[kindbud]

using the ada pollen diffusor with diy co2 on a 10 gallon tank.

i LOVE the diffusor. it works well with the diy co2 in one of those hagen canisters. lots of fizz all over the tank. however, every other day i need to suck out all the yeast fuzz or it doesn't work as well. i always wondered why ada included a little plastic syringe. is this the reason? if so, it's not long enough.

i know i'm not the only one with this setup. how does everyone else deal with this problem (without resorting to pressurized)? is the only solution a second water-filled container into which the co2 is first bubbled and then out of before it goes into the diffusor? would this even work? i don't like this idea as it creates more clutter in the precious space behind the tank. this is the reason i'm using the gray plastic hagen canister that hangs on the tank to begin with--no unsightly junk.

 

[epicfish]

Yes, the gas separator was specifically added to prevent yeast "muck" from entering the tank. I'd definately add one, especially if you have an expensive ADA diffuser for the DIY CO2. If not, you can always try a checkvalve to help keep things out, but I have a feeling it'd just mess up the checkvalve.

 

[kindbud]

thanks for the reply but BAH!! i really don't like this solution, though i'm sure it would work, like you suggested.

before i resort to rigging up a gas separator i'm going to try soaking the diffusor in bleach/h2o2 to kill every last yeast cell that may be lingering in it, as opposed to just sucking out the gunk allowing the residual yeast to regenerate. i'll also rinse the tubing too. maybe this will work.

any other ideas?

 

[epicfish]

As yeast gets trapped in the fine pores in the ceramic disk, you might not be able to wash it out...and if it gets stuck permanently, it'll start to ruin your disk. The bubbles will slowly start to become bigger and bigger as more yeast gets stuck in it. The longer you let the yeast get on the disk, the more you're ruining it.

And never ever brush the surface with anything. It'll also ruin the disk.

 

[kindbud]

diy co2 and glass diffusors

ok. so rinsed out the tubing thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide. then i soaked the diffusor in hydrogen peroxide for a few hours, rinsed, and soaked again in a not-so-mild bleach solution for another few hours. speck traces of algae and presumably all residual yeast had to have been destroyed.

when i hooked the diy bottle back to the diffusor i made sure that there was no moisture at all inside. there was co2 bubble pollination all over the tank for a few days but the yeast mung came back causing the pores to clog and reduce the co2 mist to bigger bubbles.

so...does everyone who uses diy co2 and a diffusor use a gas separator? how do you guys get around this problem?

 

[2wheelsx2]

I had the problem and went to a gas separator. Problem solved.

 

[cwlodarczyk]

The gas separator is a simple and elegant solution, and better yet you can make one for free in less than 5 minutes.

It seems to me that in looking for something else you're trying to reinvent the wheel.

 

[kindbud]

yes. it does appear to be an elegant solution (something i like) which involves more unsightly clutter behind the tank in practice (something i don't like). sigh. i guess i'll get over having a separator occupy precious shelf space when i see co2 misting all over the tank again for periods of time greater than 48 hours.

 

[Bbc84]

I use gas seperator/bubble counter. DIY Co2 feeds the CO2 into a gatorade bottle filled with water, co2 bubbles in the water, and leaves into a tube that connects to the diffuser, the 2nd tube is way at the top of the cap away from the seperator/counters water so u get no gunk.


With this set up i can shake my 2L and 3L with caps on and some of the yeast liquid will bubble out through the tubing but get trapped in the bubble counter