# DIY co2. can you over dose ?



## lil-lynx (5 Apr 2010)

hello im running a diy co2, i had good bubble rates with the mixture i used, about 1-2 bps the problem was it lasted about a week till i was down to 1-2 bubble ever 5 seconds maybe, so my new mixture is giving me loads of bps, im getting about 3 bps, im using a mini elite filter to break the bubbles down  which then get broken even more by the out let of my fluval u4 internal filter, i have a air stone on 24/7 at the other end of the tank.

quick tank specs

96 litres juwel 96
two 36w u shaped bulbs 
fluval u4 filter ( for 4ft tanks)
under gravel fert ( JBL aquabase ) caped with pea gravel


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## Garuf (5 Apr 2010)

No. Pretty much impossible. I couldn't get my 11" cubes drop checker to go anything higher than mid-green even with a 9w ikea lamp I couldn't get it to go yellow.


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## lil-lynx (5 Apr 2010)

how many bps did you have ? , because im getting near 3-4 bps


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## lil-lynx (5 Apr 2010)

bump ? any one else  ?


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## Spanerman (5 Apr 2010)

Having an air stone running isnt going to help you co2 levels


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## lil-lynx (5 Apr 2010)

i no but at night it will, because i cant turn of my co2, and plants dont use it at night


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## Spanerman (5 Apr 2010)

In your OP you stated you had it running 24/7

That wont help


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## lil-lynx (6 Apr 2010)

o no you are correct i do have the air pump running 24/7 but i mean at night when its running it must help ?


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## nry (6 Apr 2010)

Airstone is not worth having - during the day the excess surface agitation will allow the added CO2 to vent off very quickly, so you're wasting your time adding any CO2 when the airstone is on.  Even at night I'd not worry, many here run CO2 24/7.

In my opinion you can overdose on DIY C02, but only if you have too many yeast bottles or use a bottle and mix which is too big for the tank.  C02 is C02 however you add it.


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## lil-lynx (6 Apr 2010)

o ok thanks  i will put my airpump on a timer i dont really want to risk it


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## LondonDragon (6 Apr 2010)

Garuf said:
			
		

> No. Pretty much impossible.


When I started dosing my Rio 125 with 2 nutrafin kits I managed to kill most of my fish with the CO2, reason that I always had an air pump running over night. So it is very much possible.


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## lil-lynx (6 Apr 2010)

ooo :O, i hope your fish are ok now. well i have about 1-4bps, all ways have my air pump on and also all ways checking, if my ph was 7 and now 6 does that mean the co2 is getting in to my water like i want it to ? , could you tell how much is really getting dissolved this way ?


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## LondonDragon (6 Apr 2010)

lil-lynx said:
			
		

> ooo :O, i hope your fish are ok now.


They are in fish heaven! The new ones are fine, I have since moved to pressurized 



			
				lil-lynx said:
			
		

> well i have about 1-4bps, all ways have my air pump on and also all ways checking, if my ph was 7 and now 6 does that mean the co2 is getting in to my water like i want it to ? , could you tell how much is really getting dissolved this way ?


Best bet is to have a drop checker in the tank, if you see your fish getting darker colours or hanging at the surface of the tank, then you have a problem, a little surface agitation does help too if you notice problems.


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## gbagger (21 Apr 2010)

can you tell us what recipe recipe you are using to create decent levels of co2? mine nevers seems to make enough.


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## pjf220 (30 Apr 2010)

I agree with LG, it is possible to overdose DIY. Ok, I'm new to it all, but I'm getting the balance fine tuned at the moment. I pump the CO2 out through the diffuser and the drop checker goes medium green after about an hour. If I turn it up a little, the Tetra hang at the top in a shoal, gasping at the surface and the Rams sit motionless on the sand, also gasping. Think I have just about got the balance right now as the fish seem happy yet I'm getting the pearling from the plants (is that the right term for the plants extracting small bubbles every second or so).

If you had no fish, then I guess you could pump loads of CO2 without much concern.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (2 May 2010)

I have DIY running on my tank as well as pressurised, with the two 2ltr bottles connected via a Y connector and bubble counter and glass diffuser which gives me an average of two bps if I alternate fresh batches weekly. I make up for the inconsistencies of DIY with the pressurised into a diffuser.
I don't think the airstone will be required at night as well unless your tank is very heavily stocked, some surface agitation will probably suffice. 
The way you are diffusing CO2 is probably about the least effective as the the bubbles have little time to diffuse into the water all be it the cheapest solution(debatable). Do you use anyway of checking the CO2 levels in the tank? I would leave the airstone off and the co2 24/7 and see what readings you get with a ph test while keeping an eye on the fish for any breathing problems. First sign of problems or low PH switch the airstone on and switch off the CO2. You could also put a "T" connector valve in the co2 tubing to the aquarium and just open it if the co2 levels are two high to switch it off.

Interested in you new mixture what do you use that's giving good results. I mix 200gram of sugar in 1ltr of water with a 1/2 tspoon of bicarb. From back in my wine making days I know that with this amount of sugar it should completely ferment out making a dry wine (no sugar) with a 10% volume of alcohol. Over 10% alcohol the yeast will start to die off, leaving a sweet wine(still some sugar in) wasted if your not going to drink it. Wine makers use techniques to make stronger wine like adding the water/sugar mix in 200ml doses over the weeks to get a longer steady ferment which is no use to us as we don't want to have to keep opening our bottles and using specialist yeast like sherry yeast which will tolerate the higher alcohol volumes.
These processes take a long slow ferment to achieve what we want is to utilise the initial vigorous ferment. So that's the method I have been trying with some good results.


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## gbagger (2 May 2010)

averagewhitebloke. u say 200gram sugar 1ltr water 1/2 tspoon bicarb but how much yeast do u use??


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## AverageWhiteBloke (2 May 2010)

I generally mix a level teaspoon into a 100ml of boiled in the kettle water thats cooled with a pince of sugar, this gives the yeast time to get going and prevents stuck ferments, I then add this to the bottle.
Most wine making yeast comes with nutrient already in so get that if you can. Another couple of things worth mentioning are the mix is 200gram IN alitre so sugar first then water, 200gram added TO a litre will give different results but to be fair its not exact science. Also IME the ferment doesn't really get going for 24hrs so get another bottle same brand so the cap fits and start this off just with cotton wool in the top in a warm room and join it into your system when it,s fermenting well then you can avoid any periods with no co2.


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## AverageWhiteBloke (3 May 2010)

Just thought I'd add to this post if you have hard water don't bother with the bicarb, Co2 being acidic in very soft water like mine the acidity can drop so low it kills the yeast but in hard water this will not be a problem. 
Let me know how you get on.


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