My glass diffuser doesn't seem to be working...

[rsanz]

I just got a new glass diffuser (cheap, off of ebay) for my tank. I connected it yesterday afternoon, and when I got home last night I saw not bubbles emanating from it.

I then made a new Yeast-Co2 brew thinking that maybe the old brew was spent, then went to bed hoping to see bubbles by morning.

This morning? No bubbles. Needless to say I'm annoyed. Is there any way I can tell if this thing is going to work? I'm sure I connected the airline tube to it correctly...just jammed it onto the glass nozzle. There are no bubbles coming out of the airline tubing, so it's not a faulty seal.

I did not really clean the glass diffuser before I put it in the tank, but this shouldn't be an issue, should it?

Any insights? Just patience? I read that it should only take 3-4 hours for the pressure to start forcing the Co2 through the ceramic disc.

 

[steveywinet]

Hopefully you have check valves on your lines. When I changed my solution, I would often get water in the line about halfway to the check valve. It could take 12 to 24 hours to build enough pressure to force the water out of the lines. Check the seal at your CO2 source. Proof your yeast to make sure it's viable. Check for any pinched or bent lines. You could go back to your old setup and see if things work as before. I've never used a glass diffuser myself -- always used a bubble ladder, but after a few days I would think you'd see some gas buildup. HTH and good luck.

 

[rsanz]

I don't have a check valve...

But I never had an issue when I used the bubble ladder (which worked fine for 6 months until I installed the glass diffuser yesterday).

So I will need to get a check valve to use with the glass diffuser?

 

[Bubbles2112]

I don't know for sure--but aren't the glass diffusers for pressurized CO2? Anybody?

 

[rsanz]

I don't know for sure--but aren't the glass diffusers for pressurized CO2? Anybody?

I'm fairly certain that glass diffusers can be used for DIY yeast units as well. They create pressure too...

 

[zzyzx85]

^ true but it's often the case that DIY just can't put out the pressure required for a glass diffuser to work.

 

[spunjin]

^^ agreed. Use a wood diffuser for DIY CO2 diffusion.

 

[Ozymandias]

it depends on the specific glass diffuser if it will work for DIY. i know that when i was running DIY CO2 i had a glass diffuser that worked just fine, when i bought it though i made sure that it was advertised as working for DIY CO2

 

[Slappy*McFish]

I use a glass diffuser with DIY CO2 without issue. http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co2-diffusers/diffuser-nano.html

 

[rsanz]

I use a glass diffuser with DIY CO2 without issue. http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/co2-diffusers/diffuser-nano.html

I have essentially the same exact diffuser, but I got mine on eBay from Hong Kong. It looks exactly the same.

I am not using a 2-Liter bottle for my DIY system, though. I'm using this container, and was using the bubble ladder that came with that system without fail until I tried installing the glass diffuser yesterday.

Perhaps the container just doesn't have enough brew to create the pressure necessary for the glass diffuser?

I've gone back to the bubble ladder for now until I got some more feedback on here. Thanks for all your help so far! I hope we can figure this thing out, because the bubble ladder just wastes too much Co2. I've been starting to see some hair algae growing, which is bad news!