DIY CO2 for 10G

[partypalooza5]

I have some plants in my 10G tank. I currently have DIY CO2 on my 19G tank. Do you think it would be overkill to have DIY CO2 in the other tank aswell?

I just need a project to work on this week..

 

[fort384]

No not overkill - CO2 is good for plants, you will just need less to keep your 10g at level.

FYI, I use a pressurized system on my 5 gal tank... any planted tank will benefit from the right amount of co2 addition.

 

[partypalooza5]

Do you have a forced water reactor on your 5G or do you just have like a glass diffuser?

Again, I need a project to work on.. hahaha

 

[fort384]

I use a nano glass/ceramic diffuser.

 

[kangster]

i was also thinking of doing DIY CO2 with a check valve and a glass diffuser on my 10 g tank
can i overdose on this and maybe do something unhealthy to my fish?
can i control the rate of CO2 injection? how do i know when it is too much?
will it lower the pH and in some way harm my fish?
i have never thought about CO2 injection but as i am adding more plants i think there would be a scarcity of CO2

 

[fort384]

Adding CO2 will always benefit a planted tank (assuming there is adequate light).

It is possible to overdose a tank with DIY Co2, but pretty difficult to actually have happen.


You can measure CO2 levels in your tank a couple of different ways. You can use pH and KH values and plug them into the following formula:
CO2 (in PPM) = 3 * KH * 10^( 7-pH )

Or you can get a drop checker that will give you almost realtime readings of your approx. CO2 levels (I say almost realtime because a drop checker lags by around 30 minutes or so behind what your tank is actually at).

Yes injecting CO2 will lower your pH, but it will not harm your fish. Fish seem to be unaffected by pH swings caused by CO2 addition (of course this would not be true in the extreme, say if you had a MAJOR pH crash due to accidently overdosing CO2).

My suggestion for a course of action would be to start with 2 1L bottles (so you can stagger mixture changes... if you just setup 1 2L bottle, it will go like mad in the beginning, keeping CO2 high, and as the mixture peters out, it will be low and unstable, leading to BB Algae).

2 1L bottles with mixture changes staggered every 4-5 days or so would probably put you right around 30 ppm CO2 if you mix it right, and that is right where you want to be.

Of course, pressurized CO2 is also an option, even on a 10GAL tank. It is a little more expensive initially, but WAY easier to control, and WAY easier to maintain.

 

[partypalooza5]

Do you think it would be worth it to get a paintball CO2 tank for a 10G? or is it better to just get a big tank of CO2?

 

[fort384]

It may be worth it if you use like a 20 oz paintball tank. Heck, I have seen 2-3 Oz little canisters hooked up to 5 gal aquariums. But if you can afford it, a 5gal tank would probably last 18 months or more on a 10 gal... would make things very easy.

It has been awhile since I was in to paintball, but I think a 20 oz tank would cost about half as much as a 5 gal tank, which is obviously several times larger....

 

[partypalooza5]

Hmm. Good point. Right now the only things keeping me from getting pressurized CO2 is money and a place to store the tank. I was thinking a smaller one would be easy to conceal. I don't have empty space under my stand so a large tank won't work so well. (parents don't like messes. XD)

 

[fort384]

yeah, true, 5 gal tank is pretty bulky where as a 20 oz paintball tank you could secure almost anywhere. There are def. regulators out there made for paintball tanks... so you could find the parts to make it happen. I think DFS sells a system that is compatible with paintball tanks.

 

[partypalooza5]

I'll check that out thanks.

 

[atomiclord]

Ok so considering a DIY CO2 kit...
How does 2 2L bottles, hooked up to an airstone (now strongly considering one of those multi-hose hang-on things you can get for air stones) starting the second one 3 weeks after the first. Cycling the two on a 3 weekly basis. Now here's the thing, it's about a a 5gal bowfront, so will this be too much of a possibility of ph swings and crashes with such a small smount of water?

 

[fort384]

I think you will have a hard time getting a mixture to last 6 weeks between changes. Granted, it is a small tank, so you are going to want less CO2 than a normal tank...

You might consider using 2 1L bottles instead, and changing the mixtures out every other week (so you change 1 each week). This might get you a more consistent CO2 level, and prevent more drastic swings in such a small tank.