# DIY CO2 question



## Magoo (Mar 15, 2011)

Okay guys. I have been practicing the hobby of freshwater fish for 2 years. Now I want to expand and add freshwater plants to my aquarium. I have looked up countless videos on YouTube about DIY CO2 systems. 

What I PLAN to do is the following:
I will have a 2liter bottle for my yeast/sugar recipe. For the recipe I planned to use 2 cups sugar, 1 tsp baking soda, and 1 tsp yeast. I will use CO2 tubing to connect it to a 20oz bottle with a check valve btw the two. In the 20oz bottle I will have it half full of water. It will serve as my bubble counter and alcohol remover. The tubing will then go from there to the aquarium and end at a limewood airstone that is 2 3/4" long for diffusion. My aquarium is 38g. Any comments and/or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I ahve seen this recipe work.I myself use ocean spray bottles instead of the 2 litres,just because its more sturdy.My bubble counter consists of a syringe,without the needle and plunger(we refill our ink,so we have tons of spares)Where the plunger thingy goes,I have my check valve.This serves a few purposes.First,no backflow,as you know.Second,its a pretty good bubble counter.Third and most important,the silicon line fits snug on the top,but if too much pressure builds,itll blow off the top,and not explode the bottle.


Heres a shoddy shot of the counter I have.Please excuse the darkness,sleeping fish and all that.


And the container.


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## Magoo (Mar 15, 2011)

What size is the syringe and where could I find one?


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

You can find it in the ink refill kits at staples.Not sure where else they can be found.I guess medical supplies.Its rather large.Maybe one that you give babies meds with?
If you look in the pic,you know those blue check valves,found at walmart?Thats the check valves I use.Just look for one that you can stuff the check valve up.Walmart may sell them too.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Jet Tec - Hewlett PackardRK
Theres the type of ink it comes in...


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

What's the reason for a bubble counter?

I have my DIY CO2 setup 2L Bottle to a 32oz bottle to an air stone in the tank. 2L enerates the CO2 the 32oz bottle catches any (which there wont be) drips from the reactor and stop the backward siphon from the tank (wont get that far anyway) from reacting the reactor.

The dual bottle allows for added compresion should something clog, but I really don't see that happening. I would if anything like to add a presure relase valve rated to expell presure over a certain rating, but only as a precaution.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I guess its to tell how many BPS you have going.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

is there anything like pumping too much co2 and harming fish ?? suffocating them ? 

also co2 had to result in acidic water if im right ? lesser ph ?


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

The co2 from diy won't put to much in to hurt any fish, and it won't drop the ph far enough to hurt and its also a different ph drop. Using a bubble counter with pressurized does help to control how much you want to put in, but with diy you don't have the pressure valve to control it.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

With pressurized you can get to the point where it kills your fish. Not too long ago I saw a DIY setup with 4-6 gallon bottles all ganged. He still had fish in his 29g tank. 

Thing about bubble counters on DIY systems, these systems don't reach too much pressure. Pressurized systems usually run at 15-40psi output pressure. The higher the output pressure, the more air that is in the bubble you see in the bubble counter. I run my systems at 35psi and only need 2 bps for a 125g tank. I mainly do that for my diffuser and it's easier to count the bubbles. So to get back to my point, if you are getting 3 bps out of your system it is not equivalent to 3 bps on a pressurized system.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

im gonna try that DIY sugar plus yeast thingie 

im gonna plant my tank heavily comming weekend  

i order everything and got some dwarf hairgrass also from a friend so i can rest assured that DIY CO2 wont harm my fish. right ?? 


thanks


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

got 8 guppies in my tank and it doesn't bother them. just remember your plants use O2 in the dark so have an air pump ready for when you turn the lights out.


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## tinman (Nov 3, 2009)

mec102778 said:


> got 8 guppies in my tank and it doesn't bother them. just remember your plants use O2 in the dark so have an air pump ready for when you turn the lights out.



Awwww i totally forgot it can act both ways 

i really wanted to take out that bubble wand once i redid my tank 

dang i should still have it


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## mec102778 (Feb 17, 2011)

Someone will probably correct me on my comment. So see what happens the fish won't die over night the water agitation from the filters pump whatever might do what you need.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If it isn't going crazy on the bubbles, I personally wouldn't worry about it too much, but that is just me. You could rig the air pump to come on when your light goes out with a timer. I used to do it that way for a while.


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