# 5 gallon water bottle for CO2



## thiban (Nov 19, 2007)

Is this genius, or the dumbest thing ever?
Using a 5 gallon water bottle instead of a 2 Litre and the yeast method.
Does anyone see any cons in that?
Let me know!
I'm assuming it should last longer *-), but then again the death of the yeast from the alcohol is still exponential. What do you guys think?

Thiban


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

I think the problem with this is that you can't control the output of the CO2. A 5 gallon will produce too much CO2 which will result in CO2 poisoning which will kill your fish. It will crash your pH. Most of the unused CO2 will just fizzle into the air, so you're wasting it. And lastly, as you mentioned, the acohol poisoning will also happen very fast as well.

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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

there's no way to prolong the life of a yeast mixture, at least not a handy one for the usual aquarist. but if you wanna have a higher and more constant CO2 level in your aquarium you can do what i do, as i think i became sort of a pro in the matter. i use 2 bottles on my 20G, at a week difference from each other.
one week i change one bottle, next week i change the other one, because i found that they produce a satisfying consistent CO2 output for about 2 weeks. after that they become sketchy  
some people say they hate the diy yeast method because it makes you work a lot and takes a lot of time....that's a big fat lie  it only takes me less than 5 minutes a week to dump the old mixture and change it with a new one. 
if you have any other questions...shoot them up


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## thiban (Nov 19, 2007)

are both your bottles 2 litre?


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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

actually, no  
one's the hagen canister for the co2 hagen set and the other's a plain ol' 2L coke bottle.


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

I only use 2l coke bottles and they work fine. Right now President's Choice Cola is only $0.49 at your local No Frill's! Buy a couple just in case!
As ozi said, about 2 weeks worth of CO2 for a 2l coke bottle and then it fizzles out.

I guess you can use the 5 gallon bottle to do CO2--I'm not sure how much CO2 the yeast will produce. Apparently if you add gelatin (the stuff that makes jello "jello"), you can control the yeast's metabolism, so that only parts of the solution is being eaten at a time. This will result in slower but longer and more consistent CO2 production. Don't take my word for it, I never tried it. You can experiment though 

You can also try those juice bottles with a wider base at the bottom, they are less prone to tip-overs.


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## thiban (Nov 19, 2007)

Yah maybe the gelatin method would be the best solution for me.
We'll i'll give it a try still, lets be practical for once!
I'll let you guys know!
Thiban


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Hey Ozi,

Is a 2L homemade C02 set-up too much for an 8G tank?

Would I need to regulate the amount of C02 injected into the tank? I was thinking of running the hose into chamber 3 of my BioCube.

What's your opinion?


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## dekstr (Oct 23, 2007)

It's hard to overdose on CO2 with DIY yeast bottle mixtures.

DIY CO2 is hard to regulate. The best you can do is to have constant pressure by alternating bottles every so often.

The ways I can think of from the top of my head to measure CO2 concentration include pH/KH chart, drop checker, pH probe and bubbles per second.

8 gallons is fine with a 2l bottle of DIY CO2. It's only when you get past about 55 gallons of water do you have to seriously consider pressurized CO2 because at that volume, it's hard to regulate a constant amount of CO2.


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## ozi (Aug 23, 2007)

You would need a CO2 indicator: http://www.bigalsonline.ca/BigAlsCA/ctl3664/cp18056/si1317851/cl0/redseaco2indicator that would tell you how much CO2 you have in your tank. that way, you would see if it's too much, and you can intervene before your fish have to suffer.
But still i think you shouldn't yet add CO2, with the DIY method to your 8G. since it's a small tank, it's really easy to suddenly change the pH of the water, thus harming your fish and shrimp. I think you should try Seachem's Excel for now, and try the DIY CO2 maybe later, once you get some more aquarium experience.


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## Ne-1 (Feb 22, 2008)

thiban said:


> Yah maybe the gelatin method would be the best solution for me.
> We'll i'll give it a try still, lets be practical for once!
> I'll let you guys know!
> Thiban


I used to use the gelatin method on my 30G. I don't exactly remember the recipe but I'd fill a 2L coke bottle with gelatin, sugar and baking soda about 3/4 of the way then stick it in the fridge till it's hard. Then out of the fridge it comes and when it got up room temp, i'd mix up my yeast with a little sugar just to get it going. This definately regulated the output and was a good indicator for getting the next bottle ready, when all the chunky bit are almost gone, it's time to get a new bottle ready. 
oh btw, i'd wasn't using jello but the plain stuff.


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## Ne-1 (Feb 22, 2008)

I just realized how old this thread is.
so thiban, what did you endup doing?


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

wouldnt the best way to regulate it just be to use a 'bell' method? that way there will always be the same amount of S.A and its there is to much bubbles it would just overflow?


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