DIY vs Pressurized CO2??

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Will the pressure increase over time?? I have the regular blue air stone halfway down the tank

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No. The pressure will build up and it will let bubbles out, once the pressure builds up, that's the pressure you will have at most. Never more, but sometimes less

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I have tiny tiny bubbles with the air stone 3/4 of the way down. I think I will just keep it there. In the future if i add more water to the gatorade bottle would that increase pressure?

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Do the bubbles from the air stone go straight up to the surface and pop? That does not give them much contact time to dissolve into the water. Would be better if the small bubbles were pushed around the tank by the current of the filter.
I prefer to not put an air stone or ceramic diffuser on the end. Takes forever for the pressure to build up. I let the bubbles flow into the filter intake and let the impeller do the mixing. Sometimes the bubbles get trapped in the media, thus, extending the contact time with water. Otherwise I see them in the filter's outflow.
Adding more water to the bubble counter - yeast collection bottle should not affect the pressure.


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With my HOB wont thw bubble just go straight to the air if I put the tube end into the filter???

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fish wrangler said:
With my HOB wont thw bubble just go straight to the air if I put the tube end into the filter???

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Click to expand...


Yes. The impeller will do most of the work breaking down the bubbles into smaller sizes.
Regarding good seals on bottle caps, I found that drilling a 3/8" hole and using silicone air line tubing works best. No caulk or silicon is needed to seal the hole. Cut the end of the silicone tubing at a sharp angle and use needle nose pliers to put it through.


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I was getting leaks at the pount where the cap and bottle met. Small bead of hot glue around the rim and everything is good

Edit: i got a tight fit with a 1/4 inch hole, but still used hot glue to make a good seal.

The bubbles are reaching the surface but then get pushed by the filter output
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You can use soapy water (or kids' bubbles) to check for leaks. Just be very careful not to get any in the tank, or on any pieces of equipment that go into the tank.

The idea is to get the bubbles to dissolve into the water so that they dissappear before they can reach the surface and escape into the air. If your plan is to use an HOB filter as a reactor, just run the CO2 line right into the filter inlet. (Be aware that CO2 + water = carbonic acid, which will eventually damage your impeller, so you'll have to replace the impeller at some point)

You might have better results if you build something like this: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/the-long-awaited-diy-co2-reactor-venturi-design-98381.html
 
That link took us to another discussion, and I clicked on the first link and said it was unavailable

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To check for leaks i just used a lighter. Where the flame bends there is a leak. I am still using the blue air stone, and it seems to be going good. Picking up the fish today so that is exciting :)

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Hmm I'm pretty sure that link was working fine the other day. Oh well, here's another, even simpler example:


http://youtu.be/2CKC6J2SzaA

I just googled DIY internal co2 reactor.


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PerfectDepth said:
Hmm I'm pretty sure that link was working fine the other day. Oh well, here's another, even simpler example:


http://youtu.be/2CKC6J2SzaA

I just googled DIY internal co2 reactor.


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Click to expand...

Perfect Depth, could you explain that co2 reactor in the video for me?

I understand the water is pushing down and the co2 bubbles are trying to go up... is the bottom of the bottle open? How does the co2 get out of the bottle?

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The bubbles don't get out, that's the whole point. Yes, the bottom is open, and the co2-rich water gets pumped out the bottom into the tank.


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Ok, I have 3 check valves. One between the bubble counter and the air stone, and one on each 2L bottle before the T valve. When I remove one bottle won't the other just loose the pressure because the co2 can go through the open end in the t valve?

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Yes if you disconnect at the t valve. The point of having the check valve is so that it stays on there and you disconnect the bottle by twisting it out of its cap. Leaving the hose and cap still connected to the rest of the co2 set up

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Ok gotcha gotcha. Going to have to put new hot glue around seal to stop leaks then.

I will change one bottle out this week so I am not changing the out at the same time

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Wondering what would happen if I add a third bottle, but as a 1 gallon jug instead of 2L bottle. Just double everything and it should work out right?

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In theory.... haha but if you have silicone, it works 10 times better for the seal. Takes longer to dry but I tried to do hot glue gun first, and the second that area had any pressure, it came undone. Silicone is harder to break the seal.


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