CO2 woes...

[trashion]

so i haven't had much luck with co2. i tried several different sizes of DIY bottle mixes, but they never produced any co2. a few bubbles would show in the top, but nothing else. figuring that i couldn't get the bottles airtight, or something, i shelled out $26 for a nutrafin CO2 system. which is basically the diy system with a tight chamber and a ladder dispersal system.

anyway, i hooked it up and added the ingredients yesterday. it didn't work at all, and i went to bed. this morning, there are a bunch of huge bubbles stuck in the ladder system, but they aren't shrinking or going anywhere. co2 is still around2-3 ppm.

i don't know what's going on, or why i can't produce any CO2, no matter what i do!!! jeez, it's becoming a real annoyance.

possible cause: the water i'm using is not dechlorinated, it's straight warm tap water. could that be causing an issue?

[Damon]

Wipe the ladder rungs of with your finger. Then see if the bubbles move. Also tilt the ladder to one side or the other a little.

[JustOneMore20]

Try Damon's suggestion.

With the DIY bottles, perhaps you had some leaking? If there wasn't a good seal, some CO2 probably escaped instead of going into the tank.

Dechlorinated water doesn't make a difference IMO.....I've never dechlorinated water for DIY CO2.

Don't give up!

[zLoui]

Here is best info on CO2, it might help you:
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

[wermyapl]

If you don't get any bubbles maybe the yeast is too old? or the temp. is too low where the mix is.

I noticed that with the bubble ladders you need to wait a couple days for a "slime" to grow over it. Then the bubbles travel smoothly. Sounds funny I know.

Of course, nothing works as well as a real pressurized CO2 system.... worth every penny.

[Carlo]

Jeeze, Im having a bubble over production problem. LOL I used some "highly active" yeast, and it took it a few hours to start producing, but now its spittn bubbles like crazy. I wonder, but will too much CO2 hurt my fish/plants?

-Carlo

[JustOneMore20]

What size tank is it on, Carlo? The 37g or 10g? And what is your CO2 setup (1 bottle, 2?)?

Generally, DIY CO2 will not produce too much CO2 to where it will hurt the fish. If you had some insane setup of like 5 2L bottles on a 10g, well that might do it though.

1 or 2 2L bottles on a 10g won't hurt though.

Look at your fish.....are they gasping at the top or anything? If so, then its too much CO2. Otherwise, if they are fine, your CO2 is fine.

[Carlo]

Its the 37g w/ 2 bottles into a 20oz collector. I dont know, maybe im just being paranoid? at the moment, I have one comet in there, and he seems to spend alot of time in the current of my power head. how can i regulate this? standard screw valve in the line? Im not currently running a diffuser in my tank, its on order, so i had a standard airstone in there so i dont think that its being very efficent right now.

Originally Posted by JustOneMore20

What size tank is it on, Carlo? The 37g or 10g? And what is your CO2 setup (1 bottle, 2?)?

Generally, DIY CO2 will not produce too much CO2 to where it will hurt the fish. If you had some insane setup of like 5 2L bottles on a 10g, well that might do it though.

1 or 2 2L bottles on a 10g won't hurt though.

Look at your fish.....are they gasping at the top or anything? If so, then its too much CO2. Otherwise, if they are fine, your CO2 is fine.

[JustOneMore20]

You can't really regulate DIY CO2 without the risk of building up pressure in the bottles, which isn't good. I assure you that 2 2L bottles on a 37g won't hurt the fish. I've had 2 2L bottles on a 3g setup with a Betta and while the bubbles were going at full force in the beginning, it eventually slows down. My Betta never showed any signs of too much CO2. I bet yours is producing alot of bubbles now because 1) the mix is new and 2) you used the highly reactive yeast.

If you are still worried, put an airstone in the tank attached to an airpump. The air will outgas some of the co2 and also increase the amount of oxygen in the tank.

Remember that co2 doesn't replace o2, so having alot of co2 in the tank won't make the oxygen less. Too much co2 can have negative effects on the fish and can look like there is too little oxygen (gasping at the surface) though.

[T4987]

Dont betas breathe differently than other fish?

[xerxeswasachump]

I am sorry to ressurect this old thread but i am having the same problem right now. I added a nutrafin co2 unit to my 46 bow and the bubble go nowhere. Yesterday, I put a small 65gph pump on top of it so that when the enormous bubbles did escape, they got turned into smaller bubbles. Unfortunately, even when those bubbles do release and get churned into microbubbles, they all just float to the top and don't get absorbed. What am i doing wrong?