Hey guys i've got 3 planted tanks and was wondering if anyone has any homemade CO2 systems for their planted tanks. I was talking to one customer at work and he said he uses a wine jug. thanks guys
~Zack~
~Zack~
Anyone have homemade CO2?
- Thread starter redwingbum19
- Start date
The cheapest and easiest way I've done it is with those c02 cannisters by hagen i think it is. They sell the packets that you mix with sugar, add water, screw on the top and there you go, home made c02. The difference has been unreal. I'm sure you can do it with a jug if you can seal the top well enough and figure out what other chemicals you need to throw in with sugar to make it produce C02. If you look online I'm sure you can find a science experiment that will explain it. Good luck and definitely find a way to use co2. Makes a world of difference.
I use those 1.5L or 2L soft drink bottles and drill a hole in the cap. Then stick an airline tubing through it and use glue and silicone to make it air tight. I use about 1 cup of sugar and a quarter of a teaspoon of yeast to about 1 litre of water.
here is a pretty detailed website on DIY Co2 http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html
here is a pretty detailed website on DIY Co2 http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html
I also use pop bottles w/ 3 cups of sugar, 1 tsp of yeast, 1 tsp of baking soda & water up to where the bottle begins to curve inwards. It made a huge difference towards my plant growth, however, when I added a second bottle to help control algae, my ph dropped from 7 to 6.5. Now I have to constantly monitor my ph just in case it crashes 
sorry don't know how to do links yet, but go to aquariumfish.com look under plants, then go to the article about reactors revisited.
i just took a 2 litre coke jug and drilled a hole into it and sealed a foot long piece of airline tubing to it and then did the same with a smaller jug and routed it into the aquarium and into my filter works great check out www.kingvinnie.com and go to the diy aquaria page and click the co2 link i usually get a strong co2 output of about one bubble every 3-5 seconds for about 15 days then i just mix up a new batch
Also it depends on the size of your tank. For tanks larger than 20 or so gallons you may have to run more than one 2 litre reactor to see any results, depending on what plants you have and how much lighting you have. I have a 1 litre bottle on my ten gallon tank and the results are better than I expected.
How large of a bottle would I need for a 55 planted tank?
Any pictures of how you guys set it up?
How long does it last for?
Anything like this? :
Any pictures of how you guys set it up?
How long does it last for?
Anything like this? :
I am using the the CO2 pop bottle method. I found that connecting the tubing with silicone was problematic and had to be resealed often so I use the method suggested in http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html and I use the nylon bulkhead fittings.
Click --> CO2 pop bottle
IMHO, the Hagen system is really only useful for the ladder, the canister is just too small to really generate enough CO2 to do any good. However, here is my recipe for the Hagen setup.
375ML water
1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 sugar
For the 2L pop bottles I use:
1.5L water
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
Here are the results in my two tanks. The 26 gallon tank needs a good trim.
Click --> 26G
Click --> 48G
Click --> CO2 pop bottle
IMHO, the Hagen system is really only useful for the ladder, the canister is just too small to really generate enough CO2 to do any good. However, here is my recipe for the Hagen setup.
375ML water
1/4 tsp yeast
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 sugar
For the 2L pop bottles I use:
1.5L water
1 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 cups sugar
Here are the results in my two tanks. The 26 gallon tank needs a good trim.
Click --> 26G
Click --> 48G