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Novice Looking For Advice - On a tight budget

I think I'll go DIY. Ifound a ceramic diffuser on ebay, it claims that it works with DIY CO2 systems but I'm not sure whether the pressure will be enough to force it through.
I'm thinking of 2 coke bottles connecting to a T valve, this then going to a ceramic diffuser or airstone or attempting to attach it to the venturi jet on my internal filter.

I hope by having two bottles, and changing one each week it should give me a stable supply.

I have been considering connecting it to the top of my filter, but I think this might create a vacuum. However I will have a check valve in the tubing. Any ideas? Perhaps its easier to go for a Tetra Optima lol
 
Hi Jwrage,

My home made CO2 is exacltly as you described
I'm thinking of 2 coke bottles connecting to a T valve
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It is 2 drinks bottles connected with a T valve, just make sure that they are fizzy drinks bottles! Also make sure to silicon all joints when you make it.

I think you might have problems with a diffuser not only with pressure but also the white residue that home made yeast systems produce. This will clog up the diffuser reducing its effectiveness. Instead I opted for a CO2 "ladder" (the one that is provided with the Nutrafin yeast system I believe), this way the pressure does not matter but you will still have some residue however it will not clog the ladder as much as a diffuser but unfortunately you will still need to clean it every so often.

You could just have the airline (CO2 out put) in the flow of the filter instead that way it shouldn't cause a vacuum. I personally prefer the ladder because I feel I have a better indication as to how much CO2 is being produced and hence change it when needed.

How big is your tank? If it is under 100L you can probably get away with using one fizzy drinks bottle.

Hope this helps you!
 
jwrage said:
Its pretty small, only 60l so one fizzy drinks bottle should be great. It will mean less stuff to hide 😀
Is this the type of ladder you meanhttp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260241050439 ?
Thanks
James
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If it's 60L then I would have just the one bottle otherwise you might find that you will overdose on CO2 when the thing gets going, unless of course you are going to have a lot of surface agitation. If I were you I would buy 2 fizzy drinks bottles (of the same brand etc), obviously you would use one of these at any one time on your tank. The spare one I would fill with sugar, yeast and bi-carb ready for when the one that is active runs out. When the time comes to change them over simply fill it with the right volume of water and screw it in. Then you can wash out the one you have removed dry it and fill it with sugar, dry yeast and bi-carb screw the top back on and it sits there ready to be filled with water and used. But remember to keep it all dry when no in use as you don't want the yeast to become active.

The ladder I used is the one that comes with a nutrafin yeast based CO2 which you can buy separately. Having seen the ebay item it is similar, but once you add the postage on i'm sure you can buy one here for the same if not less.

Hope all this made sense.

I don't know what everyone else makes of this? Can someone else agree or disagree with me just in case I am wrong??!?!?!!? :? Don't want to give out the wrong advice 😱
 
I've just finished setting up my 2x 2ltr drinks bottle set up connected to a 3rd smaller bottle for protection from liquids coming in contact with each other. My tank is 230l, I'll never get a completely stable co2 level with a yeast system but I've got low light levels so I've got a bit of room for testing.
As for a diffuser, I found a spiro and rhinox that both said they were suitable for a home made yeast bottle but the advice from people with experience has been that the pressure would not work it properly. A nano diffuser has been advised, or I could just use an airstone placed under the intake of the filter.
I think I'm going to start with the nano diffuser first and if there's problems I'll try the airstone under the filter intake, the nano's are quite cheap so it doesn't matter too much if it doesn't work as planned.
I hadn't considered the ladder option before, but considering the kit that they're sold with this might be a good option.
For me it's a case of testing and finding out 😀
 
spaldingaquatics said:
I hadn't considered the ladder option before, but considering the kit that they're sold with this might be a good option.
Click to expand...

I personally find the ladder method of delivery better because pressure problems do not occur (of course unless the yeast gets towards the end of its effectiveness), inevitably after the peak of CO2 output the pressure drops because enzyme activity slows down. This drop in pressure will affect diffusers more because they need sufficient pressure to work, with a ladder this drop in CO2 output will not reduce the ladders effectiveness. Yeast based CO2 also produces a white residue which will clog diffusers which will need regular cleaning.

This is what I have personally found anyway, others may not encountered this.
 
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