jaiko1975

My questions is how much 2 l bottles should i use for a 40g tank, and should it be tank level?

Also will this cause my pH to tank sense my pH right now is 6.2?

fshfanatic

Those used to go on sale at the dollar store for a buck, when that happened I would pour out about 2 cups, add yeast and letter rip.. There is so much sugar in the soda it was actually a cheap alternative!

Commodore 64

We got our 3l bottles at the dollar store too. Haven't had time to set up the yeast/CO2 injection system yet tho...

Muirner

Ok, so i tried to set up my first DIY setup on a shrimp tank that i have. I have a few questions/problems.

I set it up last night, put the yeast and sugar in the bottom. Added 2 cups warm, 1 cup tepid water. shook it up and waited. there was no output and i decided it may be taking a while because it wasnt warm enough and lower temps = longer amount of time.

So i wake up this am and it's still not putting out anything. I do a google on "DIY co2 wont bubble" and found out i may of killed the yeast. So i mixed 1/2 tsp of sugar and 1/4 tsp of yeast into about 50ml of warm water. The yeast appeared to activate, so i added it to the previous soulution along with a half a cup of the hottest water i can. So now i have about 4-5 cups of water in the container. If i let it sit i cant really see it working at all. But if i put a desk lamp by the bottle then production speeds up to where i can hear it and if i put a light on the airstone it's going to then i can see the output. Not optimal i know but for now it's a start.

Also a question i have is. How warm should the solution stay at all times? And how can i check the temp of the water short of getting a thermometer? I'm kinda broke and a college student lol. I need to get my shrimps and breed them to make the $ to support this.

Equipment:
1 - 3 liter bottle
~6' silicone tubing
1 - airstone in HOB filter chamber wrapped in filter pad material to help keep bubble retention rate high.

If i take and put the airstone in the middle/bottom of the tank where it's visable i can see the water starting to back up the hose. clearly my reaction isnt working right.

dawntwister

This is the mixture I used:
1.Boil 2 cups of water from tank. For tap water ph is 8 and yeast doesn't react with that ph.
2.1 tsp of yeast per added to 1/2 cup warm water. It's up to you how much yeast you use.
3.Set this off to the side
4.Add 2 cups sugar to the bottle
5.Add warm water to the top of the soda label and top off with tap water.
Then shake. Okay if all of the sugar doesn't dissolve.
6.Add water conditioner
7.Next add pre-mixed yeast to the bottle
8.Put tubing on and shake the bottles.

Muirner

How warm of water do you use? I am going off of feeling until i can figure out a better way

dawntwister

I boiled my water and then waited a few minutes for it to cool down. It wasn't hot enough to make tea but was still quite warm.

Muirner

did you mix your yeast right into that hot water?

Also do your DIY solutions providen enough output to get water up roughly 2' and then about 6" deep into an aquarium? or should this bottle be level with the aquarium?

dawntwister

First I made the system and then worked on the mixture.

I started with water from my tap. I originally mixed the sugar in the warm water and then poured it into the bottle. Then I added the yeast. I didn't like the smell so I added more sugar until it smelled better. Then I read that yeast dies in ph of 8 which is what my tap water is. So I boiled some water from my tank and started over doing it the same way. Then I put half of the solution into the other bottle and topped off with tap water. Shook the bottle with my finger over the top and air came out when I took my finger off of the top.

My mixture probably has less yeast than the original mixture which I copied from http://fish.orbust.net/hookup.html

More info I collected:
Everybody has different water and this influences the your mixture.
So try slight modifications of the yeast/sugar/water ratios till find what lasts the longest for you.
Last longer if you decrease the amount of yeast
Last shorter periods if more yeast is used.
Lower yeast also means less CO2 produced per minute, but produce more consistantly over time.
Higher yeast levels will cause an initial higher burst of CO2 production with a gradually declining production over time.

To make certain that it is working test Ph before + after adding CO2.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm

I don't know how far the solution is going down. That is not something that concerns me.

Before I started had Kh 1 and ph 7.2 Now I can't read the ph for it is very low. So I am adding baking soda. The fish I bought day before adding diy Co2 died. Others with low Kh have told me they have no problems but works for some doesn't always work for others. So if you don't have a drop checker you have to keep an eye on the ph until it stables out.

dawntwister

At the thread How many CO2 bubbles per gallon of water? found:
It's all about balancing CO2 loss and diffusion rate, plant uptake plays a small part for tanks with moderate surface agitation/gas exchange levels.
Gpodio

It is best to have diffuser near the bottom of the tank
John

Also read there that adding baking soda to the mixture helps make it last longer and keep kh stable. Thus since I have low Kh I am adding it to my solution.