Boost CO2 levels in Your Water

First off I want to say I did NOT come up with this I just thought it might be something ya guys would appreciate and use to boost your yields.

DIY CO2 REACTOR

A CO2 reactor is an absolute MUST in a planted aquarium. The CO2 is dissolved in the water, where it is absorbed and used by the live plants.

~MATERIALS~

You will need:

1x Pair of small, pointed scissors. (Or a drill.)
1x Tube of Aquarium Safe Silicon. (Vinegar based)
1x Length of vinyl airline tubing. (I used about 3’)
1x Air diffuser. (You can use an airstone, but they are less effective.
1x 32oz bottle. (I used a gatorade bottle, gotta love fruit punch)



You will also need a Check Valve. This prevents water from the tank from siphoning back into your CO2 mixture.



~STEP ONE~

Use your pointed scissors to "drill" out a hole in the center of the cap. You want the hole to be smaller than the airline tubing, but not by much.



~STEP TWO~

Cut your airline tubing at an angle. This will make it easier to fit in the cap.



~STEP THREE~

Insert your airline tubing into the cap from the top. If you need to, use a pair of pliers to pull it through. You only want it to stick through 1"-1.5".



~STEP FOUR~

Lay a small bead of silicon around the top, and bottom of the cap, where the airline tubing meets the plastic. Use a finger wet with rubbing alcohol to smooth out the bead. It doesnt have to be perfect, but the silicon is an extra precaution.



~STEP FIVE~

Screw your cap on the bottle. At this point, you want to wait 24-48 hours to cure. The longer the cure time, the better.



~STEP SIX~

Insert the plastic adapter from your air diffuser onto the free end of your airline tubing. Make sure it fits snug, so no air can escape.



~STEP SEVEN~

Attatch a small suction cup to the end of your airline. This is not necessary, but it helps to hold your airline in place in your aquarium, and I recommend using one.



~STEP EIGHT~

6-12" away from your bottle, cut your airline tubing. Insert your check valve into both ends. The arrow should be facing AWAY from your bottle, and TOWARDS your tank. This means your CO2 will go all the way through the line, but the water is prevented from siphoning into your CO2 mixture.



THE CO2 MIXTURE

For the mixture, you will need:

1/4x Teaspoon of Bakers Yeast.
1x Cup of Sugar. (granulated white)
1x Teaspoon of Baking Soda.
1x Access to hot and cold water.

~STEP ONE B~

Add your sugar and your baking soda to your bottle. Then fill up half way with HOT water. Shake the bottle violently to dissolve the sugar. It is helpful to have a cap that doesnt have a hole in it for the mixing purposes. I keep mine taped to the stand next to my bottle.

~STEP TWO B~

At this point in time, your sugar should have dissolved. Now, fill up the bottle until about 2" from the bottom of your airline tubing with COLD water. Shake for a bit to mix the water, to get the temperature even through-out.

~STEP THREE B~

Slowly add your 1/4 teaspoon of baking yeast. A few gentle shakes should mix the yeast in. Now put your cap back on.

~STEP FOUR B~

Placement of the air diffuser is important. I place mine next to the intake tube of my filter. The CO2 bubbles are sucked in by the impeller, and chopped up and made smaller. Many of the bubbles get stuck to the filter pad, were there are further dissolved into the water, for use by plants.

Notice the placement of my air diffuser, and its location in relation to the intake tube.



~FINAL PRODUCT~

If you do everything right, your aquarium plants should all be lush and green:



~HOW IT WORKS~

The sugar is used as a source of energy for the yeast culture. A by-product of this is the CO2. The baking soda is an additive to slow the reaction, to make the mixture last longer, and to regulate the reaction. If you have a low pH (6-6.5), you may need the increase surface agitation of a powerhead or other water pumps/filters to prevent CO2 poisoning, as your water can become CO2 saturated, which is bad for fish.

If you notice a large pH swing between the time your lights are on, and the time your lights are on, you should consider running an air-pump at night to prevent the CO2 buildup. When the lights turn off, the plants no-longer use CO2, but O2. All of the excess CO2 that isn’t being used up will saturate your water, swing your pH, and kill your fish.


I am posting this on instructables as well, and I figured I could post it here as well. I know it doesn’t involve fire, napalm, bombs, or any other RE cliche, but I’m sure you non-aquarium savy hooligans can find something to do with it.

You dont want co2 in your water for non aquatic plants as it will strangle them to death. MArijuana is a land plant and needs oxygen in the water and co2 in the air .co2 in the water equals death

That and it's much easier to pop a hole in a pepsi bottle and dump sugar and yeast in it...............

FilthyFletch said:

You dont want co2 in your water for non aquatic plants as it will strangle them to death. MArijuana is a land plant and needs oxygen in the water and co2 in the air .co2 in the water equals death

Click to expand...

Wow thanks for telling me this I was about to try it, wouldn't want to kill my babies would I.

lol no problem just remember if its a plant that grow out of watre it needs co2 around the leaves and o2 at the roots.If it grows underwater it needs co2 to live and gives off o2 to the water

donnieosmond said:

That and it's much easier to pop a hole in a pepsi bottle and dump sugar and yeast in it...............

Click to expand...

You mean JUST yeast, you already got enough fructose in there.

I think hes going to empty out the pepsi before he adds the yeast lol

You just mix yeast, sugar & water, shake it for abit then it will create co2

Theres a guide in the DIY section

Oooh this is the DIY section

hazeyindahead said:

You mean JUST yeast, you already got enough fructose in there.

Click to expand...

................

I'm no scientist and might be wrong about this, but don't plants absorb Co2 through their leaves and then convert it back to oxygen? I know the roots need oxygen for the plants to grow and produce and the more the better, hence the science of Hydroponics/NTF and Aeroponics.
I've seen guys on here with Co2 regulator systems and the lines are placed just under the canopy of the leaves. I don't understand the purpose of adding it to say a reservoir in a hydro system, the roots need oxygen. Hence the purpose of adding vermiculite or pearlite to soil, they one retains water and the other retains oxygen, not Co2.

Yeah. Just get some sugar from cupboard. A bottle from the trash. And some yeast from your girlfriend.

Just remember, Co2 is heavier than most gases in the air, therefore the hose with Co2 running out must be placed above the canopy or right at canopy level so it drops and falls on the plant. Air must be completely still at this point otherwise Co2 is useless. The people that say Co2 doesn't help, are the ones that don't use it correctly. My friend grew three plants with Co2 and three w/o, just using sugarand yeast, the three that were treated w/Co2 produced nearly a half ounce more per plant than those that were not. All plants were grown under the same light a 600watt HPS the whole time, right next to each other. Co2 hoses were placed right above one group and that group excelled! Even some buds from the non treated plants snuck over to where the Co2 would fall and those buds were extremely more dense. I would have to say all plants looked near the same, but the Co2 ones were just a lot heavier.

fyi when you mix co2 and water you produce carbonic acid.

donnieosmond said:

That and it's much easier to pop a hole in a pepsi bottle and dump sugar and yeast in it...............

Click to expand...

Or finely mist them with a spray bottle filled with plain sparkling water. The water continuously releases CO2 slowly until it all evaporates. This way it is right on the plants where they need it and you don't need anything complicated to do it.