hello everyone i am looking for a co2 mixture. i have a 29 gallon tank and i am useing a 64 FL OZ contaniner. i already have the yeast it red star instant dry yeast. now i just need to know what else i should add and how much of it. just want to say thanks in advance to everyone who responds this website been so helpful to me.

DIY CO2

Red Star "Instant", also known as "Fast Rise", will give you a huge peak in CO2 production at first, then drop off significantly after only a few days. No good for DIY.

What you want instead is the "Active Dry" variety. Much more level and long-lasting CO2 production.

My recipe for that size container is:

1.25 cup sugar
1 tsp. yeast
1 tsp. baking soda
Luke warm water to within 3" of top
Shake well

And that provides enough CO2 for a high-light 10G, for just under two weeks.

But it won't be enough for a 29G, unless it's low light, low surface agitation, and has an efficient diffuser.

my light is 17 watt i might just go to two liters instead, the diffuser i have is aircoresand airstone it was for 99cents at the pet store

64 fluid ounces = 1.9 liters. Almost the same size.

Cheap airstones produce large bubbles that usually make it to the top of the tank and are wasted, unless you place it under a filter intake where they get sucked in and further diffused.

No way to tell your lighting level from wattage alone. Would also need to know what kind of lighting (especially whether it's T8, T5NO, T5HO, etc.) and the distance between the bulbs and the substrate.

thats where i was planing on puting the tub right under the filiter, so it doenst matter weather if not i use the two liter or the 1.89 liter?casue i am just going to use the 1.89 becasue thats all i have.and the light is a t8 6mm

The tube/aerator under the filter intake is perfect.

The containers are essentially the same size, so you can use either one with the same recipe.

The good news is that I have run a 25G tank with low light on a single 2 liter bottle, and the recipe I quoted. CO2 levels weren't quite optimal, but the plants grew well and no algae problems. So what you're considering is possible.

The bad news is that 17W of T8 provides less than low light over a standard 18.75" tall 29G. So little that it will be virtually impossible to grow anything; unless it's also getting some supplemental sunlight from a window. I have a low-light 29G as well, and I use two 17W T8 over it.

Are problems with plant growth/health what's causing you to consider CO2?

My goal is to try to grow a bed of marsilea minuta across my fish tank, so thats y i have such low light. i am considering co2 becasue i want it to grow fast and i want them to look good. their not looking so good right now i just want to have a healthly plant.

Marsilea Minuta may be one of the rare low light carpeting plants, but I doubt it will thrive in your very low light conditions.

Even some of the lowest of the low light plants, like Anubias, struggled in my 29W when I tried running it with only 17W of T8. Adding the second 17W T8 brought it up to proper low light, and helped immensely - things are actually growing in there now.

i dont think ill be able to add a 2nd t8 light it a hood light with one slot for the light so what would be the next lowest light up from the 17wt8??

There's a lot of ways you could upgrade it, too many for me to list them all in detail. Let me tell you how I did mine. It isn't very fancy, but I'm happy with it.

I used two panes of glass I had sitting around from a previous setup, and fit nicely with an acceptable bit of overhang on the sides. Or you could get a fancier commercial one that fits perfectly, and includes a hinge and handle, like this:



With that, you can put any two light strips on top.

So I placed the 17W T8 from the old hood on the back panel, and scored another cheap identical one (courtesy of Craigslist) for the front panel.

Finally, I slid the setup back a bit, so there's just enough of a gap to feed the fish without having to move or lift anything. I still have to move the front light to reach in for maintenance.

As a bonus, with light also shining from the front of the tank (not just from the back like most hoods of the type you have), the fish look better.

If you want other options, best to start a thread in the Lighting forum. More people will see and comment on it there. Mention that you want to stay low light, but want to grow Marsilea Minuta specifically. I haven't grown it myself, and it's possible it may need a bit more lighting still for best results.

That is pretty creativity. i am gonna have to go to the lighting area. but once i get the right lighting should i still use co2 ?

Sure, if you like. It will improve growth as long as you keep a decent and stable level.

so i got my co2 up and runing and i dont have a test kit YET to test for co2 levls. i am afriad that ill will od my fish on to much co2 over night so should i take out the line so they dont od ?

If you're still using the single 2L, the recommended "Active Dry" yeast, and anything less than 2tsp. of yeast; I'd say gassing your fish is virtually impossible.