will diy co2 be enough?

1929 Views 27 Replies 13 Participants Last post by mindy, Jul 12, 2012

mindy

Discussion Starter · Jul 10, 2012

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.

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

radioman

· #2 · Jul 10, 2012

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

JP55g

· #3 · Jul 10, 2012

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

· #4 · Jul 10, 2012

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

· #5 · Jul 10, 2012

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

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 11, 2012

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

· #7 · Jul 11, 2012

Wont GLA ship to you?

stevenjohn21

· #8 · Jul 11, 2012

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

· #9 · Jul 11, 2012

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

· #10 · Jul 11, 2012

mindy said:
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/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.html. That'll last you over a year.

Trickerie

· #11 · Jul 11, 2012

jreich said:
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

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jul 11, 2012

Complexity said:
Dry ferts are generally bought online and shipped to you. Here's where I get mine: http://greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/micro-macro-fertilizers.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

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jul 11, 2012

nevermind... they can't ship to canada

Complexity

· #14 · Jul 11, 2012

mindy said:
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

· #15 · Jul 11, 2012

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.

JP55g

· #16 · Jul 11, 2012

Hoppy said:
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.

Hoppy,

Do you get algae growth on yours?
With two 1 gallon jugs at 1-2bps + Excel, replacing 1 jug per week I started to get BBA. I have since went to 1 bulb instead of 2. Its an Odyssea 2x54w ~24in from substrate, so fair reflectors at best.

I am spot treating the BBA with peroxide at the moment and seeing how it goes with the 1 bulb.

DishyFishy

· #17 · Jul 11, 2012

mindy said:
nevermind... they can't ship to canada

Are you sure you read the whole thing? I'm pretty sure there is only like one of the fertz they don't ship to Canada b/c it's illegal to do so. But all the others you would need can be shipped there. I'm pretty sure.

jreich

· #18 · Jul 11, 2012

I don't remember who it is but I no there is some one in Canada that sells dry ferts. Atleast there used to b.

Complexity

· #19 · Jul 11, 2012 (Edited)

mindy said:
nevermind... they can't ship to canada

http://greenleafaquariums.com most definitely ships to Canada.

"Shipping Destination Coverage
Green Leaf Aquariums will ship to addresses in the 50 U.S. States, including U.S. Military Installations and to Canada, the United Kingdom, and other International destinations."

http://greenleafaquariums.com/customer-service.html

Ah, I see. They can't ship KNO3 to Canada. So you get the other ferts and find a source for KNO3 within Canada.

flight50

· #20 · Jul 11, 2012

Back in 03' when I first setup my 55 moderately planted tank I ran (2) diy 2l soda bottles. I swapped them out both every 10-14 days. The not so great part about diy is the lack of control vs pressurized. My amazons and wisteria really took off with co2. I ran 50/50 atnic/daylight 130 watts of light that sat on the tanks edge. Back then we went by watts per gallon. Ran it with a rio pump and reactor canister package that is ancient now. And yes I always fought algae after a week after the swap when the co2 slows. There is a recipe that involve jello lingering around the web that last alot longer than the typical diy co2. I never used it so I don't know much about it but the people who have used it all seem to like it.

Pressurized is so much easier and its not as expensive as some make it out to be. When I reset my tank up in 08 after I got my house I went pressurized and haven't turned back. It became a nussiance to change 2l's all the time. Diy is good to see how your plants react but long term got old for me and I had to upgrade. For me its either pressurized or no CO2 at all. 5lb co2 cost me like $110, a milwaukee regulator cost me like 60-70 bucks on ebay back then. Buy them weeks or months apart if you have too if your scrapped for cash.

See less See more

1 - 20 of 28 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.