jonnyb1425
Aquarium Advice Regular
I am planning on setting up a cheap little CO2 system for my 15 gal. planted tank. I am just curious what others have had luck with? Any links so I can print out instructions would be wonderful!
DIY CO@ success?
- Thread starter jonnyb1425
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If you haven't already, I strongly recommend reading the "Need to know about CO2? Here's the info" Sticky at the top of the forum. There are several links in the fourth post. The first link in that post is particularly good for DIY CO2 and what I used when first getting started.
Glenc
Aquarium Advice Addict
Hi there. I using one 2L coke bottle on a 10 gallon tank. It produces more than enough CO2 for me. It has been running for 3 weeks. I have two other tanks, a 25G and a 10G, all heavily planted. The growth and health in my plants in the tank with CO2 is far better than in the tanks without. There really is a huge difference. One other thing, once you start your CO2, you gotta keep it going. Injecting CO2 is going to lower your PH. If you stop and start it up again, your PH will rise and fall all over the place. Mine ran out once and over night my PH rose from 7 to 7.6. Not to good for your fish. If you don't already have one, go out and get a test kit. Keep an eye on your KH and PH levels. These levels can also be used to calculate how much CO2 you are getting. It's really not alot of work and well worth doing. Good luck and keep us posted.
Actually the bounce in the PH level due to CO2 injection isn't nearly as stressful on fish as when the PH changes due to a change in the KH. So if you're CO2 mix happens to run out before you have a chance to change it, it's not a huge issue for your fish. On the otherhand it could lead to an algae outbreak, especially if combined with other neglect.
It always help to set up a schedule that results in your changing out the bottle before it's done producing CO2. Even better, run two bottles and stagger their change outs that way you get a much more consistent level of CO2 in your tank.
One last tidbit, I highly recommend getting a check value and putting it between your tank and the CO2 setup. This will save you major headaches down the road.
It always help to set up a schedule that results in your changing out the bottle before it's done producing CO2. Even better, run two bottles and stagger their change outs that way you get a much more consistent level of CO2 in your tank.
One last tidbit, I highly recommend getting a check value and putting it between your tank and the CO2 setup. This will save you major headaches down the road.
On a 10gal, 2 1L bottles and a low-powered diffusor provides excellent water movement and high CO2 for high light, and may be enough for a 15gal as well. If you prefer medium light, you can get away with cutting corners on the diffusor (say, a Hagen ladder or some passive device) or the size of the bottles. As Purrbox said, staggered bottles on a schedule really closes the gap between DIY and pressurized in small volume. It is much easier than it may sound. HTH
azn_fishy55
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I use the Nyberg method of CO2 which workd good for me.I use a DIY Vortex Reactor and always have good CO2 levels unless the bottle is relatively new.
