DIY CO2 Help

Utube DIY CO2 thats what i did they have step by step instructions.

I just did that and found great info... YouTube is awesome.

Ok. So i did some research and have a good idea on how to make a DIY CO2 reactor and bubble counter. Now for a diffuser I found that a tiny power head seems to be the best way to go. Placing it near my hob filter so the bubbles that do escape will be suck up and then re-defuse. My questions are; Are there any other good ways to defuse the co2? What do i do at night when the plants don't need co2? can i valve it off or will that create to much pressure in the system? Or should i just turn the power head off, and maybe add an air pump and air stone to add oxygen at night?

There are various methods of CO2 diffusion in addition to the one you mentioned. For example, some of the glass diffusers with ceramic discs work with DIY CO2 (while others don't, so caveat emptor.

As for at night, you can turn the power head off (i.e. put it on a timer) so that the CO2 is not efficiently diffused. As additional insurance, you can also add an air pump and airstone to create more surface agitation at night, which will increase gas exchange (an airstone does not introduce oxygen into the water directly).

Just put warm (100*f-110*f) water 2/3rds the way up a two liter bottle, dump 2 cups of sugar, one packet of yeast and you got it, should last up to a month. For the cap just drill a hole and make the end of the airline pointy by cutting it and use pliers to pull it through and use hot glue for it or something that will make it air-tight. Use a airstone as a diffuser or a something like that. Pretty easy really.

i just started using the DIY CO2 on my 10g saturday, should i stop dosing my daily 1mL of excel every morning?

you can find all info here, I'm using this method for over an year
http://freshwater-aquarium-passion.blogspot.com/2010/07/do-it-yourself-carbon-dioxide-injection.html

Darkblade48 said:

As for at night, you can turn the power head off (i.e. put it on a timer) so that the CO2 is not efficiently diffused. As additional insurance, you can also add an air pump and airstone to create more surface agitation at night, which will increase gas exchange (an airstone does not introduce oxygen into the water directly).

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, it is very useful.

Could i use this diffuser or will it only work with a pressurized system?
http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co2-diffusers/co2-diffuser-25mm-sprio.html

Haven't tried one of those but I have with several other glass diffusers. All that I have tested work fine with a DIY setup.

Awesome

My power head seemed to be working just fine, but I wondered how much different using a ceramic diffuser would be. Hooked the tube up to a cheap (less than 10 bucks w/ shipping) plastic/ceramic ebay diffuser. A few hours, pressure was building, no bubbles. Crossed my fingers and went to bed, hoping not to wake up to the sound of a soda bottle exploding.

Next morning, diffuser was working great. 2L bottle was much more pressurized, but still softer than an unopened soda bottle after being shaken. Many times more bubbles (over a several second period, hundreds vs. dozens from just the powerhead), and far far smaller. With the powerhead blowing over the top of the diffuser, the CO2 bubbles stay in the water column for many times longer.

My thinking is that smaller bubbles equals greater total surface area, and staying in the water longer equals more time to diffuse, both of which mean that more CO2 becomes dissolved into the water. Anybody care to agree or disagree?

okay. did some calculations. a spherical bubble with a radius of 1 has a surface area of 12.56. (A=4*pi*r^2) It also has a volume of 4.19. (V=4/3*pi*r^3)

divide that bubble into two bubbles and you get a volume of 2.095 per bubble. plug that into the volume calculation and you get a radius of .79. plug that radius back into area calculation and you get a surface area of 7.91. multiply that by two (for two bubbles instead of the original one) and you get a total surface area of 15.835, which is more surface area than for just one bubble.

now, that's just math. Whether or not I'm right about more surface area equaling greater CO2 absorption, well, that's for somebody with more experience than me (or knows anything about hard science) to say

can you PM me the link to where you bought your eBay diffuser if possible. im currently using an airstone positioned just under the bottom of my intake. many bubbles are getting sucked into it, which is awesome.

Can you use the Hagen/Nutrifin Ladder Diffuser?