Citric Acid CO2 DIY

[iDigit]

Hello,

I am in the process of setting up a Trigon 190 planted tank. This will be my first venture into a CO2 equipped tank. However, I want to use a DIY citric acid/baking soda mixture. I have found many recipes, many designs and tons of ideas ... but no information on how much citric acid / baking soda mix needed for x size tank.

2 soda bottles seems hardly sufficient for a 200 l tank ... or at least, not where I won't need to make frequent refills ....

So my question is the following : in order to do a refill once every 2 or 3 months, what quantities of citric acid baking soda would I need ?

Knowing the answer to this question will determine the size of canister I build for the mixture.

Thank you for any assistance

 

[MrHidley]

My advice.

Don't do it, buy a fire extinguisher and regulator. You'll thank yourself every time you don't have to clean out the reaction chambers and every time you don't have a weird smell coming from it.

Regards,
James

 

[rebel]

Go for pressurised.

Most people change the acid every 3-4 weeks so to last three months, I would triple or quadruple those amounts and volumes.

Save your money, time, fish and plants; go pressurised; or don't do it.

 

[ian_m]

For very large 200 litre tank you will struggle with citric acid setup, as probably 20gr per day CO2 is needed, which I very much doubt citric acid could supply in sufficient quantities and reliable levels. You will end up probably changing bottles weekly to get that amount.

What are you going to do at night, so you don't gas you fish ?

Remember algae moves in very quickly if you have variable (and insufficient for your lights) CO2 levels.

I would go the FE CO2 route a 2KG bottle will last 100days (or more) between changes. I use about 15-20gr CO2 per day on my 180litre tank.