# CO2 DIY bomb.



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

So i finally finished the co2 bomb(did it before but not for a while). 2L coke bottle, bubble counter,hose, the works.
Now it's been going for about 1 hour and it's working but not as i intended.
I was aiming for 1 bubble/second in the bouble counter BUT i'm getting from 1 to 6 bubbles/second. It sometimes gives 1, sometimes 4, 6 etc.
The bottle is not hard yet and still it's making a pretty big ammount of bubbles in the cunter. 6 is a lot for a just started bomb.
I used 1.7 liters of warm water, 1 pack of yeast, 1 cup of suggar.
Any thoughts?


----------



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

A movie about how it works in the aquarium:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zH2yFWbuL14


----------



## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

Are you running this in a tank with fish or test driving it in a bucket this its working fine? You REALLY gotta watch your ph/kh there with the excess co2 you're producing there with 6/sec you can quickly and easily lower all these parameters wayyyy down (needless to say that's very bad for fish).


----------



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

Yeah, i stoped it... The pH took a dive from 7.5 to 6.5 in 1 hour.
Strange... Even thou the bottle was not hard at all the amount of co2 being produced was huge.
Don't wanna think what would have hapened in 12 hours...
Oh well, it was fun building it :lol:.


----------



## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

Yea I feared that much - DIY CO2 started in the stocked tank is often a effective and quick way to kill of your stock. Good thing you stopped it!


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Try pinching the tubing or poking a pinhole in the bottle to decrease the CO2 going in.

Try it in a clear glass this time. 


Use less sugar for less CO2 production as well.


----------



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

redchigh said:


> Try it in a clear glass this time.


What do you mean?


----------



## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

To test your co2 set up in any other glass/ container and NOT inside the tank to avoid fluctuation in the tank again.


----------



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

Bah not bothering with it no more, going to buy a 8Kg co2 beer barrel(u know those tubes made for co2-ing beer in bars and such) with control valve and all that and just use that.


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Redknee said:


> Bah not bothering with it no more, going to buy a 8Kg co2 beer barrel(u know those tubes made for co2-ing beer in bars and such) with control valve and all that and just use that.


Well if you want to...
but wouldn't that be the same as just adding a regulator to the CO2 bomb you already made?

BTW, after some research, you used too much yeast.
more like 1/4-1/2 tsp will produce less.


----------



## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

yeah you used a lot of yeast. Your mixture will produce CO2 like crazy and die really fast. This thread is kinda confusing me. Your just running a regular DIY CO2 setup, whats with the "bomb" thing? Are you planing on moving to pressurized? cuz thats a whole new game.


----------



## Redknee (Feb 21, 2010)

Yeah, i used WAY to much :lol:
Just bought a 10Kg co2 barrel with pressure regulator and all.
Got the bubble counter, antireturn valve and the difuser.
Pics later in my other post made in freshwater aquariums.
P.S you really can`t use a regulator on the bomb as you risk explosion. Bad idea to keep the pressure in the bottle.


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

Redknee said:


> Yeah, i used WAY to much :lol:
> Just bought a 10Kg co2 barrel with pressure regulator and all.
> Got the bubble counter, antireturn valve and the difuser.
> Pics later in my other post made in freshwater aquariums.
> P.S you really can`t use a regulator on the bomb as you risk explosion. Bad idea to keep the pressure in the bottle.


I'm using a CO2 factory now out of a 2 liter bottle with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4tsp of yeast.
Took two days for the first bubble to form, but now it's doing 1 bubble every 20 seconds- I have a mushroom-shaped thing over the outlet to help diffusion.
My plants are all pearling like crazy and the PH has only gone down .2 points in 6 hours.

I think I hit the magic formula.

I also added a tiny pinch of baking soda and fish food to the sugar....
The order I added-
filled bottle halfway with warm water- added 1/4 cup of sugar and 5 drops of dechlorinator- shook it up WELL, added pinch of baking soda and fish food, shook it up until the fish food was pulverized and mostly dissappeared.
Added the yeast, and didn't shake at all. Kind of tilted it back and forth gently to make sure all the yeast was in the water.

I think I've hit on the perfect amount- with such small amounts of yeast and sugar it should produce for a long time.
(yeast can live on protein as well, hence the fish food. The baking soda will avoid any PH swings.)


----------



## Brie (Apr 20, 2010)

redchigh said:


> I'm using a CO2 factory now out of a 2 liter bottle with 1/4 cup of sugar and 1/4tsp of yeast.
> Took two days for the first bubble to form, but now it's doing 1 bubble every 20 seconds- I have a mushroom-shaped thing over the outlet to help diffusion.
> My plants are all pearling like crazy and the PH has only gone down .2 points in 6 hours.
> 
> ...


How's this working out for you?


----------



## keno (Apr 19, 2010)

For those of you running a CO2 setup on your planted tank with fish you may want to read this article on CO2 in the aquarium. There is a relationship between CO2 / KH / pH. This article explains that relationship and the levels which are safe for your fish.

I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium. I do have a Milwaukee SMS-122 pH controller and a Milwaukee MA957 – CO2 regulator on a 5lb pressurized tank. I built my own CO2 diffuser with parts I purchased at my local hardware store. My KH level is 5 and my starting pH level in the morning is 7.3. Based on the chart on the link I provided my target pH is 6.8 which will provide me with 24ppm of CO2 which is in the safe range for my fish and great for my plants. With my setup I can attain the 24ppm number within 2 hours of the lights and CO2 system coming on line in the morning. Which means that my pH goes from 7.3 to 6.8 within 2 hours and my fish are just fine.

My point is this, if you are injecting CO2 into your aquarium your pH levels are going to change. How much of a change is going to be dependent on your KH number. You want to track your pH numbers to determine your CO2 levels. I don't count bubbles coming from my bubble counter. What I am looking for is bubbles coming from the inlet tube from my CO2 diffuser. I should see either no bubbles or just micro bubbles coming from the inlet. If you are artificially adjusting (buffering) your pH you have no idea what your CO2 levels are which is more dangerous to your fish.


----------



## redchigh (Jan 20, 2010)

oh, the baking soda in the bottle doesn't help the tank. Sorry for the confusion.

Yeast is a living organism, and it's production relies on it's health.

The yeast doesn't like ph swings either- think about it. The same ammount of CO2 is in the bottle, as the whole tank, so the PH of the bottle drops way faster than the tank would.

It just helps the CO2 last longer.

It worked for me okay, as far as production. Lasted about 2 weeks with a bubble every 20-30 seconds.

I just didn't see huge growth in the tank so I stopped using it.
Also, the tank it was hooked up to has no form of oxygenation whatsoever, so I figured the inverts and bacteria (since its a soil setup) were producing plenty of CO2 for a 5G- the setup was producing useless access.


----------

