will diy co2 be enough?

[mindy]

i am thinking of setting up diy co2 in my tank.

details:

66 gallons
eheim 2215 and a koralia 750 powerhead
two 54 watt bulbs raised about 6 inches off the tank - two 3 hours photoperiods/day (10-1 and 7-10)
currently just using flourish and excel but there are fertilizers under the play sand
the tank is pretty heavily planted


do you think 2 two litre bottles are good, or will one be enough? i want to eventually do pressurized co2 but it isn't in the cards just yet.

[radioman]

I used two 1 litre bottles for a 36g. It will be pretty hard to do diy with a tank that big.

[JP55g]

Doubt it. I have 2 1 gallon jugs on my 55g and it is not enough. I had two 54w T5HO about 4in above tank and have dropped to 1 bulb until I can get pressurized.

[Hoppy]

I use two 2 liter bottles on a 65 gallon tank, but with low light, around 20-25 micromols of PAR. You probably have low medium light. I think a pair of 2 liter bottles will give you very noticeable results, and you will for sure need to begin dosing NPK to keep up with the increased demands of the faster growing plants.

The problem you may have is that it is hard to keep the CO2 production reasonably constant, even with replenishing one bottle per week. That may trigger some algae growth.

[Trickerie]

I agree with Hoppy. You could do it, but I would reduce your lighting some and be diligent about mixing that yeast. You will probably need to go for a more aggressive yeast mixture compared to one made for longevity. For example, instead of a 1/2 tsp yeast, go with 1 tsp. It will need some experimentation in order to find a constant level that wont cause other issues with algae.

[mindy]

thanks

i will try two 2 litre bottles with more yeast and see how that does.

i can't do dry fertilizers, i have no where to get them i live in the middle of nowhere.

[Trickerie]

Wont GLA ship to you?

[stevenjohn21]

I have DIY co2 in my 75 gallon tank . 4x 2 liter bottles in which they are split into 2 power heads either side of the tank. I've so far been running it for a month and my glosso is carpeting nice ! IMO it's far easier to change 2 each week than to mess with pressurized since I've no idea about that .

[jreich]

You could always easily add a 3rd bottle later on down the road if u had to. What worked well for me was 2 one gallon juice containers with handles on them. The handles made fishing them in and out of the cabinet way easier. I also kept spare undrilled caps around to minimize mess. I used a strong yeast mixture and rotated 1 bottle once a week during waterchanges rite before lights out. They produced bubbles within 30 mins Max because I activated the yeast for 15 mins in warm water with a bunch of sugar before adding to the bottles. Another thing I thought helped was to fill the bottles with warm water when making the mix.
I have actually gassed fish accidentally with DIY co2 which some people have said in the past is impossible.
Good luck.

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by mindy

i can't do dry fertilizers, i have no where to get them i live in the middle of nowhere.

Dry ferts are generally bought online and shipped to you. Here's where I get mine: http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquari...rtilizers.html. That'll last you over a year.

[Trickerie]

Originally Posted by jreich

You could always easily add a 3rd bottle later on down the road if u had to. What worked well for me was 2 one gallon juice containers with handles on them. The handles made fishing them in and out of the cabinet way easier. I also kept spare undrilled caps around to minimize mess. I used a strong yeast mixture and rotated 1 bottle once a week during waterchanges rite before lights out. They produced bubbles within 30 mins Max because I activated the yeast for 15 mins in warm water with a bunch of sugar before adding to the bottles. Another thing I thought helped was to fill the bottles with warm water when making the mix.
I have actually gassed fish accidentally with DIY co2 which some people have said in the past is impossible.
Good luck.

Only thing I will disagree with here is using juice containers instead of soda bottles. Juice containers aren't meant to be under pressure, while soda bottles are.

[mindy]

Originally Posted by Complexity

Dry ferts are generally bought online and shipped to you. Here's where I get mine: http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquari...rtilizers.html. That'll last you over a year.

thanks for the link! does it come with instructions?? haha! i am worried i won't be able to do the ferts like that. :S i hope they ship to canada.

thanks for the help guys, i will give it a try. i think i will stick with the 2 litre bottles and maybe do 2 as a start. co2 should help with bba, right???

i am also nervous about doing pressurized co2. i find this stuff confusing, the pressurized co2 and the dry ferts. i am sure once i start either of them i will be fine.

[mindy]

nevermind... they can't ship to canada

[Complexity]

Originally Posted by mindy

thanks for the link! does it come with instructions?? haha! i am worried i won't be able to do the ferts like that. :S i hope they ship to canada.

Yes, they ship to Canada.

You can do dry ferts if you are capable of measuring a 1/4 teaspoon of sugar to put in coffee. If you can do that, then you already have all the skills necessary to dose dry ferts.

All that's left if knowing which measuring spoon to use and on which days. That info is available in the charts.

[jreich]

It does seem confusing at first. There are many more aspects to the hobby than people realize. But be patient with things and make changes 1 at a time so u can pinpoint what went wrong if anything happens to go wrong. And really just stick to it, it will all click eventually.

I understand ur point in the debate about the soda over juice bottle thing but I have to disagree with u because 1 they will blow the hose out of the lid first if it happens to get kinked and plugged up or whatever (which I never had happen btw)
And also the juice bottles are thicker and imo stronger plastic. The brand I used was ocean spray I believe, theybwere clear with a white plastic handle.