diy cO2 generator and diffuser

[Kyle]

Hi guys, I was looking at cO2 systems earlier and I came across diy tutorials with air piping and plastic bottles and making your own mix to produce cO2. I've been skeptical about these systems for a while now and decided to try it out as it's such a cheap project. Here's some pictures of what I've done and how my plants look after a week of using it.

Here's my diffuser, really it's just piping to the air inlet on my pump. The air is pushed through to the currant and the bubbles are broken down to stay in the water for a longer period of time.

These are what I hope are cO2 bubbles going through the water.

My mix in a 2 liter bottle with a blue air pipe in the lid (screwed hole in the lid)

I really do recommend trying it if you're interested in having lush green plants that grow a lot faster. I've seen very good results through the week with colour and some plants achieving a cm and a half in growth and brown parts clearing. Even sheltered plants grow well.

Try it out and see for yourself.
Kyle.

 

[ed seeley]

CO2 makes a big difference to plant growth IME too. Yeast generated CO2 is better than none but do be careful with it. The CO2 level in the water will fluctuate a lot with it and unstable CO2 levels are very good at starting off algae IME, especially hair and brush/beard algae.

If you don't have a bubble counter too on the feed between the generator and the tank then you can get a white 'snot' in the tank from the yeast! A bubble counter traps it and keeps it out of the tank.

If you want to use yeast CO2 very well then try setting up two generators with the airlines connected together before your filter. If you start one off every Saturday and one off every Wednesday you should have much more stable CO2 levels and then your plant growth will really kick up a level.

When I used it I also dosed EasyCarbo (the same as Seachem's Excel) to help with the stable CO2 levels. This gave me great plant growth and no algae and this was in a little cube tank.

 

[calypso]

ive had good results with DIY co2 in my 20 gallon, although im not using the 'classic' sugar and yeast method. im using the 'jello method'.

same principles as the sugar/yeast method, but ive found it to be more stable and it lasts longer

to get it started, you make 2 packets of jello (as directed), add in 2 cups of sugar while the jello mix is still hot, then dump it all into a 2L or 1gal bottle. let it settle in the fridge over night. when its solidified, add in 1/2 tsp. of yeast and a cup of luke warm water. Keep in mind that every few weeks, youll need to replace 1/2 of the water and add in another 1/2 tsp of yeast (the alcohol content in the bottle gets too high and kills off the yeast every so often).

but in all honesty, DIY co2 is more expensive in the long run...so just start saving up for a pressurized system...

 

[wethumbs]

great idea with the jello...

The old bottle can be put back into the frig and serve as jello shots later...