DIY CO2 Reactor

[Oxquo]

I just finished running this guy for a week and am so happy I thought I'd share. For people like Garhan who knows how often I get my fish drunk on homemade jail brew trying to add CO2 to my tanks, they know why I made this. I find my pressure is higher and My water stinks less of brew. It's easy and just fricken cool.

This is too easy and well worth it.

Tools needed,

airline tubing.

Silicone or crazy glue

plastic airstone connectors

2- 2L bottles

CO2 mix (yeast, sugar, baking soda, water)

cut three pieces of airline, 2", 11", 6" and one long enough to go from reactor to depth in tank you want.

drill two holes in a bottle cap just under the size of the plastic fitting, I used Lee's plastic airstone multi pack disposables and it was a nice fit. Next fit the 2" on the out line inside the cap and the 11" on the in line of the inside of the cap. From here your CO2 bottle line, the 6" goes into the connector on top of the cap leading down the 11" line below. Your longer line going to the tank fits on top of the cap right above the 2" line. Now fill the Reactor up to the shoulder of the bottle just above the label, hold the cap and screw the bottle onto it so your tubing doesn't twist. At this point I lift the fittings up slightly and crazy glue just enough below them and then push them down firmly and silicone around them as soon as the glue dries.

The next step is filling the CO2 mix bottle. This bottle is created the same way. Drill one hole in the bottle add connector glue and assemble your 6" airline to it. silicone the top to close off leaks.

The mix,

2 cups of sugar

1/4 teaspoon of yeast (bakers slow rise)

Pinch of baking soda (especially if you have soft water)

Warm water to the shoulder (after adding the contents)

Shake well and let sit a few minutes so it can begin to rise.

Once assembled place airline into the tank and wait for bubbles, count desired bubbles then add airstone and raise the line up an inch or two as the diffuser slows the CO2 pressure a little. CO2 lasts between 2 and 3 weeks on average depending on amount used. I restart a new one every 2 weeks and replace it whether it's empty or not.

What happens? The CO2 bottle blows CO2 into the Reactor and mixes in the water creating a higher quantity of CO2 as well as cleaner quality (less odor). The reactor in turn acts as a pressure container and gives more bubbles per second due to pressure and more pure CO2. The end result is a nice soda water which soon forms. The part I like best is if there is blow over, the CO2 mix will rise into the Reactor instead of the tank, that is my over-all most famous thing to do.

[Vallisneria]

Thats a neat idea

I just use a 4L juice jug

SO you found that the bubbles coming out of your DIY co2 were making your tank smell like brew? I've never had that problem. And thankfully i've never had the yeast mix get into the tank either.

On a side note, have you tried brewers yeast? I switched over and found it lasts a lot longer then bread yeast. It can handle higher levels of acohol before dying off.

[Oxquo]

I did try brewers yeast, but then I discovered the DIY Rye whiskey kits. Make 4 bottles of Rye for $9.99 or CO2? Hahahaa, I'd rather go without bread thanks. The pressure of the reactor I find to be alot greater as well so it is nice on those bigger tanks.

[Garhan]

Drunk fish, drunk sailors, drunk friends, now my turn. :drunk: :rofl: :beer: :cry:

great idea Oxquo. glad to see you still having some down time to put the mind to work, sober or drunk.....lol

Garhan

[Oxquo]

Yeah, now if I can rig it up so the CO2 from my unit would carbonize my beer and my tank I'd be a happy drunken sailor. What i have also found with this unit is that my pressure stays more steady, I would guess I will also have two extra days atleast to make another batch of CO2 mix while my reactor clears out if I cap the line, if nothing else it looks really damn cool, pressures up really good and makes me look like David Suzuki lol. I never met a person who has had more follies with DIY CO2 than myself yet, although the addition of cheap spirits has led to many spawns that I could not seem to do without it, I am sure behind the cloudy haze, cories were gettin it on with angelfish like a reminiscence of the 60's. Truthfully, I have no idea what other benefits this reactor might have but damn it looks cool. You'd almost think I knew what I was doing, well except for Garhan, He just knows that I am clueless, Hahahaha.

[Oxquo]

No, seriously, What a CO2 reactor is suppose to do is intensify the amount of dissolved CO2 that gets to your tank. Without it you try to bubble straight to your tank and dissolve it via a bell or even a fine airstone. The CO2 reactor dissolves the bubbles into the water making it more concentrate and mixable. it's like going through a second diving bell, oh yeah, it looks really cool. Oh and it gets rid of the white fungus looking crud that clings to your diffuser.

[Garhan]

Hey bud, whats with the R.I.P. stuff in your footer...am I missing something. Good comments on the C02 stuff too.

http://www.corydorasworld.com/modules.php?...ategories&cid=3

Also check out this site and the Treatise on the C02. It will broaden and answer many ppl questions.

Garhan

Edited April 6, 2005 by Garhan

[Oxquo]

The RIP is due to a huge chunk of sulfuric acid that came through my well and killed My Beloved Geophag of 5 years, the true Oxquo. Nothing sucked harder than that, Even closed the store that day. Saved every other one except him and another geophag. That's him in my avatar, what a beaut. I'll have to check that site out. thanks.