Question about diy co2

[Atxpunx]

I made a soda bottle co2 contraption and at the end is an air stone. I have the air stone under my filter intake which traps the bubbles at the bottom of the filter intake for a while but not for long. My question is if this will still raise the co2 level in my tank. My tank is a five gallon standard housing a male betta and whatever snails left from my last clean up. Thank for any input.

[jimenezlee]

Hard to say unless you monitor the CO2 somehow. An easy way to monitor is to check the PH of your water. If the CO2 is absorbed, then the PH will go down. You can also do a de-gas method where you take water from your tank, measure PH, then leave uncovered for 24 hrs and re-measure. A drop of 1 ph point indicates 15ppm dissolved CO2. I'm attaching a little chart to help you figure this out. I have another post of how I had my diy CO2 before I moved to pressurized CO2.

Good luck!

[jimenezlee]

Note: when de-gassing you should see the PH rise.

[Atxpunx]

Incredible information! I'm testing this info right now. I don't have a kH test in my API test kit so I'll just test current ph and and the ph of the water taken at the same time in 24 hours. Thank you again.

[Atxpunx]

So I de- gassed my water and tested the ph 24 hours later and at the first test it read 7.0 to 6.8 and after 24 hours it read 7.8. I am sure that at least some co2 is being absorbed. Thanks again for the info!

[hippy guy]

Awesome. Very good info you guys

[jimenezlee]

Glad to hear the info helped.