[cannonj22]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have any experience with the chemical reaction generated CO2 from Citric acid and baking soda? Any ideas for how long this would last? Just trying to figure out if I should go for that or pressurized?

Any insight or experience with these systems would be helpful!

Thanks,

Joe

 

[rzn7z7]

Here's an old thread on the topic and at 872 posts I'm willing to guess all of the answers to your questions are there

Trying out Citric acid and Baking soda CO2

 

[minorhero]

Hello everyone,

Does anyone have any experience with the chemical reaction generated CO2 from Citric acid and baking soda? Any ideas for how long this would last? Just trying to figure out if I should go for that or pressurized?

Any insight or experience with these systems would be helpful!

Thanks,

Joe

I use DIY co2 from yeast and sugar (and gelatin) in my bookshelf newt tank. That's a 20 gallon and it sees barely any difference because of the way I do it (bell diffuser), but back when I had an 8 gallon tank it worked really nicely for me. So I would say if you are keeping less then 10 gallons you can do diy co2 with a bell diffuser and have it last months. Bigger tanks then that and you should just go pressurized if at all possible.

 

[calhoun3186]

I've done both. The pressurized is 100x better IMO based on ease of adjustment and maintenance

 

[Panda Cory]

I had a 2l that last exactly 31 days and the valve clogged on the next refill. Had a nightmare trying to get a replacement.

Tried a different brand, a 4l this time and at 4 drops per second has lasted over 30 days so far with pressure down only a little from when I set it up.

I do not have easy access to refill co2 tanks so this seemed like a great option.

I think many of the issues with the older (2015) units have been resolved. Seems to work well and refilling is pretty simple and inexpensive. Newer units can hold twice as much pressure(twice the ingredients)

 

[kjonulak]

I have one of the FZone units. It lasts me around a month at 2-3 bubbles per second. I run it from 8am to 2:30pm each day. It uses 200grams of citric acid and baking soda and 300ml of rodi water. I picked up the food grade citric acid and baking soda on amazon. It came with the regulator, a high and low pressure gauge, tubing, check valve and in tank diffuser. I like it. It's easy to clean, you just rinse with warm water. I don't get any buildup inside, just liquid when I dump it. I weigh out the powders on my kitchen scale. It also came with a funnel.

 

[Aaronious]

I have done DIY with citric acid. as far as DIY CO2 goes I think this is the way to go. But the hassle of changing them each week, and if your measurements are just off enough the reaction might take a while to kick in or just will never take off right; if you're even considering Pressurized, just stop and go that route. Price wise I think it wins in the long run, plus instead of every week or two of resetting and mixing, you are refilling once or twice a year depending on what you're doing and take size...

even if you go DIY, I suggest a solenoid with a timer. Just that much more piece of mind and will make it last almost 2x as long in my experience.