I'd like to add my $.02 worth on DIY systems...

Here's my recipe for a more (IMHO) successful DIY CO2. Since switching to
this method, I've had far better success with DIY CO2. Instead of changing
bottles every two weeks or so, I'm changing them every 6 to 8 weeks.

Use a small plastic soda bottle. I bought a 6 pack of 24oz Wild Cherry
Pepsi's. The 1-liter bottles also work well, but don't use anything larger!
Drill a hole in the top and insert a silicone air line just like you would
for a 2 liter bottle. I like to seal the airline with silicone just to make
certain there's no leaks. I discovered a while ago that after a time, the
silicone would leak around the edges of the joint if I didn't.

For my yeast recipe, put a little warm water in the bottom of the bottle
(about 1/4 cup) and add 1/4 teaspoon of yeast to the mixture (BTW, I've
discovered no difference between the quick-rise, bakers and champagne yeast
using this method). Cap the bottle and shake well to mix the yeast. Now fill
the bottle half full with sugar, then about 1/4 full with water and a dash
of baking powder. That should leave about 1/4 full of air. Gently invert the
bottle a few times to make sure all the sugar is wet, but _not_ dissolved.
Leave the bottle in a sink or tub for a couple of days, so that when the
yeast starts reacting, any overflow doesn't make a mess. Attach to an
airline with a check valve and an airstone at the end and place so the
bubbles get swirled around by the filter outflow. For the check valve, I use
one's I found at Petsmart that have a small chamber filled with filter
floss, which acts as a miniature drop container (for the occasional bubble
that goes up the tube).

Each bottle puts out about enough CO2 to keep a heavily planted 20-30 gallon
tank at around 15ppm and in my home tanks (2 20gals, 2 30gals and a 5) they
last around 7 weeks (some only six, some up to 8). If you have a larger
tank, add more bottles.

I built a bracket for the bottles on the inside of my stands, so I don't
have to worry about them getting knocked over and hence, don't use any sort
of drip container in case the mixture overflows. If you decide to use one on
your setup, I recommend using a tiny container (I like those miniature water
bottles I get on airplane flights), otherwise the mixture will peter out
sooner.

Well, FWIW...
-Owen Graupman

"Jason" wrote in message
...
I use a 1gal wine jug (glass) for my DIY method... Basically you can buy a
cheap jug of wine for about $6, get a stopper at Ace hardware for about
$1.70, tubing for about $2, and the DIY recipe ingrediants. (about $4
which
will last a year or more) I also bought a Tetrafin check valve since I
have
my bottle in the tank stand (these cost about $2) (this prevents resverse
siphoning).

Anyway, the options are really limitless, but here is the recipe for DIY
co2:

for a 2 litre bottle concoction:
6 cups water
2 cups sugar
1 tspn yeast (NOT the quick rise stuff, but either bakers or brewers
yeast)

for a 1 gal container:
~12 cups of water (fill until a little over 3/4 full)
4 cups sugar
2 tspn yeast. (again, NOT the quick rise crap)

These concoctions should last about 2 weeks per batch. If you use this in
a
60 gal aquarium (mine is 63gal), MAKE SURE you have a co2 test kit
handy...
I found out after a couple of weeks that my co2 levels were in excess of
50ppm which is toxic for fish...

-Jason

"dpots" wrote in message
om...
I am setting up a new 60g plant tank and want to try to us CO2. Is a
DIY set up appropriate for this size aquarium. If so, what type of
DIY set up do you recommend (recipe, bottles, tubing, ...). My LFS
sells the Nutrafin CO2 system for $30 and I was considering purchasing
it just for the diffuser and tubing? Good or bad idea?

Leigh, if you read this message, I think your posts are very
informative and your web page link is great-THANKS!

Thanks, dpots