# DIY co2



## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Now I know everyone here wants grogans co2 setup but can't afford it or are not great at building your own stuff.

Iv got plans for a co2 tank set up but the past month er so iv been using my little homemade slow co2 set up with sugar and yeast. 

Here's my set up that iv been using and my pitiful picture that I was never going to share and I really just want to see what you guys/gals got on your planted tanks 

My mixture

Big jar/activator 

1 1/2 cup sugar 
1 1/2 cup hot water 
1/2 tablespoon yeast 

Small container/bubble counter/filtration cup

1/2 cup tank water, don't ask why but I like to use tank water 

This is good for a 10 gallon and I change it every week.

Picture










So let's see what you guys have and what mixtures your using.


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## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

What does that do?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Co2 helps plant growth. 

It's not needed if you only have one or two but I have a planted tank where there's is 11 plants and more growing in a 10 gallon tank. I use the co2 and 
Miracle grow as well for plant growth.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Someone else could exsplane it a bit better then I can.


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## fishtankguy (Aug 3, 2012)

You explained it fine. If somebody gave me too many details i would get confused lol. That looks really kool and creative!


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

Use the green tubing, the CO2 will MELT the clear stuff, it will also MELT the clear in line connectors. when that happens your bottle will blow up. and you'll be left with a mess. Most people use a 2 liter bottle with a hole drilled in the cap and silicone the hose through it. I don't know if I'd want glass in case it blew up.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Iv been using this clear silicon tube for about a month now without a problem. Any reason as to why it would melt the tube? And the glass is pretty thick I can't see that ever blowing up lol. 

Also I could have used the bottle but they look trashy so I went with the glass jars. It still looks like crap but not as bad


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

I use a special pressure rated tubing. And Bob is right about CO2 causing damage. Thats why you use special tubbing and check valves. I guess with you low pressure system you could skip on it but you could be loosing precious gas.

In the end well done Cory. Some CO2 is better than no CO2


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I know it's crap but iv had it going for about a month and it's a old way to do thinks I still am wanting to do the tank thing. I get like a bubble every second with this mixture. The only person I know around me with a nice co2 set up is my brother but it's a co2 set up for a green house. 

I called around and the shop I brought nitrous from has co2 that will cost me 15$ for 30 lbs. it's not bad seeing that 30lbs would last me a while.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

I had diy Co2 for a bit but my room was just too cold for it to work. The co2 started to bubble at around 4 pm so I was forced to buy a little co2 kit for my 5g. Its the fluval 20g kit but I wouldn't recommend it for anything over 5g as the cartridges would emty rather quickly


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

The co2 set up I have made I pretty decent for the 10g it's nothing fancy and people have done it this way for years and years but like I said its nothing over the top and only lasts about a week at a time. So every week I clean the main jar and add more sugar and more yeast. You should be able to do it even if the room is cold. I keep my house in the high 60s or low 70s and I have no problems


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

My remarks about "melting" and clogging the line are purely from EXPERIENCE. Give that yeast mix some time, it WILL melt the plastic connectors and tubing. If you don't think it can build enough pressure to pop that jar, let us know the day it does, we'd love to see the pics.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

An easier method and safer method of adding carbon to a tank is to use FLOURISH EXCEL. Use it as directed, it can melt vals if overdosed.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Lol I don't think it will have enough pressure. It doesn't even build up enough to make the jar hiss when you open it up. This is the slowest method of co2 and the tubes are siliconed in so I'm not sure what plastic connectors your talking about.


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

hmm, I guess I just didn't use the correct mixture of yeast to sugar to water. Well, its to late now . . .


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## Murloc (Jul 26, 2012)

Cory1990 said:


> Lol I don't think it will have enough pressure. It doesn't even build up enough to make the jar hiss when you open it up. This is the slowest method of co2 and the tubes are siliconed in so I'm not sure what plastic connectors your talking about.


You have very little yest / sugar ratio in your mix, compared to the mixes I make to grow plants inside in the winter / spring. With that combo, I don't think you could have enough pressure to blow up your jar. If for some reason your jar got hot real fast and the yest was eating the sugar and producing mass amounts of Carbon Dioxide, it might blow up lol. 

I had an incident a few years ago where my brother and I were brewing beer, and it came to the stage where the brew was room temp and all that, to add the live yeast.. Now for beer we use live yest in a vial. Well... I put the vials in. And I guess my bro didn't see that, so he added more. A week later, we can't figure out why one of our 5 gallon carboy keeps over flowing, over and over... We think, screw it, we lost half a batch, we will still finish this, add the sugar, and bottle this batch. After 6 bottles blew their tops in process, we were drunk, sticky malt men trying to save a gallon of fermented un carbonated wort from being waste. All I can say, is that stuff is seriously hard to clean up, so stick with your yeast amount if it is working haha.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Lol I can only immagen the mess you had with that. 

But like you said this does not build close to enough co2 for it to blow. I have my mixture down and am not messing with it. Now if I added more yeast I could have more co2 but it will build up a lot more pressure. There for if I add a crap load more then I could see running into problems. But like I said so far a month into using this iv had no problems and everything has been uphill for me.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Oh also if you fallow my mixture for a 10 gallon, it lasts a week and it only needs to be changed once a week.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Always use plastic bottles not glass. I think this method is flawed and would rather get a small co2 tank. I want to see a chart or something proving home made co2 is doing something.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Cory, 
If you want to prove/monitor your CO2 levels get yourself a drop checker. It gauges CO2 levels based on color. 

Blue: not enough 
Green: perfect
Yellow: to much

It should be yellow throughout the photo period and blue at night. Do you shut it down at night or run it 24/7?


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Since it has such low pressor I let it go threw the night.

To prove that it works all you have to see is my before and after pics coolfish. My plants started to grow out of controle.


And using glass works better then plastic bottles that could pop. It has no where near enough pressor to brake glass.

1. Plastic can expand and pop, also looks like crap.
2. Glass is to thick to brake from low pressor co2
3. It is proven to work just by looking at my plant growth. From before co2 to after co2.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Oh wow. Regardless of pressure CO2 injection without photosynthesis causes Ph drops. But enough of that, I wont hijack your thread. Show us a before after pic! Im always a fan of mad plant growth.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Iv done much much more moving around but note the plants on the left side of the tank.










Again plants on the left side










About a month or so after.










And today.



















I just cut so much of the plants down because of over growth and pretty much taking over the tank. Plus it's a stemmed plant (I'm sure you know what Mean) so it just spreads itself all across my tank making it look super odd. But iv had good luck cutting it in the middle and grouping it back together.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Also still waiting for a bunch of bulbs to open up. So far from the pack last week two out of 8 did. That's why there's a bunch of bulbs by the driftwood. If the rest don't open by next week I'm going to toss them and grab another pack.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

I also cut the Lilly's down once every other week or they take over as well. I cut two out tonight and have two more coming up (I wonder how long I can do that before it dies) as of now you can see the one Lilly pad that way over extends the hight of my tank that just floats all over the place.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

The tank looks good. Guess you told me huh.


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## sean_130 (Sep 19, 2012)

My question is how do you turn it off at night screws the cap off the bubble counter and pull the hose out so co2 just leaks into the air?


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