DIY vs Pressurized CO2??

[fish wrangler]

As a beginner plant person what do I need for both systems? Which is better for low to medium light plants? Which is easier to set up and maintain? Anything else I should know about the systems?

I have 2 java ferns, a clump of wisteria, and a clump of anacharis. My current light is a brand new T8 17w, I am looking at getting an elive 30 inch LED or Finnex Planted+ around christmas time. I am not adding any ferts right now, but plan on in the near future. I have ~2.5 inches of floramax as substrate. Tank is 29 gallon. Thanks for everyone that has helped me and my many questions

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[Thumper828]

Man, I know the pressurized is a little expensive, but it opens up a whole new world of planted aquaria. The diy will get you by ..barely... on that size tank, if you do a double bottle system. Near the end of my diy co2 venture I was swapping out a bottle ever 4 days,...its no big deal to do, but after a couple months it gets old. Plus you never really get it to be as stable as pressurized. Pressurized is great..set it and forget it,...especially if you get a decent regulator with a good needle valve...

 

[fish wrangler]

My dad said he has a pressurized CO2 system and all it needs is a bottle. What do I need to make sure it has before using it??

Also thanks for the response

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[Thumper828]

GLA Gro CO2 Regulator | Green Leaf Aquariums

Something like this with a 5 lb. co2 bottle would do you great. Or if you preferred something smaller you could use a 20oz paintball tank with a regulator like this Atomic Paintball CO2 Regulator V2 | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[fish wrangler]

And what would I need for DIY? A 2 liter bottle with water, sugar, and yeast. Hose into a gatorade bottle to reduce yeast in tank. Second hose into tank.

Thats all I know on DIY. I'm a senior in high school so budget is limited. DIY might be better if my dad doesn't have a regulator...

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[Thumper828]

diy is better than nothing..I used 2...2 liter bottles with air tubing going to a brass "T" with check vavles on both sides..that way you can change one bottle and the other keeps going...going to a Gatorade bottle ..from there I went to a check valve, then on in to my tank to one of those cheap ebay diffusers. I used hot glue to seal the tubing going in to the caps to prevent any leaks...worked great...

 

[fish wrangler]

What about the tube that went into the tank. How did you control the bubbles in the tank?

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[Thumper828]

I didnt..it ran 24/7 also..but it wasnt problem at all...it would start dying down about a week into it so I would mix the other bottle then in a week the other...you dont need to worry about gassing your fish with diy....thats for sure

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[fish wrangler]

Im more worried about the balance between light, ferts, and co2. I have a single T8 right now but am upgrading to a 30 inch elive around christmas

Do you use a bubble stone to make small bubbles???

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[Thumper828]

I found a bubble stone made to big of a bubble...they just floated right to the top. Check out ebays glass nano diffuser...they around 5-6bucks with free shipping. Alot guys will just run the tube to the filter intake...works really well that way.. as far as your balance...its really all about the co2..the more light..the more co2 you will need...ferts can be adjusted to suit..

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[fish wrangler]

What about running carbon in filter? I have a small topfin 30 HOB now, but want a fluval 306 canister. The HOB has a filter floss bag with 2 month old carbon in it.

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[Thumper828]

I have never ran carbon. From what I understand its mostly used for removing medication from your water after you treat sick fish. If you plan on goin to a canister filter you could build a DIY co2 reactor that would help dissolve your co2 eliminating waste. Check out the eheims and sunsun's while your shopping around.

 

[fish wrangler]

One thing that I dont like about eheims...I never know how big the filter is. Their numbers dont match up of I remember right. Which one should I get for a 250-300 gph?

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[FishCr8zy]

Eheims are good, just make sure not to get the pro ones. Those are the only ones that are terrible. Fluval is also good. 200-300 gph is way overkill for a 29g. 100gph should be enough IMO.
Diy co2 usually ends up with more problems and is not as efficient as pressurized. But it is a lot cheaper. You could go for a pressurized paintball system which is more than enough for a 29g.


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[fish wrangler]

I want the large gph so i can transfer the the filter if I ever upgrade to a larger tank.

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[Fresh2o]

When I used DIY CO2, I just let the large bubbles enter the HOB filter intake. There would be a gurgling sound as the impeller would chop up the bubbles into finer bubbles. One down side is that if you have fine media, the the bubbles may get trapped (which is not a bad thing) but they may congregate and actually lift the media up. This should not be a problem in canister filters or HOB filters with cartridges.
But the growth from the plants was impressive and more than I got from using Excel alone.
Eventually, the maintenace became a chore and I switched to a pressurized system about a year later.


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[PerfectDepth]

If you plan on goin to a canister filter you could build a DIY co2 reactor that would help dissolve your co2 eliminating waste.

+1 A canister filter is best for DIY CO2 since it's very easy to build a DIY inline reactor. Just do a search for 'DIY inline CO2 reactor', you'll find plenty of instructions.

 

[Thumper828]

Hey bud,...hands down eheim is a well made product and will last you years. I had my eheim pro 3 on my 36 gallon,..its rated for 325gph I think but the great thing about it is , the adjustable flow rate. I was able to put it right over to my 75. I like it...I also have a sunsun 304b which is great to. It has a built in uv sterilizer, but no flow adjustment...it was only $64 bucks on fleabay...both do a great job...but if I had plenty of $$ I would have gotten another eheim..

 

[AdamsAquarium]

I set up my DIY co2 ONLY 6 days ago. This is a before and after of only 6 days and you can literally see the difference between my plants surviving and thriving. DIY co2. I must tell you, I think people will all tell you that pressurized co2 is better, and I don't think anyone will argue that but you can really capitalize on your DIY co2 if you figure out a way to maximize the amount of co2 diffusing into the water.

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[AdamsAquarium]

The most notable difference was in the plant on the right... no idea what that guy was, but it was dark when I picked it up from the store.... look how much it grew in those 6 days! Anyone have a clue what kind of plant that is?

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