sajata

I would like to have a discussion about DIY CO2.

I have been using DIY CO2 on my 10g grow out tank. But it's been some sugar and some yeast. but now i have seen some discussion about baking soda to buffer the solution and what ratio do people use. Also what about several bottles that are 1 week apart so you get a more even flow. what about diffusers, I use lime wood, does anyone use ceramic? what size bottles? Most people talk about 2L soda bottles.

Oldpunk i see you use DIY CO2 and have several bottles... comments?

oldpunk

hmm... i have mixed reviews about diy co2. i think that if your lighting calls for co2 you should just go pressurized. for a while i kinda took it as a personal challenge to see if i could supply enough for my 29g. after getting up 4 gallons of mixture i figure i may have gotten up to 20ppm. i was going through 4 cups of sugar a week trying to keep up with demand.

the mixture that works best for me is:

- gallon container 3/5 full
- 1/2tsp regular old baking yeast
- 1/2tsp baking soda
- 2 cups sugar

i found that adding bottles in odd numbers didn't work very well. has to do with how long the mixture lasts(consistent for 2 weeks). like if you have 2 going and you want to add more, the next step is 4 - changing out 2 a week. you probably could get away with odd numbers if you used wine yeast switching it out every 3 weeks.

from what i've read, it seems everyone has slight differences in what works best for there particular situation.

hope that helped.

sajata

thanks! what do you use as a diffuser?

yea i just intrigued by it all. i will go pressurized after the holiday bills are paid.

oldpunk

i've been using a hagen mini elite. works great. works even better with a quality air stone inside it.

Markykoi

hi everyone!

Just want to share some info from this part of the world, Philippines.

I use brown sugar, 1/2 kilo, melted it on 800ml tap water on 1.5L soda bottle (Coke, Pepsi). Make sure sugar is dissolved. Then dissolve about half a teaspoon of active dry yeast on a tablespoon of water then add to the mixture.

Room temperature plays a big part on our DIY mixture. The higher the temp, the more CO2 it produces. Here in the Philippines, our room temperature, ambient temp reaches 32-33 deg Celsius.

The mixture lasts for 8-10 days. Been using DIY for two years with great results.

Here is a top shot of my plants: (sorry for the light reflection and im just using phone cam)




Hope this helps.

AquaZilla

WOW! Very healthy!

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Markykoi

Thanks Orlando, coupled with riversand over mineralized soil substrate, although I sometimes forget to dose fertilizers but the results are great, I think I got lucky.

AquaZilla

Your rivers sure must look nice!

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Markykoi

Unfortunately most of the rivers near the cities are polluted, and fauna here fast depleting because of mango fertilizers drained on local rivers. More over, fishes are mostly introduced, creating an imbalance to nature.

Actually, I made a local organization that promotes awareness on what our rivers would look like if we continue throwing garbage and toxic chemicals on it. Preserving mother nature at the same time we promote planted tank hobby.
We do regular trekkings, twice monthly and check flora and fauna here in our rivers also we collect driftwoods and stones during the trek.

Sorry for derailing the thread.

I'm just letting the world know that, we must give back what we took from mother nature, for our future generations.

sajata

derailed threads are always welcome here, especially when we all can learn something.