Major Catastrophe With Co2 Bottle

[Beemeeup]

175 Litre Tank

yesterday at 5.00 pm i dropped the DIY CO2 Bottle and a major gush of the liquid entered the Tank.

I immediately changed 60% of the water and put two Carbon Filters into the Fluval Filter.

This morning - disaster.

All fish gasping at top of tank and hardly moving - 1 Dead (Rosy Barb). Water very cloudy.

I changed again 50% of the water just now
and put in a Air Stone.

What more if anything can I do?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

so the actual liquid from the bottle went into the tank, or just too much Co2?

we had it with too much Co2 when the regulator got knocked, we turned the Co2 off immediately, adjusted filter outputs to give maximum surface agitiation, added an airstone and within 24 hrs all the fish were OK again

if it's the liquid that's got in I'd keep doing massive water changes, have you tested your levels of ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate... not sure what effect this would ahve on them

 

[dave_m13]

I had a similar issue, not with Co2 bottle but with a Sochtang CO2 unit, some how it broke within the tank and released some liquid that was held within it. All my fish were gasping and at the top of tank, the water very cloudy. I tested Amm that was 0 but then tested for Nitrite and it was a 5, so changed alot of water using Seachem Prime and added a polyfilter (Removes toxins and Tannins similar to carbon).

As soon as adding the new water and polyfilter the nitrites went back to zero, I however lost 5 tiger barbs and 2 hillstream loach. I have not had the issue since.

Not sure whether the same but I would check your water for Amm and Nitrite as a min.

 

[Beemeeup]

Thanks for help - It was the liquid that got into the tank.

I have tested water now and all are showing OK. The water is very cloudy still after doing a 50% water change last night and today.

The fish seem to have stopped going to the surface - no more fatalities yet other than one Rosy Barb.

 

[InaneCathode]

Sounds like its calming down a bit.
If your bottle was near the end of its life, it probably contained mostly ethanol and water. Ethanol is like ammonia in the way it burns the gills of fish and poisons their blood.

 

[Beemeeup]

Sounds like its calming down a bit.
If your bottle was near the end of its life, it probably contained mostly ethanol and water. Ethanol is like ammonia in the way it burns the gills of fish and poisons their blood.

Tanks for help - no more fatalities - water is clear and fish are feeding OK. Will be careful with CO2 in future.

 

[rockerBOO]

Probably just adding a check value would help.

 

[Beemeeup]

Probably just adding a check value would help.

Does a check valve stop the liquid going into the tank? I thought it stopped water going from tank to Bottle - can you help please as your idea would solve any future problem

 

[InaneCathode]

It could help with both. One could be for water coming back from the tank into the bottle, another could trap/isolate any liquid coming from your bottle into the tank.

If you've ever seen a nebulizer, you could easily design a water trap like that, it could also function to polish your co2.

 

[Beemeeup]

It could help with both. One could be for water coming back from the tank into the bottle, another could trap/isolate any liquid coming from your bottle into the tank.

If you've ever seen a nebulizer, you could easily design a water trap like that, it could also function to polish your co2.

Thanks for advice - I will search for the connections.

 

[InaneCathode]

You probably dont have to buy products, you might have more success and fun designing them yourself. A good water trap could be a bottle the same size or a bit larger than your yeast reactor. One tube coming in from the reactor at the top, another tube sticking into the space at the other side at the top. Idea is, any fluid that comes from your reactor falls to the bottom of the trap, leaving just gas to pass into the rest of the system.
A check valve could simply be a ball sitting inside a small chamber vertically, sitting ontop of the co2 supply line. As soon as anything tries to go back into the rest of the system from your tank, the ball seats!

It'd be a fun project all around!

PS: It would be nice to have a clarifying solution inline from your reactor. Have the co2 supply line submerged in a solution, and have the gas bubble up through the liquid. It could remove any odors, bacteria, or airborne detrius bound to get in your tank.

 

[vic]

Simple solution. Build a second CO2 reactor of say a 1 litre size. Put 2 holes in the cap. Route the CO2 line from your CO2 reactor into the new cylinder with the line going down to a couple of inches from the bottom of the cylinder. Route a second line from the new cylinder to you tank. This line should go into the second cylinder by several inches. If you get a transfer of "goop" from your reactor it will simply be trapped in the safety cylinder. You may want to tape the second cylinder to the reactor so that there tops are similar in height and the line runs are thereby minimized.
A 175litre tank is about 46 USFG. This size tank is pretty much beyond the capacity of a single DIY CO2 reactor. You should probably be using at least 2 reactors. It is also time to start thinking about pressurized subject to the amount of light you have on the tank.
Vic