Another DIY CO2 newbie question, if you dont mind.

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katana1200

Unhealthy obsession?
Ok, so I'm convinced now that I'd like to try some of this fabulous home-brew that is DIY CO2. Now, I've heard a lot about air stones, diffusers, ladders, drop checkers, and I have more research to do for sure, but here's the question.

I have a canister filter. Can I place the CO2 line, with an air stone in the tank right beside the filter inlet to grab all the bubbles, run them through the filter, pulverize them, then send them on their merry way out the spray bar?

Ok 2 questions. I know, I lured you in with the promise of A question...

The spray bar is horizontal near the top of the tank...for maximum CO2 absorption does the CO2 delivery method need to be lower in the water?

Tank is 72 gallon bow.... so would a single 2L reactor with air stone be sufficient to supply the entirety of a 4 foot long tank? Doh, that was three!
 

James0816

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Feb 14, 2007
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Question A: Yes. Good placement
Question B: You can lower it or just redirect the positioning on the spray bar.

Bonus Question: DIY CO2 on a 72g might pretty difficult. One bottle definately won't do you very well. You'll need to string a few of them together for best results. Pressurized would definately be a better fit for this tank. Sry.
 

DJDrZ

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Jul 31, 2010
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Collegeville, PA
Ok, so I'm convinced now that I'd like to try some of this fabulous home-brew that is DIY CO2. Now, I've heard a lot about air stones, diffusers, ladders, drop checkers, and I have more research to do for sure, but here's the question.

I have a canister filter. Can I place the CO2 line, with an air stone in the tank right beside the filter inlet to grab all the bubbles, run them through the filter, pulverize them, then send them on their merry way out the spray bar?

Ok 2 questions. I know, I lured you in with the promise of A question...

The spray bar is horizontal near the top of the tank...for maximum CO2 absorption does the CO2 delivery method need to be lower in the water?

Tank is 72 gallon bow.... so would a single 2L reactor with air stone be sufficient to supply the entirety of a 4 foot long tank? Doh, that was three!
I have a 72G bowfront, I had 2x2L DIY CO2 going. I had the input to the tank go directly into the canister inlet. It was fine. The main problem was that the CO2 level was never constant. I would stagger your two bottles a week apart and absolutely stick to changing them out every two weeks.
 

katana1200

Unhealthy obsession?
I have a 72G bowfront, I had 2x2L DIY CO2 going. I had the input to the tank go directly into the canister inlet. It was fine. The main problem was that the CO2 level was never constant. I would stagger your two bottles a week apart and absolutely stick to changing them out every two weeks.

So, two separate bottles, two separate lines, two separate air-stones? Or, two bottles, two lines, one Y adapter, 1 air-stone?

Alternating bottle method.... Lets say a Pepsi bottle and Mt. Dew bottle for clairity. Lets see if I get this.

Week one, start Pepsi bottle. Week two add Mt. Dew bottle. Week three replace Pepsi. Week four replace Mt. Dew. Rinse. Repeat. ??

This has been an ultra low tech tank from the get go. A little over 1wpg lighting plus ambient window light. Potting soil, play sand, easy plants...I'm just curious to see what kind of a difference CO2 can make on a low tech tank. Mr. Barr has written a few interesting things about low light CO2, and it's peaked my interest. I get decent plant growth now, but I'm not ready to commit to the $$ involved in all that other good stuff.
 

DJDrZ

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Jul 31, 2010
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Collegeville, PA
So, two separate bottles, two separate lines, two separate air-stones? Or, two bottles, two lines, one Y adapter, 1 air-stone?
Two separate bottles, but going into one bubble counter. One line out from bubble counter to tank (put the line directly in the filter input IMHO). You can connect them with a "T/Y" connector, but make sure you can disconnect the lines without de-pressurizing the system.
Alternating bottle method.... Lets say a Pepsi bottle and Mt. Dew bottle for clairity. Lets see if I get this.

Week one, start Pepsi bottle. Week two add Mt. Dew bottle. Week three replace Pepsi. Week four replace Mt. Dew. Rinse. Repeat. ??
exactly!!!:clap: That might be the best way to maintain a constant as possible CO2 level. If you feel jinky, you could try three bottles!
This has been an ultra low tech tank from the get go. A little over 1wpg lighting plus ambient window light. Potting soil, play sand, easy plants...I'm just curious to see what kind of a difference CO2 can make on a low tech tank. Mr. Barr has written a few interesting things about low light CO2, and it's peaked my interest. I get decent plant growth now, but I'm not ready to commit to the $$ involved in all that other good stuff.
I am with you, I tried the low tech for ~3 months. It works, but I found it to be more effort than it was worth. Plus, it wasn't helping with my greenwater. I went to pressurized CO2 and the plants look great, and I don't have to do anything (but it definitely was an investment).
I did do the experiment of adding baking soda (or powder) ...I always get those confused...to one fermenter and not the other. I did not see an appreciable long term effect on CO2 output, the one with the baking whatever in it however did start more quickly. For what that's worth.
 

katana1200

Unhealthy obsession?
Bubble counter eh? That would keep the pressure in the system if I'm not mistaken. Interesting. I'm almost half scared to do anything. I've got decent plant growth and good water clarity right now.....I never have been able to leave well-enough alone.
 

jasonG75

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Jun 1, 2010
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I can tilt my spraybar but gently turning it downwards so that there is very VERY little surface agitation.

"Bonus Question: DIY CO2 on a 72g might pretty difficult" VERY VERY difficult in deed. You would probably need 4 1gallon bottles. 40 gallons is as high as I would go with DIY, I used 2 1gallon bottles on my 55 with very little sucess
 

James0816

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Feb 14, 2007
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I am all about encouraging experimentation!
+1. Absolutely.

If someone is going to dedicate the the time and effort into it, I say go for it. You don't learn by riding the pine or taking the back seat all the time. ;)
 

Sigrid

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