DIY co2

[NikkiRae]

I recently made a DIY co2 setup for my 55 gallon with yeast and brown sugar. I have been watching it for 2 days before putting it in my tank and it is steadily producing 0.5-1 bubble per minute. This is exactly what I was hoping for but I would like some input from others experience that have used this method in regard to mistakes, epic fails, and successes. 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

I’ve never done the sugar and yeast method, but I have done the citric acid and baking soda with a stainless steel canister. 
 

I’ve phased out those canisters (had 2 of them) in favor of 5lb tanks. 
 

One of those 5lb tanks has one bubble counter and line to a 29 gallon, and the other bubble counter and line runs to a 55. 
 

What I can tell you with absolute certainty is you need more CO2. I have mine at like 3 bubbles per second, and my drop checker does not change color, indicating that I’m not getting a pH change. If I was going for 30ppm, I should up mine to at least 5 bubbles per second. 
 

Let me know what other questions you have. Happy to help!

[DallasCowboys16]

I just to run the yeast generator DIY Co2 back in the day and found it to be pretty effective for how easy it is.

The only thing I can recommend is that you make sure to keep the reactor contents fresh when your output starts going down.

the great thing about this method is that it’s pretty much impossible to gas your fish or really have an “epic” failure.

[madmark285]

Most likely you will not be producing enough CO2, would a diffuser bell work ie: capture all the CO2 being produced? I never tried this. @Mmiller2001 uses a DIY Co2 reactor built from PVC pipe, there may be a design suited for DIY CO2 system. 

Someone suggested using yeast used in fermenting mead such as Lalvin K1-V1116, this can handle high alcohol content (?? 18%). 

 

[NikkiRae]

On 4/30/2024 at 9:08 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’ve never done the sugar and yeast method, but I have done the citric acid and baking soda with a stainless steel canister. 
 

I’ve phased out those canisters (had 2 of them) in favor of 5lb tanks. 
 

One of those 5lb tanks has one bubble counter and line to a 29 gallon, and the other bubble counter and line runs to a 55. 
 

What I can tell you with absolute certainty is you need more CO2. I have mine at like 3 bubbles per second, and my drop checker does not change color, indicating that I’m not getting a pH change. If I was going for 30ppm, I should up mine to at least 5 bubbles per second. 
 

Let me know what other questions you have. Happy to help!

Thank you. I am starting off low and slow. My plants are healthy but I wanted to see if co2 would give them a little more pep in their step. The anubias are naturally slow growers and I am hoping it might speed them up a little. I plan to up it little by little. What kind of 5 lb tank do you use? I was considering the citric acid method but went with yeast for my first experiment. 

On 5/1/2024 at 3:40 AM, madmark285 said:

Most likely you will not be producing enough CO2, would a diffuser bell work ie: capture all the CO2 being produced? I never tried this. @Mmiller2001 uses a DIY Co2 reactor built from PVC pipe, there may be a design suited for DIY CO2 system. 

Someone suggested using yeast used in fermenting mead such as Lalvin K1-V1116, this can handle high alcohol content (?? 18%). 

 

I'll look into the mead yeast 🙂 

On 4/30/2024 at 9:46 PM, DallasCowboys16 said:

I just to run the yeast generator DIY Co2 back in the day and found it to be pretty effective for how easy it is.

The only thing I can recommend is that you make sure to keep the reactor contents fresh when your output starts going down.

the great thing about this method is that it’s pretty much impossible to gas your fish or really have an “epic” failure.

That makes me feel a lot better. Thanks.

[HelplessNewbie]

We initially had a yeast setup with a bell diffuser but had a catastrophy happen when the air bubbler turned off unknowingly for a long time and most fish were all eventually suffocating. Since we couldn't turn off this type of co2, we decided to scrap it and gain more experience since we were (and still consider ourselves) neophytes.

[johnnyxxl]

As low as you are looking maybe the easy carbon or something similar? I would also make sure you have some faster growers besides the slowpokes.

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 5/1/2024 at 5:50 AM, NikkiRae said:

What kind of 5 lb tank do you use? I was considering the citric acid method but went with yeast for my first experiment.

Here’s all my tanks:

 

The 5lb tanks were bought on Amazon, and then I take em to a local welding supply place and swap them out for full tanks. The tank itself is like $75-80, and the swap for a full one is $16. 
 

In the second picture, to the left, are the citric acid/baking soda canisters. I would highly suggest NOT trying citric acid and baking soda unless you buy one of these canisters!!! That reaction creates a lot of pressure, and these canisters are designed to handle it. 
 

I started with the citric acid canisters just to try it. I liked it, so I bought another one. Then I upgraded to the 5lb tank with 2 bubble counters. I then upgraded one last time to the second 5lb tank and decommissioned the citric acid. I was spending more on citric acid in a year than I was swapping CO2 tanks at the welding supply. Yes, there was the initial start up cost (5lb tank, the regulator, and the initial swap to get a full tank), but in the long run I’m saving money by not buying $30 bags of citric acid and having to make CO2 every 3 or 4 weeks. The 5lb tanks I’ll swap probably once per year. Maybe twice on the one that runs 2 lines. 

