2 DIY 2 liter c02

[MantisX]

When I run 2 of these bottles together, Can I just run the tubing into the top side of the second bottle then use the 2nd bottles tubing to feed it to my aquarium? I dont think 1 bottle of this stuff is strong enough for my 10 gallon. I always hear about people dropping their ph so low but I cant get mine to move. I know some level of c02 is getting into the water though because the plants are bubbling and growing pretty good.

[Rolo]

What are your CO2 levels? One 2-liter is more than enough for a 10 gallon. If your not getting the pH to drop then it is probably because of poor diffusion or a poor recipe. What are you using for diffusion and what is your bubble count?

If you insist on 2 bottles, though IMO it's a waste and a sign of other easier problems to solve, yes you can connect the bottles with tubing.

[Wasserpest]

I wasn't able to get my CO2 up a lot with a 2l bottle on my 10 gal either... neither with bubbling it into the HOB, nor using a Hagen ladder. (And no, there is almost nil surface agitation).
With a 3l bottle it's a little better, still think that it's not enough for whatever reason. Could it be that the hard water (10 dkH) plays a role in that?

Anyway, to answer your question, yes you can connect the two bottles. An even better solution would be to connect both bottles to a third (bubble counter) bottle, both to clean the yeasty CO2 as well as see which bottle is actually producing and which needs to be changed.

[MantisX]

Well my current kh is 3 and my gh is always 1. ph is around 7 to 7.2 and stays there. I am using a powerhead via the chuck gadd reactor. Its a chamber that basically churns the c02 into the water. In any case ive never had a problem with low ph or fish being unable to breathe. Surface agitation is very little. Using the chart I can say im thumping along at a disappointing 6-7 ppm of c02. I want to go pressurized, but I feel rather silly spending all that money on a lil 10 gallon that ive heard many use diy on with great results.

[Rolo]

Wasserpest, your KH level shouldn't prevent CO2 from dissolving. I have 20dKH currently with CO2 around 20ppm (DIY) on a 29 gallon.

Mantisx, it seems very strange you only have 7 ppm CO2. Can you see the bubbles completely dissolve w/o escaping? Your bubble count isn't too low is it? You know, you might acutually have enough CO2. Using titration pH kits are not so great for calculating CO2 since they only go by 0.2. 0.2 can mean a difference of 10ppm CO2. Buying a different brand of KH and pH kits will help making sure you have accurate readings.

[MantisX]

My current ph kh tests are aquarium pharmaceuticals. What I am doign with my reactor is bubbling the c02 directly into the powerhead, then those bubbles go into the actual reactor. I did it this way because i heard smaller bubbles are easier to dissolve. I can see them dissolve into the water however some very very small bubbles make it through sometimes. I even thought about biting yet another bullet and paying 50 bucks for the reactor at aquabotanic.

[shawmutt]

Yaay! I'm so glad I made a website with my setup so I can show everybody ( yes I have no life)

Here's the way I set up my co2:

http://members.myactv.net/~shawmutt/diy_co2.html