CO2 Injection

water bath update

Last night I set up the water bath for the 2-liter bottle in a 5 gallon bucket with my extra heater set at 68 degrees F. Rested the bucket lid lightly on top, closed the doors to the aquarium stand, and this morning, the pH registered a drop from 7.4 to 7.2, so things appear to be moving in the right direction. I will check everything again today when I get home from work.

I am thinking that I may put the heater on the same timer system that the tank lights are on, so that the yeast is more active during the daytime, and can rest for a bit overnight. I'm not sure what the lag time is between the heater coming on and yeast becoming more active, but it would lengthen how long the jello mix lasts, right? Or is it better to have a constant supply of CO2, even if the lights are off? Would turning the heater on and off make the pH fluctuate too much? If anyone has any thoughts, I'd be interested to hear them.

Thanks!
 
I just leave mine alone. CO2 levels don't get too high and the plants produce so much O2 during the day that the water stays pretty close to saturated, or at least it doesn't take long to start pearling after the lights come on.
 
extra money saving tip.

I bought a co2 bottle and then went to a welding shop. they matched the fitting to a spare regulator they had laying around and attached a flow meter. the whole thing caost me 15 bucks and has been running great for two years. i run a bubble wall on a timer at night to off-gas the excess.

sure beats paying 150 or more for a regulator at your LFS.
 
sick-lid said:
extra money saving tip.

I bought a co2 bottle and then went to a welding shop. they matched the fitting to a spare regulator they had laying around and attached a flow meter. the whole thing caost me 15 bucks and has been running great for two years. i run a bubble wall on a timer at night to off-gas the excess.

sure beats paying 150 or more for a regulator at your LFS.
Click to expand...

Well, if you search online one can find Milwaukee all in one regulators with built in needlevalve, solenoid, and bubble counter for about $60 to $65.00 bucks these days. Of course in my state a 10lb tank of CO2 is going for another $80. And you can build a DIY reactor out of PVC for about $20.00.
 
I had a leaking prob. with the diy yeast. Went to the hardware store and a very helpful employee showed me a quick connect and a nut that goes with it, which I used like a bulkhead fitting with silicone sealant in between. I use the hard milky tubing as it is supposedly co2 safe and very cheap at the store. I use an orange juice bottle and the whole setup is easy to maintain. And yea don't throw away the yeast, just decant the liquid, there is dead cells on the bottom which provide nutrients and I also added a teaspoon of flour and one multivitamin pill who knows they might help.
 
What am I doing wrong?

Today I tried to set up a DIY/Power reactor for my aquarium plants (going for a Amazon biotope for those interested). With best intentions I have read the directions, made the bottle, followed the recipe and set the reactor according to directions. And I thought everything was fine until I returned from doing laundry to find there about five gallons of water on the floor that had backed-flowed through the tubing...OK I wanted to do a water change just not onto the floor.

So I humbly ask as a DIY CO2 newbie yet fast learner...what am I doing wrong here? Do I need some kind of inline backflow valve? Do I have a defective powerhead? Am I cursed to going back to only having silk and plastic plants?
 
It is unbelieveably easy to start a syphon with airline tubing. I suspect that the tubing got a little too close to the intake somehow and the intake sucked up some yeast mix, then the suction slacked and it flowed back the other way starting a syphon. Just guessing, though. Yeah, check valves are a great idea.
 
Thanks Harlock & Happychem the check valve is doing the trick with no more pooling. At the end of replacing syphoned water it turns out that it was closer to ten gallons that ended up on the floor. But now everything is fine and about the only complaint is the reliablity of the yeast I am using? well I guess? What is being generated has not been steady but then mayby it is suppose to be in sperts? The problem with being a newbie is not exactly knowing what to expect. What I am hoping is that it will be enough before I think about a tank and controler set-up and have the income for that.
 
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