# Getting ready to build a "do it your self" CO2 reactor



## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I have read almost every article related to do it your self co2 generation and it seams easy enough, I wonder why I hear so many negative stories about it. My plan is to use a fluval plus under water filter for the difusser, I plan on using a 1 liter soda bottle as the main reactor chamber, a second 1 liter soda bottle as a sediment trap/ bubble counter. the co/2 will then travel up and into my fluval filter being sucked up and chopped and spat back into the water.

I will take lots of pics and give a progress report, a second part of this project will be to add a timer for the lights and to have either a powerhead or an air pump to come on when the lights go off so that when the plants stop absorbing co2 and start taking up oxygen, the surface will get disturbed and extra co2 will be released -

Thoughts ?


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I just picked Up Every Thing -* $20 * Tons of pics coming.


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

Made a trip to my favorite LFS in coquitlam Roberto's Pet Habitat. Got every thing I needed check valve, elite mini filter( This is my diffuser) the 1/4 silicone airline fits this perfectly, and 10' of 1/4 silicone tubing.









drilled a hole slightly smaller and inserted the 1/4 inch check valve in the coke bottle









You can see the two holes drilled in the juice bottle lid this is my bubble counter plus I figure it will help difuse the gas and slow it down as it travels into the Elite mini filter A.K.A. The Diffuser.


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

Here I have the two pieces of silicone in the juice cap as well as the single line running off the coke bottle.









Here it is assembled, Total cost $20 .


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I am hoping this little bugger chops up the CO2 !










In the water waiting for CO2 to start generating.










Yeast Sugar/Mixture . So this is a 500ml bottle so I used 1/2 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon of Dry bakers yearst I got from costco for $6.00 for a 2lbs bag.










Cheap yeast : May do an upgrade to Champange yeast if I can get it cheap enough.


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I would like to thank my sponsor


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I am getting a steady supplie of bubbles in my counter about 25 a minute, hoping this slows down.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Playing with the yeast mixture is the key. I used 1tbsp of champagne yeast to 1 cup of sugar, and managed to gas some of my fish.


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## O.C.D Fishies (Apr 21, 2010)

Thats a nice little set up you got going, I am to scared to use diy c02. You should take a pic of before and then one in a few weeks see how the growth is and are you dosing ferts as well??


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

Here is a video of it in action, you can see the bubbles perking up thru the OJ bottle and into the tank.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Just keep an eye on the bubble rate in case it rises over the next hour or two.


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

No fertz Yet, Just Fish poo, I am using root tabs and sera soil.


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## Nicklfire (Apr 21, 2010)

Good for you first off for trying something like this out and documenting it.

when i first got into the hobby and learnt about co2 systems i used a similar system, i found it was just WAY too unstable then at night you gotta turn it off(take it out of water). If you have a high tech setup where co2 saturation needs to be high, this just does not produce enough and does not keep stable.

I could see this working well (then again i dont remember the results last time i did it) on a low tech system.

A project like this would warrant a drop checker which should give you some type of result if your in the "green" zone for good co2... who knows you might be way down.. or WAY high.

Keep an eye on the fish for gasping, that's a sure sign there is too much co2.

Personally i would think that a ceramic co2 diffuser would be better to diffuse, then again you might not have enough pressue for it to go through the ceramic disk. The way your doing it right now i'm sure you are losing a considerable amount due to the fact that it's not diffusing at a high percentage. I would not be surprised if your losing 50% at least to the co2 just going through the system and leaving the tank.


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## Mike Hunt (Sep 13, 2010)

I was thinking the same thing but it's better than none and its producing way too much right now any way. I plan on adding another power head at the surface on a timer, it will come on at night when the lights go out.

I have another idea in mind, I purchased a 1/4 inline T and am considering a some sort of solenoid on a timer of course, that will come on when the lights go out.

I did not build this for cost reasons - rather as a fun project to see how far I could take it. I allready have in the plans a Large do it your self CO2 system using presurized CO2 bevarage syrup containers. This will go on my large planted tank when I set it up.


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## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Mike Hunt said:


> I have read almost every article related to do it your self co2 generation and it seams easy enough, I wonder why I hear so many negative stories about it.


DIY is easy, but a lot of work (compared to pressurized) to keep up. I fill my bottles every 6 months, put everything on timers and forget about it, as far as CO2 goes. The negatives to yeast CO2 are:

- chance of overflowing the mixture into the tank (taken care of with a gas separater
- leaking solution bottle
- inconsistent output (fluctuating CO2 levels are the curse of planted tanks
- insufficient output for high light tanks/bigger tanks

Plus with the discovery of using Metricide 14, the cost factor is relatively trivial for smaller tanks.

So essentially the 2 main factors are flexibility/control and convenience.


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## ngo911 (May 19, 2010)

Most definitely agree with the bolded part below. I did exactly the same thing as you including using the mini elite as a diffuser and putting bubbler on timer at night. It was great and all at first, but here are some of the problems that came up:

1. Inconsistent output during a batch and between batches. This caused constant algae outbreaks and eventually, I got tired of cleaning it.
2. The airline will get clogged with a white goop and will need to be cleaned quite frequently. I had a separator chamber as well but for some reason I still got the goop.. maybe you will be lucky and not get it.
3. Mixing a new batch every 1.5-2weeks. It may not seem that often but for me anyways, it became a pain and I often did not change it on time, adding to the inconsistent output.

Not trying to discourage you or anything; I was enthusiastic at first as well. If you can find a formula that is balanced for your system and you are willing to do the maintenance, then it will definitely help your plants grow. In hindsight, I should have just went with Metricide/Excel. If only I hadn't already planted the Vals...



2wheelsx2 said:


> DIY is easy, but a lot of work (compared to pressurized) to keep up. I fill my bottles every 6 months, put everything on timers and forget about it, as far as CO2 goes. The negatives to yeast CO2 are:
> 
> - chance of overflowing the mixture into the tank (taken care of with a gas separater
> - leaking solution bottle
> ...


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## someguy (Apr 21, 2010)

~~scratches my head~~

I think the negatives and reasons to not do this has probably been reviewed in the research done before starting this project.

Nice set up, hope it goes well, and i am looking forward to seeing how this works out for you.


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