# DIY co2 bottle leaked into tank, water super cloudy now



## brent (Jan 4, 2009)

Hi all,
So I have been experimenting with DIY co2, where I take a plastic bottle and add water, sugar and yeast and let it start fermenting to create co2, which is fed into my tank to try to promote plant growth. One of my cats has been very curious about the bottle and I do believe he knocked it over yesterday morning. I slept late, woke up, and the tank was super cloudy. The bottle was knocked over and liquid went through the airline into the tank. This is alcoholic water, fermented, but it hadn't been brewing that long so I guess it wasn't that strong. No fish died.
So yesterday I did three 25% water changes through out the day, then last night did a 75% water change. That last one was big, so the water was pretty clear, not great, but way better. I then noticed that the filter wasn't running, so I took it apart, saw that everything looked okay, put it back together and started running it. I went to bed hoping everything would be okay this morning.
But nope! It's like a fish tank full of milk. Dense fog, only like three inches of visibility! Everyone is still alive, I think. What is going on? Do I need to replace filter material? (I'd prefer not to, as the filter has established bacteria). Am I going to have to take the fish out and break down everything and start over? I really don't want to do that, but I'll do whatever I need to make my tank nice again and take care of my little fish buddies.
Could the co2 bottle water caused some sort of algae bloom, like, could this be some sort of bio growth?
Please help! Thanks in advance.

(this is a 10gallon tank with anacharis, mongo grass, water wisteria, bacopa, two albino cories, upside down cat, two rasboras, one swordtail, one apple snail)


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## MediaHound (Jul 19, 2006)

Interesting. I've never done the homemade CO2 thing so can't really give you personal experiece. In my reef, I use C02 from a bottle on a regulator. 
It could be an algae bloom if you dosed too much CO2, but sounds like its might be your brew thats clouding the water. You probably added a ton of nutrients and got some kind of bloom. If you have access to a UV sterilizer, I would suggest installing it and running it for a couple of days, that will most likely clear the water considering how you say you thin it out and it comes right back. 
I am also curious what is your pH testing out at?


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## brent (Jan 4, 2009)

I don't know what my pH is at. Maybe I'll be able to take some water to Petco to have them test it.
I think it is some sort of algal bloom. There are little white bits on the glass.
What can I do? The cloudiness has reduced in the last few hours. The fish seem fine, so I might just wait it out... I don't have a UV sterilizer. I can't spend much money at all, times are tight with my business....
My prioritized concerns are as follows:
1- Keeping the fish healthy
2- not having to break down the tank completely, clean it or sterilize it, and set it back up.
3- Keeping the plants okay.

Would leaving the lights off help kill the algae, or would it hurt the algae and also my plants...?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

I had 2 of my bottles collapse on my 25 gal. The only way your going to fix it is by doing 2 50% water changes a day for a couple of days also clean you filter out with dechlorinated water both days. If any of the co2 snot is on the plants, try taking them out and rinsing them in clean dechlorinated water also as that stuff can kill plants and if left long enough will kill the fish.


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## brent (Jan 4, 2009)

Susan, thank you for your information. It's late now, but I will do water changes tomorrow. The water is looking much better already. I'll be happy to get my tank back to normal!

If you or anyone knows, what exactly is this co2 snot? And what kind of algae is in the algal bloom?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

brent said:


> Susan, thank you for your information. It's late now, but I will do water changes tomorrow. The water is looking much better already. I'll be happy to get my tank back to normal!
> 
> If you or anyone knows, what exactly is this co2 snot? And what kind of algae is in the algal bloom?



The co2 snot is what forms from the mixture, if no mixture had gotten into the tank you wouldn't have it. I don't think what your seeing is an algae bloom. The water cloudiness is caused by the mixture.

I would also make sure that your bottle is sitting somewhere where it won't get knocked over. Also add a second bottle between the tank and the co2 bottle. It can be a smaller bottle but some of the mixture would have gone into it and hopefully not into the tank.


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## SevenNoOni (Oct 11, 2011)

I know this post is OLLLLD but I just had this happen to me as well with my Diy co2. I also had the same cloudy crap day after day even after a TON of water changes. my set up was two 2L bottles of diy co2 and apparently I mixed them both pretty hot lol... and they shot all kinds of nasty crap into my aquarium (10 gallons) I caught it within an hour or so of the leak but apparently not soon enough. Luckily I had no fish in this tank as its more my experimental tank but either way, the cloudy water.. however its no longer white its now green. I would tear it apart and restart but I'm curious how to fix this lol. So the list of things I've done to "Help" are 
.5) *thought of this after i started lol* I did clean everything in the tank except the substrate.. so filter was fully washed pad was thrown away and I used a pad from my large aquarium in place so stop a mini cycle.
1) two water changes a day for a week, water is clear i wake up in the morning its cloudy
2) added those drops to clear cloudy water (did nothing btw)
3)turn off lights for a few days (didnt seem to help at all) 
4) total black out, no light from any direction towel covered tank 1 week, nothing
5) almost 100% water change (clear for two days then started getting cloudy) 
6) almost 100% water change, add no lights and total black out, time in the dark 1 week.. time clear two ish days
Out of curiosity I added about 15 pond snails from my large aquarium to see how they react (kind of cruel but I smash them in my big aquarium anyhow..) 
they have grown to a stupid amount and seem to love it in there.. kind of strange. So I decided to add one single fry guppy... its full grown or at least close i would think, now and greets me everyday.. this has been going on now for 4 months i think. the tank is hideous but I get bored a lot.. 
the tank specs NOW are 10g, NO DIY co2 <<<<!!!! 4 bulb 96 watt t5 ho light fixture <<< only using 1 bulb in it the other 3 are off at all times and never turn on. 
tons of jungle val plants, what the jungle val doesnt touch is covered in dwarf hair grass as well as a few crypts. the substrate is black diamond blasting sand and it has a very small hob filter for the fluval edge 6 gallon tank..
anyhow Just thought I'd add my experience... side note I just got my pressurized co2 stuff coming in the mail my last set up had to be sold as i got broke as hell lol


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