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DIY CO2 in 80 gallon low tech tank.

pseudodiego

Member
Joined
15 Dec 2021
Messages
59
Location
Spain
Hi everyone.

I have a DIY CO2 system available that uses a 2 liters bottle, and I have a 80 gallon tank with low light and low tech plants(Anubias, Java fern, cryptos, etc).

Would it be worth to run the DIY CO2 system on it? Plants are healthy as they're right now, but it wouldn't take much effort to change one bottle each two weeks if it may improve growing speed by a bit.

Thanks.
 
I'd say it can't hurt, and I'm just about to change a 2L bottle that I started on Jan 8th, so you shouldn't need to set up as often as every two weeks. I'm in a similar position, not trying to grow anything very hi-tech, most demanding thing I have is Alternanthera. 90L tank, probably has about 80L of water, I get a little better than 1 bubble every 2 seconds and that's only fallen off in the last two or three days. I use a couple of air-driven sponge filters, so there's a lot of CO2 going to waste, but still enough to keep the drop checker green.
I haven't tried to measure growth objectively but I'm happy with it and it's noticeably better than in the grow tank I used to bring plants on prior to setting up the 90L.
The hassle of running it seems to me to be overstated, though I'm only a few months into it. Apart from the personal outlay, I hate to think of the environmental impact of producing and distributing complex CO2 equipment and bottled CO2 gas. Compared with boiling a pan of water, two cups of sugar, a touch of nutrient and gelatine. I started with standard breadmaking yeast, but have moved on to a cider / champagne yeast, and I'm repitching, so minimal ongoing cost there.
 
I'd say it can't hurt, and I'm just about to change a 2L bottle that I started on Jan 8th, so you shouldn't need to set up as often as every two weeks. I'm in a similar position, not trying to grow anything very hi-tech, most demanding thing I have is Alternanthera. 90L tank, probably has about 80L of water, I get a little better than 1 bubble every 2 seconds and that's only fallen off in the last two or three days. I use a couple of air-driven sponge filters, so there's a lot of CO2 going to waste, but still enough to keep the drop checker green.
I haven't tried to measure growth objectively but I'm happy with it and it's noticeably better than in the grow tank I used to bring plants on prior to setting up the 90L.
The hassle of running it seems to me to be overstated, though I'm only a few months into it. Apart from the personal outlay, I hate to think of the environmental impact of producing and distributing complex CO2 equipment and bottled CO2 gas. Compared with boiling a pan of water, two cups of sugar, a touch of nutrient and gelatine. I started with standard breadmaking yeast, but have moved on to a cider / champagne yeast, and I'm repitching, so minimal ongoing cost there.
Do you add water movement at night or do you let the CO2 rise up?
 
Do you add water movement at night or do you let the CO2 rise up?
no added movement .. the sponge filters keep excess gassing off, I guess .. the room cools considerably overnight so production rate slows (haven't stayed up to measure how much). Have not seen a yellow drop checker in mornings.
 
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