[TommyBoy]

:help: This is the one section that I don't get/understand completely.
- Is there an illustrated/cartoon guide available for idiots like me?
- In which direction does the check-valve go? Does it matter?
- Is silicone sealant/glue needed to hold the air-tubing in place?
- Does it matter whether I use silicone air-tubing or "the normal stuff" (clear type)?

Thanks!

Check Valve Prevention System + Yeast Strainer
In order to keep the Yeast Muck from being released into your tank, A bubble counter is used to catch the muck. This DIY bubble counter also provides a check valve system to prevent water from back siphoning out of the aquarium.

Go to Rite Aid or Longs Drugs and pick yourself up a syringe and find a check valve at your fish store.

Take the plunger off, add some glue to the check valve, insert it where the plunger used to be. Fill the syringe halfway with water. The tubing will fit on the end of the check valve, and at the end of the syringe nozzle. Insert this between the diffuser method and your reaction bottle. Congratulations, you've made yourself a bubble counter and a check valve system for your DIY CO2.

Some plastic check valves occasionally don't work, always check your valve when replacing the DIY CO2 mixture. CO2 will degrade plastic valves over time, so always check.

-John N.

 

[TommyBoy]

John => Thanks & dah! I should have thought of blowing through it to make sure it faces the right direction. The picture is a nice help though too.

re. tubing, I was at a local aquarium club (LAC) talk a while back where the speaker recommended the silicone tubing over the clear vinyl (according to my notes), but I could not remember why so. SO thanks for the info on both kinds.

re. baking soda and limiting/controling the reaction, it does seem that many municipal water sources are hard enough. As I remember it, alcohol, which is produced by the fermentation process (that we are using to supply DIY CO2), is the more limiting/controlling factor. Affecting the constancy more and even killing the brew over time.