Arghh...there's a leak in my DIY Co2!

Are you using any glue?
That was my downfall.
The as the glue was drying, air would escape by pushing through the hotglue, and eventually would weaken it to where air could come out.
Make sure everything is seamless.

Drilled hole into cap smaller than air line. Should be a total salted cracker and a half to get the tubing through.


One way to check if the bottle is leaking, kind of weird example but, I'll try to explain.

If you place your finger on top of a straw, then place that straw in water, does water fill the straw? No.

When you put the tubing in the water, make sure it's filled with air, and then place it into the water.

If the air starts going back up the tube, then you know there is a leak in the system.
 
If there is water in the hoses the DIY will not have enough pressure to force the water out has been my experience. Take the hoses out of the tank take the caps off the bottles and blow all the water out of the hoses then cap the bottles again and THEN put the hoses into the tank. This is what I found to work best:)

I did that. STILL no bubbles! WTF is going on?

First the mysterious snail illness in my fry tank, and now this.
 
Like red wall said did you silicone or glue the tubes into the caps of the bottles? If so did you wait at least 24 hours, minimum, before adding the mixture?
*edit* How hot is the water you are using? If the water is too cold it may not activate the yeast if it is too hot it can kill the yeast. If you take the cap off an put your ear to the bottle do you hear a fizzing?
 
I didn't "seal" it with anything. Just the tube tighly fit through the hole in the cap. If I hot glue it and let it set for 24 hours, will that work?

I use tepid-to-warm water. Not cold, and not hot. Tepid. I definitely hear fizzing when I put my ear to the bottle's opening after adding the yeast.

Maybe I just need to seal the tubing to the lid. I've got plenty of hot glue around... I suppose that it couldn't hurt, right?
 
That should work.
My mom uses that everywhere. I never think about it, until times like this.

I used plain ol 100% Silicone on mine, and let sit for a couple of days.
 
AquariaCentral.com