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Old 06-03-2012, 06:22 PM   #61
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I made a small DIY co2 for my 2.5g but this will be the same setup for this 40g build but with bigger bottles so I decided that since I'm not going to be making another big project for this build for a week or so I'll show you the small DIY co2 I did.

First drill small 5mm holes in the caps of the bottles

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One hole in the yeast and sugar bottle cap and two holes in the co2/alcohol filter bottle cap.

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These are 20oz bottles. But for my 40g the sugar/yeast bottle will be a 2liter. Yeast bottle is the green one and cap. Filter bottle is the clear one w/ red cap.

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Get some airline tubing and cut the end of it at a slant. Push it through the hole and wiggle it through making sure it doesn't collapse in on itself. This should give you an airtight seal w/o silicone.

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Next take the other end of the tubing and cut it at a slant. Before you cut it make sure it can go all the way down to the bottom of the filter bottle. Pull it through one of the holes in the cap down below the the waterline of the filter bottle. Then take another separate piece of tubing and stick it through the 2nd hole in the cap. Make sure this one is above the water level of the filter bottle. Sugar and yeast produce alcohol as well as co2 so the filter bottle is simply there to filter the alcohol out of the co2 so none of it gets into your tank which would kill your stock. The line from the yeast bottle must run under the filter bottle's water line to pull out the alcohol. The filter bottles 2nd tubing must be above the water line because this line will go directly into ur tank and you don't want alcohol to siphon into you tank. Just the co2. VERY IMPORTANT!

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Now you can see the finished set up minus the sugar/yeast mix and water in the filter bottle. I recommend cutting the line that goes into your tank somewhere and adding a check valve.

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My recipe for a 2 liter bottle is 2 teaspoons of yeast and 2 cups of sugar. Fill one bottle 2/3 of the way up with warm water (comfortable showering warmth) and put in your yeast in and shake for 30 seconds. If water is too hot then yeast will die. If too cold yeast will not activate. After the yeast is added then add your sugar to the yeast bottle and shake vigorously for 1 minute. Then fill filter bottle with warm water about 2/3 the way up and screw your caps onto their respective bottles. After that you can diffuse the co2 through various methods into your water. I use a power head to smash the bubble from the airline tubing into smaller bubbles for better diffusion. You can simply run it through your filter's intake too. Wait for about an hour and you should see quite a bit of co2 being produced! For smaller bottle or bigger bottles use the same yeast:sugar ratio. For example a 1 liter bottle you'd use 1 teaspoon of yeast and one cup of sugar.

If you have questions feel free to ask! Thanks and I hope you enjoy this quick DIY project!

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Old 06-03-2012, 06:29 PM   #62
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Here's a diy project I'm doing for my tank soon. Just thought I'd throw this idea at ya

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ug_jets.php
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Old 06-03-2012, 06:35 PM   #63
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That is an awesome idea! On the list!
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Old 06-03-2012, 06:45 PM   #64
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Oh and another thing I forgot to mention is that I built an outlet for my filtration unit. Pretty simple design and if I want I can add a spray bar at a later date!

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This is the outlet. Two regular street elbows and one threaded street elbow. Also one threaded coupling that's for water tight seal between my flex tubing and my PVC elbows.

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The street elbow that the water comes out of isn't glued like the other elbows. This way I can direct the flow of the water.
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Old 06-07-2012, 10:39 PM   #65
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Heres something i designed for a 37 tall but it will work for a 29. the base measures 14"x30"
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Old 06-08-2012, 01:58 AM   #66
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imtcurveball
Heres something i designed for a 37 tall but it will work for a 29. the base measures 14"x30"
Is there supposed to be a pic or link or something? I'm not sure bc I'm on an iPhone so idk if I'm just not seeing it.
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Old 06-15-2012, 08:00 PM   #67
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Project still on hold for the moment due to money. . I'll let you all know what's coming next soon. Being a best man in a wedding is more expensive than I realized geez!
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Old 06-15-2012, 08:01 PM   #68
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jkdubs2
Project still on hold for the moment due to money. . I'll let you all know what's coming next soon. Being a best man in a wedding is more expensive than I realized geez!
I was just about to ask for an update lol
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Old 06-15-2012, 08:03 PM   #69
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Quote:
Originally Posted by butterfly_koi

I was just about to ask for an update lol
Mind reading is one of my many attributes. haha
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Old 06-16-2012, 04:26 PM   #70
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I tried to upload these a long time ago
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Old 06-24-2012, 02:03 AM   #71
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Update at all?
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Old 06-24-2012, 11:44 AM   #72
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Not yet sorry. Soon I promise!
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Old 06-26-2012, 04:27 PM   #73
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Ok sooooo new update finally but nothing too new. The silicone I used sealed the tank real well but turns out even tho the guy told me it was good for aquariums... It wasn't. So anyone have a good brand for aquarium sealant? The last crap I used turned back to mush after a few weeks sitting in the aquarium with water. Also I think imma do some DIY lighting fixture soon so if interested tell me your favorite types of lighting for freshwater planted.
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Old 06-26-2012, 04:28 PM   #74
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What kind of silicone did you use?
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Old 06-26-2012, 04:33 PM   #75
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It was some stuff from Walmart not sure I threw it away. Lol. That's what I get for taking advice from my LOCAL Walmart hardware guy.
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Old 06-26-2012, 06:49 PM   #76
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I used Marineland silicone and it seems to work quite well. I bought it at Petsmart, $7-8/tube.
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Old 06-26-2012, 09:53 PM   #77
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Ok I'll look into it thanks!
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Old 07-11-2012, 03:11 AM   #78
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Any update? Are you resealing the tank again?
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Old 07-11-2012, 10:29 AM   #79
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Yep I just did a reseal with the petco sealant! Worked perfect and is alot tougher than the silicone I used previously. Other things I did to the aquarium was a water test and got a new light for it it's a coralife t5 I found on Craigslist for 20$. Works great also. Best thing I've been able to do with this tank is find a spot for it! It took some maneuvering but it found a home. I think the next few things I'm going to do is 1. Make a spray bar for the output 2. Make a glass top for the tank. Simple and easy. 3. Make a canopy for the tank and stand. From there I think I'll be doing the actual aquascaping and finding my own driftwood and decorative rocks and substrate so if anyone needed cheap DIY solutions to that I'll have them listed soon!
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Old 07-11-2012, 04:20 PM   #80
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What color sand should I go with? White or black?

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The tank as it sits at the moment full of water with the filter running. I have a power head in the tank too because I could see that the water was not really being circulated well so that problem is now solved.
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