[Mmiller2001]

A Yugang reactor is prime for DIY CO2. The reactor, when crafted correctly, has built in safety so it’s impossible to gas the fish. They are also cheap to make and only require some pvc and barbs. The flow passing through the reactor should be low so you don’t need an expensive pump or a canister can run it with a bypass. If you have any questions, let me know.

[TOtrees]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:50 AM, NikkiRae said:

I am starting off low and slow.

Good way to go, if you're not looking for aquascape contest winning tanks. I ran CO2 on a 33 gallon tanks a few years back (36" long x 12" wide x 17? tall) that was medium well planted, with medium light, and a low rate of CO2 yielded a noticeable improvement in the not entirely bombproof plants. I had maybe 1.5 bps, and never saw color change on the indicator solution, but the plants responded. 

[madmark285]

On 5/1/2024 at 9:19 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

A Yugang reactor

Thanks Mmiller, this reactor is so cool! I love creative DIY stuff. Horizontal CO2 Reactor - Yugang 鱼缸 Reactor

FYI, for a Halloween prop, I drilled into PVC pipe/fittings using a forstner drill bit and screwed in Pneumatic Push to Connect fittings. No clue if this is safe for underwater use. This will self tap into the PVC pipe ie: cut threads. 

 

On 5/1/2024 at 7:50 AM, NikkiRae said:

I'll look into the mead yeast 🙂

You could just start a new hobby, brewing mead 🙂

Edited May 1 by madmark285

[Mmiller2001]

That’s awesome with the push to connect!

[Tanked]

Is there a reason that you are using brown sugar?

I've been using the yeast and  table sugar method for several months in the project tank.  A quart bottle of solution feeding gas to a free floating inverted water bottle Modeled after that fish store in San Francisco.  

Pros:

No regulation and no measuring.  The receiving bottle has never been totally empty so the water has never absorbed all of the CO2.

The Wisteria, PSO, and Amazon Sword, have put on a growth spurt.  Even the long dormant Anubia has added a few new leaves.  The PSO and wisteria won't grow in the other tanks

The only expense is sugar and yeast.

Cons:

No regulation and no measuring.  

Output is inconsistent.  This may be a temperature thing.   Agitating the bottle steps up production, at least briefly. 

 

I'm still considering switching to a 3 bottle system with valves and checkvalves, precise measurments etc.  This is just play for me, as I have little interest in going high tech.

[madmark285]

On 5/1/2024 at 1:00 PM, Tanked said:

Output is inconsistent.  This may be a temperature thing.

So would adding a Yugang reactor help on the inconsistent issue? Just let the yeast/sugar pump Co2 into the reactor and let the water absorb what it can.

 

[Mmiller2001]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:20 PM, madmark285 said:

So would adding a Yugang reactor help on the inconsistent issue? Just let the yeast/sugar pump Co2 into the reactor and let the water absorb what it can.

 

Exactly this, no need for much pressure, fill the reactor and surface area determines the amount of CO2.

[RalphValentine]

On 5/1/2024 at 7:38 AM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

I’ve never done the sugar and yeast method, but I have done the citric acid and baking soda with a stainless steel canister. 
 

I’ve phased out those canisters (had 2 of them) in favor of 5lb tanks. 
 

One of those 5lb tanks has one bubble counter and line to a 29 gallon, and the other bubble counter and line runs to a 55. 
 

What I can tell you with absolute certainty is you need more CO2. I have mine at like 3 bubbles per second, and my drop checker does not change color, indicating that I’m not getting a pH change. If I was going for 30ppm, I should up mine to at least 5 bubbles per second. 
 

Let me know what other questions you have. Happy to help!






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Edited May 21 by RalphValentine

[HelplessNewbie]

On 5/1/2024 at 11:05 AM, madmark285 said:

On 5/1/2024 at 9:19 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

A Yugang reactor

Thanks Mmiller, this reactor is so cool! I love creative DIY stuff. Horizontal CO2 Reactor - Yugang 鱼缸 Reactor

Interesting notion! Wait, so how is this different from a bell jar with current (for instance, from a powerhead) flowing past the bottom?

The article mentions a way to prevent gassing fish. How can this be achieved?

[madmark285]

On 5/15/2024 at 10:10 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

Interesting notion! Wait, so how is this different from a bell jar with current (for instance, from a powerhead) flowing past the bottom?

Same concept but is the surface area of the bell jar large enough? 

On 5/15/2024 at 10:10 AM, HelplessNewbie said:

The article mentions a way to prevent gassing fish. How can this be achieved?

This is my understanding, I could be wrong. WTF do I know, I grow plastic plants 🙂

So the amount of CO2 being absorbed is determined by the surface area between the water and CO2. If you inject too much CO2, the water level drops and the excess CO2 escapes out the water pipe.. 

 

So from this image, the max amount of CO2 would be at the horizontal line. 

[madmark285]

FYI for DIY system. You could try using a Pneumatic Air Flow Control Valve.

As I stated before, you can drill a hole into PVC pipe and screw in the pneumatic push to connect fittings, they will self tap the threads into the pipe. So if your DIY CO2 system is producing too much, add a value.

Has anyone made a DIY CO2 system using 5 gallon buckets with lids? Add 5-10 pounds of sugar with yeast, that would go crazy at the start.