DIY CO2 compression fitting leaks

[steak]

I have been having a heck of a time getting my DIY CO2 setup working.

Right now, I've got 2 ocean spray bottles with the yeast mix. They're piped to my tank via silicone air tubing. In the line, there are 2 compression fit needle valves, and a compression T-joint. I've included a diagram that shows the setup and the definite leaks. I feel like every joint is leaking at this point.

I found the leaks by submerging the valves in water and hooking the line up to a powerhead. The valves allow water (and air) to leak into the line, so all of my CO2 is escaping.

I put it all together the first time, and it didn't work. So, I unscrewed all the joints, released the ferrules from the nuts, pushed the ferrules tightly into the joints, and then re-tightened the nuts. Upon being submerged, the joints still allow water to flow into the pipes.

The nuts are as tight as I could get them with a pair of pliers on the nut, and my hand on the valve. Knocking the nuts off the ferrules was a pain on the nuts. I deformed the joint ends of the smaller diameter pipes that the ferrules fit over in the process, and may have rendered the valve assembly useless in the process.

Any advice on how to get these compression fittings to work properly? If I did deform anything, I can buy new valve assemblies and a new T, but I'm doing something wrong, and I don't want to run into the same problems.

Thanks for your time,
Mike Salsberry

P.S.---There was, originally, a Red Sea needle valve in the line as well that can be seen in one of the pictures, but I bypassed it because I thought it was the problem.