So, I scrapped the first DIY setup for CO2. I rushed into it and it must've been leaking like crazy cause I could not get it going well.
I replaced the 2 liter bottle with a large Gatorade bottle, after seeing it on another thread it made sense. The lids seal better in my opinion, plus its a nice thick bottle, etc. etc. so, pretty much the same idea as before but redid the main bottle, DIY bubble counter and sealed the tubes better.
It's been about forty minutes since I reset and its already pumping bubbles into the tank. I think my next main objective is to figure out a good diffuser setup. Right now I have some bamboo skewers in the end of the tube. They're not making a super seal at the end so a large bubble is coming out, but it might diffuse better given time.
Any suggestions in a good for DIY diffusers would be appreciated. I've seen some examples but none that's working for me well yet. If there's any interest I'll post some pics later, but only if people actually want to see.
Thanks everybody.