DIY C02 for 38 gallon tank

[MOsborne05]

I've been battling BGA for quite a while now, and the only way to get rid of it is to start dosing c02. It is a 38 gallon tank, and I don't have the money right now to do a pressurized system, so would DIY work? I read a thread on another forum about using a 2 liter bottle and some tubing, then mixing up a sugar & yeast mixture. Will this work? Also, I've read that you need an airstone or something to disperse the bubbles, whats the best way of doing this? I have a Filstar XP2 on my tank, with a spraybar. Any help would be appreciated

[mahamotorworks]

Hey Mo,

The Best way to get rid of BGA is to use Erythyomycin, EM for short. It is a medicine that is use to treat fish. IT will kill off the BGA. It worke din my 29G tank. You can see the thread on the "Other" site we know each other from.

For the CO2. Yse the 2L Bottle with Sugar and Yeast will work it is what I am currently use on my tank. I use 2 Gallon Hawaiian Punch jugs for my bottles. They allreadt ahve handels so I dont drop them and the have a nice Flat Square Base. I have them connected with a "T" that you would use for Air line. Then they run to a Power head that chops the CO2 up and blows it around my tank. There are stickies that will have the basic Info in them. If you need more help let us know.

MAHA

[MOsborne05]

Thanks MAHA I am doing a four day blackout on the tank right now. I have some new plants and a nice piece of driftwood on the way, so I plan on re-doing the tank next week. This is the driftwood that I am getting http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/sw...-fs_-sold.html, and I plan on getting some new substrate. I'm debating between Soilmaster Select, which I can get locally, or ADA Aquasoil. My grandma is coming back from Houston the end of March, so she can bring me the Aquasoil so that I don't have to pay shipping. But I don't know if I want to wait that long.

We picked up some bakers rapid rise yeast for bread baking today, and a bag of sugar. I have a 2L Hawaiian Punch bottle, but MAHA are you talking about the bigger bottles that you get in the store, with the square bottoms, grips on the sides for your hand and a handle? We just bought two of them so we can use one once they are empty, if that is easier. We have a powerhead downstairs that we can use to disperse the C02 into the tank.

We also have quite a few C02 tanks laying around from our paintballing days, how hard is it to rig one of them up to dose C02? There is a fire extinguisher place right next to where I work, so it would be no problem filling them up.

[mahamotorworks]

The drift wood looks really cool. Good buy.

All I know about plant substrates is dont go with Eco Complete. It hase been a lot of hassel. I am talking about the big bottles the Gallon size jugs. The power head will work just fine.

You can use the Paintball CO2 but the are small ans will need a lot of filling. You will need to get the Regulator and it is at that point that the only price differance between the Paintball Cylinder and the Full size cylindar would be the price of the big CO2 Tank. Redsea Offers the CO2 Setup. If you are going to do the paintball CO2 Tank Spend the extra money and get the big CO2 tank.

Soudns like you have verything you need to get started.

Good luck

MAHA

[MOsborne05]

I think I am going to go with the pressurized system because I think it will be worth it in the long run. I've been doing some research and it looks like I need to get a dual-gauge pressure regulator, needle valve, bubble counter and diffusion reactor. I might purchase a bigger C02 tank too. Hopefully then I won't have to deal with BGA anymore!