Homemade CO2
- Thread starter nickbuter
- Start date
Mine has been running for nearly a month and still going strong, but I use the Jello method. This is my first batch, so hopefully someone with a little more experience can help you.
depends what type of carbs you use, how much, how much water and how much yeast, and the temperature you keep the solution at.
I've been experimenting in my tank, my temp is typically between 62-64 in my house and I use a 2L bottle.
with 1 cup of regular grain sugar + 1tsp of yeast + 6cups water I can keep it going at that temperature for roughly 7 days before I need to start heating the water or shaking it to get more
with 1 cup of confection sugar + 1tsp of yeast + 6 cups of water it lasts about 5 days
with 1 cup of dextrose (I workout a lot) + 1tsp of yeast + 6 cups of water it lasts about 3 days
if anyone has a better recipe or has experimented with other things like water amounts, yeast amounts, etc, please let me know.
Since I found carb type to be important I'll next experiement with amount of water then with yeast till I find the best combination.
I've been experimenting in my tank, my temp is typically between 62-64 in my house and I use a 2L bottle.
with 1 cup of regular grain sugar + 1tsp of yeast + 6cups water I can keep it going at that temperature for roughly 7 days before I need to start heating the water or shaking it to get more
with 1 cup of confection sugar + 1tsp of yeast + 6 cups of water it lasts about 5 days
with 1 cup of dextrose (I workout a lot) + 1tsp of yeast + 6 cups of water it lasts about 3 days
if anyone has a better recipe or has experimented with other things like water amounts, yeast amounts, etc, please let me know.
Since I found carb type to be important I'll next experiement with amount of water then with yeast till I find the best combination.
I use a 2 liter bottle, 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/2 tea spoon of yeast, 1/2 tea spoon of baking soda, kept at room temperature. I get about 2-3 weeks out of it.
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
In a 55g you would start with a 1 x 2l litre bottle ? would it be enough? How many ppm CO2 would it supply with just an airstone? How can you control how much co2 is injected? Or do you just keep monitoring ph, gh and kh as you go? Thanks.
Swimfins - I'd start with one (so the adjustment is gradual), but you're probably going to need two or more 2L bottles. 55g is a big tank for DIY; it may take a few bottles to get the desired result if you're using an airstone, which is an inefficient way to put CO2 into the water. While it can be done via airstone (that's how I do it ATM), it'll just take more CO2 going in to get the same result as if you were using a diffuser (if you're interested, there are pictures of people's homemade diffusers in the DIY & equipment forum).
My tap water's KH is ~50-60ppm or 3* which is fairly soft. With my 65g I need 6L of DIY CO2 to take the pH from 7.6 down to 6.6 (giving me 25ppm CO2).
You can control the amount of CO2 going into the tank by using a bleed valve. I have my bottles on a multi-line air valve - 5 lines going in (4 2L & 1 4L bottle) and one line going out to the bubble wall inside the tank. If you've got an extra place on the valve where no bottle is attached, you can open the valve slightly to bleed off some CO2. I like using one of these multi-line valves because it allows you to close off one bottle and remove it (to replace the mix) without losing pressure from the other bottles.
I change my CO2 bottles weekly - while they continue to produce CO2 for weeks, I have found that the pH will rise due to reduced amounts of CO2 going into the tank. Changing them at the same time I do other maintenance seems to work well - I usually do it in the evening so they're producing good amounts of CO2 by the morning when the plants will start using it up.
My tap water's KH is ~50-60ppm or 3* which is fairly soft. With my 65g I need 6L of DIY CO2 to take the pH from 7.6 down to 6.6 (giving me 25ppm CO2).
You can control the amount of CO2 going into the tank by using a bleed valve. I have my bottles on a multi-line air valve - 5 lines going in (4 2L & 1 4L bottle) and one line going out to the bubble wall inside the tank. If you've got an extra place on the valve where no bottle is attached, you can open the valve slightly to bleed off some CO2. I like using one of these multi-line valves because it allows you to close off one bottle and remove it (to replace the mix) without losing pressure from the other bottles.
I change my CO2 bottles weekly - while they continue to produce CO2 for weeks, I have found that the pH will rise due to reduced amounts of CO2 going into the tank. Changing them at the same time I do other maintenance seems to work well - I usually do it in the evening so they're producing good amounts of CO2 by the morning when the plants will start using it up.
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The jello method involves using jello to limit the yeast's access to the sugar. This is care of Starry in the CO2 sticky:
I also highly recommend the Jell-O recipe. It lasts longer and is more stable, slightly easing the initial burst that is unavoidable with the plain water/sugar method. Here is the recipe:
1) Mix together 2 packs of Jell-O (any flavour - all that's gonna go into your tank is the CO2 either way) and 2 cups boiling water. Mix really well until it's all dissolved.
2) Add 1.5-2 cups sugar and mix well again. Pour the mixture into a 2L pop bottle (juice bottles aren't as good, the caps aren't as air-tight)
3) Add 2 cups cold water and mix AGAIN. Make sure the sugar is dissolved and not just collected at the bottom.
4) Now stick it in the fridge overnight, until it actually turns into Jell-O.
5) In the morning, add 1/2 cup room temp/lukewarm water and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp yeast. I would suggest starting with 1/4 tsp. If you find that it's not enough, you can always open the bottle later and put in some more.
6) Monitor your pH throughout the day. The bottle should start producing CO2 within a few hours, and your pH should drop throughout the day. If it drops too low, increase surface agitation or add an airstone, and use less yeast next time. If the pH doesn't reach your target, open the bottle and add a bit more yeast.
I also highly recommend the Jell-O recipe. It lasts longer and is more stable, slightly easing the initial burst that is unavoidable with the plain water/sugar method. Here is the recipe:
1) Mix together 2 packs of Jell-O (any flavour - all that's gonna go into your tank is the CO2 either way) and 2 cups boiling water. Mix really well until it's all dissolved.
2) Add 1.5-2 cups sugar and mix well again. Pour the mixture into a 2L pop bottle (juice bottles aren't as good, the caps aren't as air-tight)
3) Add 2 cups cold water and mix AGAIN. Make sure the sugar is dissolved and not just collected at the bottom.
4) Now stick it in the fridge overnight, until it actually turns into Jell-O.
5) In the morning, add 1/2 cup room temp/lukewarm water and 1/4 to 1/2 tsp yeast. I would suggest starting with 1/4 tsp. If you find that it's not enough, you can always open the bottle later and put in some more.
6) Monitor your pH throughout the day. The bottle should start producing CO2 within a few hours, and your pH should drop throughout the day. If it drops too low, increase surface agitation or add an airstone, and use less yeast next time. If the pH doesn't reach your target, open the bottle and add a bit more yeast.
condensed version:
4.5 cups water
1.5-2 cups sugar
.25-.5 tsp yeast
to get a better gauge of the jello reaction impact I will try it with my current setup tonight while maintaining my sugar/yeast combination.
any meaningful results will be posted
total =christopher1260 said:
4.5 cups water
1.5-2 cups sugar
.25-.5 tsp yeast
to get a better gauge of the jello reaction impact I will try it with my current setup tonight while maintaining my sugar/yeast combination.
any meaningful results will be posted
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
Sounds good. I like the jello method. I've never done this before so, I prefer to be safe than sorry. I suppose I should do all this befor I introduce fish into my tank. I'm no where near setting it up, but its good to start looking into things now.
Thanks Blinky, I'll have to give it all some thought lol.
Thanks Blinky, I'll have to give it all some thought lol.