Two Bottles vs. One for DIY Co2 (and other Q's)

before I broke down my 50 gallon I used two 2 liter bottles, both were filled with yeast/sugar from the get go with no problems.

I used up to 4 at once. I haven't read the link, but one basic idea is to stagger the mixtures a week apart so you have a constant supplly of co2 being produced.

In my experience though, it was really only good at producing crazy amounts of algae. The co2 was so inconsistent that it'd be going crazy bubbles one minute and barely pumping any the next. I may give it another try in the future, but until then I'll just dose excel and be done with it.

:iagree:

You may end up needing more than 2 for a 50g anyways

people do this to try and get a more constant supply of co2. I never did this. I think you are going to need close to 4 bottles for your size of tank.

they say to start one bottle first to get more constant co2 rates and so that you replace one bottle at a time and not 2 bottles at once. inconstant co2 rates are not good for the tank and will promote algae growth.

you might need 3 bottles for your 55 gallon tank.

55 is really stretching the limits of DIY capability, just on the maintenance end.

As far as a set up, I would go with a 4 bottle system consisting of the following.

2 two bottle sets. Like you said, use two 2 liter bottles feeding to a t connector.

leaving each t connector, I would put in a valve (like an air reduction valve you use to reduce flow to an air stone). This will allow you to shut off one set, or both sets, of your bottle reactors without depressurizing the rest of the vessels when you change one out, and allow you to stagger reactors. You can, if you want, move these valves all the way back to where you have one on each reactor bottle. The more staggered your bottles are, the more stable your outflow should be, but the more often maintenance will have to occur.

Leaving your final t connector, I would put in a pressure relief blowout valve. This is a t connector, where one end of the T is filed down to the point where a short piece of silicone tubing just -barely- holds on. On this end, you put on a short, closed off, piece of tubing. The idea being that if for some reason the pressure rises in your vessels, this will be the weak point, allowing the closed off line to blow off and the gas to escape, rather than blowing a two liter bottle, or the line out of your bottle (which will throw gunk straight up to your ceiling like mentos and diet coke.)

After the blowout t, go to a bubble counter, knock out bottle. On my system, this is a small gatorade bottle half filled with water, with the inlet submerged, and the outlet just a 1/4 inch from the lid. Allows you to measure flow somewhat, and knocks out any entrained water gunk before it hits yoru tank.

Then, off to the diffusion method of your choice. Try to keep the verticle distance from your set to your tank exit as short as possible. It only has gas pressure to work against the head pressure, and in a DIY system, pressure can, at best, cause leaks and at most, be catestrophic.

tolawdjk said:

55 is really stretching the limits of DIY capability, just on the maintenance end.

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:iagree:


I used 2 Hawiian fruit punch containers (1gallon) and still had problems with consistancy.

Heck, I needed 3 2-liters on my 30g alone and that didn't even seem to work.

jpappy789 said:

Heck, I needed 3 2-liters on my 30g alone and that didn't even seem to work.

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Yeah i had the same on my 29 gallon and that wasn't enough.