Diy Co2 Unit 5l

[proton]

Hi guys, I'm going to do my own CO2 unit, I have bought a CO2 Diffuser and a bubble counter, I have a 240L tank and I have seen a 5L plastic water bottle at my local mini-supermarket. Can I use that big bottle instead of two 2L bottles? I would have prefered that instead of two seperate 2L bottles as then I don't have to join them.

 

[Liam]

Don’t see any problem with doing that as long as the bottle is used for carbonated drinks. Dont think I have ever seen a five litre carbonated drink bottle. The advantage of using two separate bottles is that you can start the mixtures at different times helping to even out the up and down production of yeast based systems.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Not sure about the 5Ltr bottle, but to be honest I think you'll have problems getting a good (30ppm) & stable Co2 reading using DIY on a 240Ltr tank. You really need a pressurised system on that size of tank.

What sort of diffuser do you have ?

What sort of fert regime and lighting level are you planning on using. With a DIY system (regardless of size) the CO2 output will vary over time. It will give quite a high output to start with and drop off quite rapidly.
In a high light/high tech tank, a stable CO2 reading is important if you want to avoid many of the algae issues.

For info ...... When I used DIY CO2, I used 2 bottles, I replaced the mixture at different times to try avoid the peaks and troughs of CO2 production.

 

[proton]

OK I see two 2L bottles are better, I have this diffuser http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...N%3AIT&rd=1 is this too small?
I have two gro-lux 32 watt florescent bulbs in my tank, it's a juwel rio 240L is that enough lights? the lights stay on 15h a day on auto timer (6am - 9pm).

Also can I use bottled water as apposed to tap water? Like evian?

 

[Spinal]

OK, I have a similar tank at 260 lt. I was using a 5litre water bottle from Tesco's, along with a ladder from my LFS. I had no issues with it, but the bottle did need shaking every morning/other morning to wake it up a bit. I quite liked this as it would allow production to slow down during the night.

That said, the level of CO2 I attained was nowhere near enough! Hence, I went pressurised... for £15, you cant go wrong

Michele

quick edit; you have VERY low lights... something in the region on half a watt per gallon. Double (or quadrupule) lighting would be nice. With such low light levels, you can ignore CO2. Totally!

 

[proton]

OK crap, So I need to get more lights... Those 32W (40") that I bought won't work? Does anyone know of a cheap way to upgrade the lights?

Oh and spinal how did you go pressurised for approx. £15

 

[Spinal]

OK crap, So I need to get more lights... Those 32W (40") that I bought won't work? Does anyone know of a cheap way to upgrade the lights?

Oh and spinal how did you go pressurised for approx. £15

Lights... well.. hmmm, if you have the space, you can add some more T8 tubes. They are fairly cheap, and their starters can be picked up on fleabay for 10£ roughly each. Today I got fed up with my T8's and swapped some over to T5s... I don't regret it... yet... I spent WAY too much, having got a starter (£40) and 2 55W tubes (£17 ea) from my local fish shop, but I'm sure that with some patience on fleabay something might come cheaper. As your tank is somewhere around the 63 US gallon mark (the ones used for the WpG rule), you have almost precisely 0.5WpG. The "magic" number that people on this forum talk about is 2 WpG, so you would be looking at a total of 125Watts. IMO, (assuming you have space) I would keep your T8's, and get a twin T5 to complement it. Change one of your T8's to a moonlight tube. Then lower the exposure your tank gets to AT MOST 10hours per day from the three tubes (2 t5's and 1t8). (e.g. 10am-8pm). If you wish to view the tank outside those hours and its dark in the room, you can flick on the "spare" T8 that is set up as a moonlight tube.

Your budget would look like:
-£40 1x Twin 55w T5 starter
-£20/£30 2x 55w TripPlus T5 tubes (promote plant growth) (22" ea)
-£5 1x moonlight T8 tube (40")

That is assuming you currently have a DAYLIGHT (or similar) tube on one of your T8s.

This would bring you to this setup:
-1x 40" 32w daylight T8
-2x 22" 55w TriPlus T5
-1x 40" ??w Moonlight

During the day (10hrs) you would have this on:
1 daylight T8 + 1 TriplusT5 (142w)
and during the night when you wanted to look at your fish:
1 moonlight T8 (?? watts)

As for pressurised CO2 for £15, look at my sig

Michele

 

[proton]

OK so I have two 38W, so that's 76W, and to get the 2W/US G rule, my tank is 63 US G. So I need 126W from all lights, so I would need another 50W into my hood, right? er... I have the standard Hood that came with the rio 240, i'm sure I can add antother 50W tube in there? maybe I can add two T5's somehow in there, one on each side?

 

[Spinal]

Are your bulbs 32 or 38 watts? (not that 4 watts makes that much difference ) You stated 32 before...

But yes, a pair of T5's would probably be your best bet. I had 4x 38W T8's and they drove me insane! I could barely open the lid without one popping off! I managed to fit 2 T5's in the space one T8 took, so now I have hald a lid empty Who knows... I might try to get 4 WpG someday

Michele

 

[proton]

I just double checked it's 38W not 32W as I previously thought. What type of tank do you have, also how did you add anther light to the tank top?

 

[BigIan]

so is a 55w t5 only 22 inches long? what sort of wattage do they pump out when there at 48 inches?

 

[Themuleous]

55w seems to be in the largest you can get.

Sam

 

[Spinal]

Yes, a 22inch T5 is 55w. Its the largest you can get. In fact, its 44 inches long, but instead of having a single tube, T5's (also known as power compact) have 2 thinner tubes. Their downside is that they generate quite a bit of heat, and a setup with over 4 tube will need a fan or some form of forced air-flow. (and 55w is the largest "home use" you can get)

Proton, I have a DiY, with a DiY hood. My hood is made of wood, hence adding tubes is as easy as turning a screwdriver with a self-tapping screw. The back of the tank is lower than the rest, allowing cables to be dangled and air to flow freely. Once I get rid of this damned dust algae I'll post some pics...

One thing that you might consider with "prebuilt" lids is the heat generated by bulbs. I have a hex tank that has a hole in the (plastic) lid due to a bulb... A simple 80mm or 120mm computer case fan will keep it all cool, and they wont cost more than 99p from maplins or fleabay. (You will need a 12V DC power supply tho... I had one in my cable box, but I've seen them in maplins for less than a fiver).

Michele

 

[BigIan]

aparently arcadia do a 80w t5 unit, just emailed arcadia to find out about tubes and prices

 

[George Farmer]

aparently arcadia do a 80w t5 unit, just emailed arcadia to find out about tubes and prices

80w T5 is HO T5, different to PC T5.

HO T5 is one single tube. PC T5 is twin tubes.