DIY CO2 for Home Aquarium is cheaper than the pressurized CO2 systems and can be done easily at home with a few household items. Here's everything you need to know about it.
How to DIY CO2 for Home Aquarium
The Facts:
Every plant needs CO2 for the process of photosynthesis. Some aquariums have plants and when there is not enough light photosynthesis doesn't take place. But when the light is increased the plant needs more CO2 and this has to be supplied by artificial means.Supplies:
- Two 2 liter soda bottles.
- One smaller sized soda bottle
- Airline tubing
- Pure silicone without any additives.
- Some sugar, yeast and warm water.
What to Do:
- Clean and rinse the bottles and leave them to dry.
- When the bottle caps are dry make holes big enough to fit the airline tubing.
- Insert the airline in the bottle cap hole and seal it well with silicone on both sides of the cap. Leave it to dry for a day or two.
- Mix 2 cups of sugar, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoonfuls of yeast with warm water till the sugar and yeast are mixed well. Pour the mixture into the bottles and fill the bottles with warm water up to the shoulder level.
- Make 2 holes in the smaller bottle and fix the air line with silicone.
- The air line from the 2 big bottles should be connected to one hole in the smaller bottle.
- An air line from the second hole in the smaller bottle should be connected to an air stone and kept in the aquarium to allow the bubbles to get mixed with the water.
Special Considerations:
- Make sure you add the right quantity of yeast. This depends on the amount of sugar you mix with it.
- Sometimes the yeast might be old and not produce CO2. You can check your yeast by mixing a little yeast with warm water and see whether the water gets foamy after 15 minutes.
Other Tips:
- You can use check valves in the airline tubing to prevent water flowing form the aquarium into the bottles.
- You can use air line nipples to seal the bottle caps instead of just inserting the air line and sealing with silicone.
- Some people don't use the small bottle and directly connect the bottles with yeast to the aquarium. The small bottle acts like a gas separator and separates any solid material passing from the gas generating bottles to the aquarium. Using a gas separator is strongly recommended.
