about the co2 injection

[bigmatt76]

i recently bought a co2 injection system and followed the directions very closely. i set it up yesterday (1/7/05) and i have yet to see any co2 bubbles going through the bubble counter

[Blinky]

You'll need to describe what the instructions say and what you did step by step so someone can tell you what's going on. If you don't see bubbles within 24 hours, something's probably not right.

[bigmatt76]

hey i started out with my canister and put sugar in the canister( the right amount) and then put these little packets in there. they were and activator and a stabilizer and then put the right amount of warm water. the injector is called the natural plant system
matt

[Blinky]

Hi Matt - did you dechlorinate the water? If you forget, sometimes this can kill off the yeast. As well, it's possible the yeast (I'm assuming the 'activator' is a yeast, can't imagine how else it would work) is old and no longer alive. You can test it by putting some in a dish of warm (not hot) water with a little sugar. It should increase in volume and begin to foam a little bit after an hour or so. If it doesn't do anything at all, it's not active any more and you'll need to get some fresh yeast.

[Aquabum]

Blinky's right. Plus don't forget to give the lid an extra 1/4 turn to make sure that it's tight.

I have the same system. It's good for 10 to 20 gallon tanks. And if the room is too cool, raise the temp a bit. That could also be a factor. Mine lasts about 2 weeks or so before I have to refill.

Lissette :)

[ringram]

I'll give you a brief synopsis of my experience with the DIY CO2 method. First off, you should know that adding more sugar will make the CO2 bubbling last longer, although it will be at a somewhat slower pace. On the other hand, adding more yeast will cause it to bubble faster, killing off the yeast faster as well. If you aren't seeing any bubbles yet and you're sure you mixed it properly, shake the bottle a bit, but be careful you don't to it too much. Shaking it a little can help speed up the reaction, but if you do it too much, you can get some yeast leech its way into the tank, which will make a complete mess (this happened to me, so just a warning). If you take it easy with the shaking, you should be ok. I always used tap water(which is very hard and high ph, so it will work with tap water). I simply found the DIY method to not last very long(maybe 2 weeks if you're lucky, than you'll have to remix another batch. Having said that, I decided that it was more trouble than I was willing to deal with and I ended up buying a CO2 cannister, regulater and the whole bit. A bit more expensive -- maybe $30-40 inititally for the bottle, plus ~$50 for the equipment, maybe a tad more. Once you have the bottle, you can take it to any welding supply store or beverage supply and have it refilled for ~$20. I did that today as a matter of fact, but the just exchanged my empty for a full one and charged $23 -- maybe a tad high, but still not bad, considering they last 2-3 months. Anyway, good luck to you, and again, I highly suggest shaking the mixture a bit until you see it bubbling, just don't do it too much. Cheers,
-Ryan

[English Lion]

I've got the same system, it works well. Just make sure your co2 isn't leaking out somewhere, check all your connections. You can check to see if the tube going into the bubble counter is filling with co2 as it's clear tubing. Usually this tubing will start off partially full of your aqarium water and that will be displaced by gas as it starts working. If the water in the tube is lower than a few hours ago then you know somethings happening - patience.