dry's "The Original" Sparkling water, which was 2 liters. I replaced the cap from the one used on my DIY C02 bottle (a regular plastic cap with a small hole drilled in it, with my air tubing stuffed into the hole). I connected the other end of my air tubing to a regular blue airstone. The airstone is constantly producing little bubbles similar to those I've seen coming from commercial C02 diffusers. The plants almost immediately started pearling, and everything looks to be well. I've been using this single 2 liter bottle of Canada Dry for 5 days now, day and night, and the plants are still pearling amazingly, almost constantly through an 8 hour lighting period.

Atleast for me, this seems to be a pretty cheap alternative to DIY C02 (although I guess it's a form of DIY C02?) or Pressurized systems. I really encourage anyone who has more knowledge or is just curious to try it out for themselves, or let everyone (especially me  ) know if they see any potential problems, or if I'm wildly off in my assumptions or something. Any input at all is greatly appreciated.


----------



## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

Pretty fun experiment and great writeup. It's true it works, however, overall the use of carbonated mineral water is not sustainable in the long run (especially if you have a large tank), and can be dangerous to fish. Unless one is gradually injecting the carbonated water over the course of a day, the results can be disasterous. 

1) Too much carbonated water at once can drop pH
2) Adds minerals (sodium) and requires waterchanges
3) Carbonation from an open bottle will go flat quickly (requiring another purchase of a new bottle)
4) Requires slow injection of gas/liquid
5) Expensive compared to other CO2 methods

Seachem Excel and DIY CO2 are very effective, and cheap ways of getting that much needed CO2 into the aquarium. They are more sustainable, and I would say more effective. 

-John N.


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

interesting... I thought about this myself. Pearling isn't clue for plant growth though. It could have been from the diffuse CO2 in the water. You should do more experiments on the actual growth of a plant over a month on perrier or canada dry.


----------



## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

That's what I plan on doing. I'll probably do a 50% water change each week, pouring 2 liters of Canada Dry in on monday, WC on Sunday, repeat. Sound like a decent experiment?


----------



## mistergreen (Mar 3, 2007)

2 liters?
Sounds like a lot.

You sould add a little everyday for obvious reasons. Try to aim for 30ppm.
I tried to measure CO2 on carbonated water once and it was off the charts so I couldn't get an accurate number.


----------



## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

If I had the resources (ie, know-how) I'd tip the bottle upside down and set it on some sort of slow-drip. If anyone cares to explain to me how it'd be possible to get maybe 1 drop every couple of seconds, I'd gladly give it a shot and let everyone know how it's goes. The only reason I haven't so far is because I don't really know how I'd go about doing it.


----------



## Linda (Mar 3, 2006)

this sounds like a great experiment. correct me if i am wrong. you are actually putting carbonated water into the tank? or using tubing like you would on diy co2 and letting the excess gases go through the tube and into the tank? sorry i am not very technical so hopefully you will understand my question.


----------



## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

Linda said:


> this sounds like a great experiment. correct me if i am wrong. you are actually putting carbonated water into the tank? or using tubing like you would on diy co2 and letting the excess gases go through the tube and into the tank? sorry i am not very technical so hopefully you will understand my question.


I'm not technical myself, so I understood perfectly. =P With the Perrier water (first experiment) I emptied a bit of water from my tank, and replaced it with straight carbonated mineral water. Straight from the Perrier bottle. In the second one (with the Canada Dry water) I basically just replaced the DIY C02 bottle with the Canada Dry bottle full of their "original" sparkling water. The tubing was just right above the water-line in the bottle, and hoped the excess gases went through the tubing into the tank. And it seems it did.

Today, the airstone isn't bubbling as much, but rather every 3 or 4 seconds bubbling, and then stopping. And bubbling again 4 seconds later, and stopping again.


----------



## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Terra Incognita said:


> If I had the resources (ie, know-how) I'd tip the bottle upside down and set it on some sort of slow-drip. If anyone cares to explain to me how it'd be possible to get maybe 1 drop every couple of seconds, I'd gladly give it a shot and let everyone know how it's goes. The only reason I haven't so far is because I don't really know how I'd go about doing it.


What do you think about this? You can use a micro ball valve mounted between your bottle's tubing and the tubing going into the aquarium? Then mount the bottle upside down and use the valve to control the flow.


----------



## Terra Incognita (Jun 12, 2007)

I can do that! I'll look around some places for some small ball valves, and then do a week or two test with that setup. Thank you very much, I wouldn't have thought of it myself. I do suspect that this will work better/longer than simply dumping in a certain amount at once, or anything else I've tried.


----------



## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

You're welcome, TI


----------



## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

There will be pressure behind the carbonated water that will drop fairly fast that you will be dripping into the tank so that will have to be taken into consideration as it will be a lot at first then not so much later. Would be a whole lot of tinkering.

Also in that type of system if it isnt below the waterline then most of the CO2 will be outgassed by the time it actually gets to the aquarium.


----------



## strange_screams (Apr 10, 2005)

this is brilliant! im going to try some things myself....!


----------



## mellowvision (Jun 18, 2007)

I have often wondered about using carbonated water as the starter water for the yeast setups... to offset that initial wait period.


----------



## strange_screams (Apr 10, 2005)

ok, ok, this is just for fun, and you have to understand, that none of this occured to me before and ive never had co2 in any of my tanks...
also, im sitting here watching it just in case any problems should occur

i dont have any carbonated water, but i had a can of sprite, which i dont like, and with the addition of soem things lying around....ta da, i have co2 in my tank for the first time

i took a can kozi, called a can condom, it fits very snuggly around a can of soda and is made of some sort of vynal or rubber....
i poked a small hole in it and and ran airline tubing through it, and also used a small clear paint container as a bell, the pressure wasn't enough for an airstone so....im getting about one bubble every 6 seconds

its a one gallon heavily planted tank, i dont know if it will be enough to make the plants pearl more then they already do...im just having fun...

i wish i had a camera


----------



## rs79 (Dec 7, 2004)

I used "soda water" for about a year. It's a great way to easily (not really cheaply) add co2.

There's no danger of the water becoming too acid as carbonated water has... surprise... carbonated in it that will buffer the pH.

I'd dump in about a liter or 2 in a 70 gal tank. I seem to recall working out the math once and this was about right. 

Hooking up a bottle and running the gas into a diffuser is bloody clever. I wish I'd thought of that.


----------

