suburbancow asked:
Will I choke my fish if I use a DIY CO2 system? It will be two 2-liter bottles with the yeast/sugar combo for my 55 gallon tank. I will be upgrading my lighting very soon (either tomorrow or within the week) to 100 watts, right now it has stock lighting. I always read to turn off a CO2 system at night but how would I do that? Cinch the airtube at night so the co2 can’t escape?
Get your style
Will I choke my fish if I use a DIY CO2 system? It will be two 2-liter bottles with the yeast/sugar combo for my 55 gallon tank. I will be upgrading my lighting very soon (either tomorrow or within the week) to 100 watts, right now it has stock lighting. I always read to turn off a CO2 system at night but how would I do that? Cinch the airtube at night so the co2 can’t escape?
Get your style
You don’t turn off the CO2, you leave it alone for a month, than redo the whole CO2.
If you clinch the airtube, you will have a bomb that will explode. Post the sites that say to turn of the CO2, because it is impossible to turn it off once it starts. CO2 ferments, and needs to be contained. If opened, the CO2 is exposed and has to start over.
Also put the container in a place where it CANNOT be knocked down, or the liquid will get into the tank, cloud it, and mess with your water.
(“‘\(o.o)/”‘)
you dont turn it off and dont cinch the tubing as you will end up with a mess if the bottle ends up blowing up but you knew that already cause you read about diy co2
That is one of the many major flaws of a DIY CO2 system. You can’t turn it off, you can’t control it, it lasts a couple of weeks at best, and it doesn’t produce all that much CO2. If you’re gonna upgrade to higher lighting on a 55 gallon tank, you’re gonna need far more CO2 than a few bottles can produce. If you do go with the bottle, consider getting a powerhead or airstone that you can turn on at night to agitate the surface (allowing more oxygen in and CO2 out).
Instead of the bottles, consider something along these lines: This particular model is relatively expensive (but far cheaper than most quality systems), but identical, brandless products work equally as well and cost about a third of the price.
It’s really not necessary to stop a DIY system at night. I have 2 55G tanks with DIY systems and they run continuously without a problem (130w on one, and 260w on the other). I have had those systems running (4x2L bottles on each) for a few years now without incident. I have a 125G tank with a compressed CO2 system and killed 1/4 of the fish in the tank the first night with it on. I use a dual timer deal now that controls the lights, CO2 and airstone now on that tank.
Cinching the air hose will just cause it to blow off at some point.