Does Diy Co2 Actually Make A Difference?

I'm thinking about running some DIY CO2 on one of my tanks, but my question is: Would they actually make a difference in the tank? The tank I'm currently thinking about running DIY CO2 on has a dirted bottom, receives a lot of direct sunlight, and receives Thrive twice a week. The plants are growing well in it, but not as lush and bright as you'd see in a tank run with pressurized CO2. Would DIY CO2 actually make a difference on this aquarium?

 

I think it will. The plants are receiving a lot of everything else it needs to grow so CO2 is the limiting factor at this point.

 

It does make a difference! I did an experiment with baking soda and citric acid and got pretty nice results. I would get it out if direct sun light that’s just going to leave you with an algae problem. You need to up the bpm to higher then normal to create equal results. Even then there’s a chance it won’t work has well.

 

It does make a difference! I did an experiment with baking soda and citric acid and got pretty nice results. I would get it out if direct sun light that’s just going to leave you with an algae problem. You need to up the bpm to higher then normal to create equal results. Even then there’s a chance it won’t work has well.

The "tank" is just a tub outdoors. Algae is not a problem for this tank because it is balanced. How do I up the BPM?

 

Just turn up the bubble counter a little, I usually go for 1 bubble per second, song times faster

 

Yep! As long as it's around 30 ppm, it doesn't matter if it's pressurized or DIY, it's all just CO2. You might not be able to get to 30 ppm on just DIY without having to replace the mixture all the time (depending on tank size) but even 15-20 ppm makes a difference.

 

HI Koiman,

I certainly saw an improvement using DIY CO2 compared to a liquid carbon supplement.

 

For those that have run DIY CO2, have you run it 24hrs, or off at night?
If 24hrs, any impact on pH, or fish?
If off at night, manual or timer/solenoid?

 

Would DIY CO2 actually make a difference on this aquarium?

I'm running 30 ppm CO2 with a DIY baking soda/citric acid reactor on a 47 gallon and it's causing very lush growth. CO2 is being injected at a rate of 2.5-3 bps for 7 hours a day with refills every 8-9 days. Most people run DIY on tanks much smaller in size and tend to be able to run a reactor upwards of 3 weeks or so.

As others have mentioned, CO2 is CO2 regardless of whether it's injected by a pressured or DIY system.

What you do miss out on with a DIY system is (1) the reliability; (2) the consistency; (3) the autonomy of a pressured system. DIY isn't a "set and forget" sort of system: you either have to refill it or make adjustments every day or so to ensure you're reaching your target CO2 concentration.

For those that have run DIY , have you run it 24hrs, or off at night?
If 24hrs, any impact on , or fish?
If off at night, manual or /solenoid?

I run it for 7 hours. pH rises by ~1-1.2 during the rest period. I have a solenoid and a timer.

 

Never run it at night. Plants do not photosynthesis at night and actually use tiny amounts of oxygen. Using co2 at night could lead to poisoning to your fish. You could run an air stone at night but it’s easier just to turn it off

 

Never run it at night. Plants do not photosynthesis at night and actually use tiny amounts of oxygen. Using co2 at night could lead to poisoning to your fish. You could run an air stone at night but it’s easier just to turn it off

I read that it’s okay to leave a DIY yeast CO2 system on at night because it doesn’t produce much CO2 anyways.

 

I have a DIY system with yeast, baking soda, and sugar. I usually change it out once a month. No idea if it is doing anything but it does add some kind of CO2 so I imagine it might help the plants a little. But I also have a HOB filter so they could be canceling out lol. I run it at night without any issues.
Hope this helps!