Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

[HoustonFishFanatic]

I have a DIY CO2 system on my 20 G. ITs the basic Sugar + Yeast in 2 L soda Bottle set-up. I put in a new glass diffuser on Saturday before which the system was generating about 1-2 bubbles per sec and all my plants were pearling.I was using a regular airstone before...........
After replacing the air stone with the glass diffuser the CO2 bubbles compleately stopped!!!!!!!!!
After that i tried everything from replacing the mixture to checking for leaks and it is still not producing any bubbles.
Can i use the Glass diffuser with the DIY set-up ? (Does it produce enough pressure to push it through the ceramic layer??????  :( ) Any suggestions!!!!!!!!!!

[szidlon]

Re: Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

I have used a similiar diffuser with a DIY CO2 system and it did work.  The problem I had was quite the opposite, I had too many bubbles.  I had one of the Red Sea plastic diffusers with the ceramic disc and it did bubble through the disc.    I'm more fishy than planty and I eventually gave up and don't add CO2 anymore.

[Mzungu]

Re: Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

Well, removing the air stone and replacing it could have released a lot of the pressure in the tubing, and since you did this on Saturday it might still be building up. How long have you had this particular yeast mixture? Usually it needs to be replaced every month to month and a half. It could be that it's "fizzing out" and taking a long time to build up pressure. Just some ideas, sorry I couldn't help more!

[eklikewhoa]

Re: Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

You would have to wait overnight like the others have stated but in my case the power of the DIY does not overcome the glass diffuser well. I had to run 2x 2L bottles to get it going.

[William]

Re: Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

HFF,

IMHE, you are correct in ditching the air stone. The application is very inefficient  when it comes to diffusing CO2 into the water column, most of the bubbles stream directly to the top of the water column and *pop* disperse upon hitting the water surface.

IME, I have found Glass/Plastic (Red Sea, Eheim) ceramic disc diffusers useless for DIY yeast reactor solutions. That said, all is not lost (except for the YTD interest you spent on the diffuser) until you upgrade to a pressurized system. As I see it you have a few options:

1) A Hagen Bubble Ladder - effective out dated technology that has to be placed in the tank - read large clear eyesore.

2) A small venturi powerhead. Poor man's counter to the Red Sea off the shelve Turbo CO2 solution. It is easier to hide the hardware in the tank and better at diffusing CO2 into the water column.    The big draw back to this system is it requires cleaning the powerhead ever week or so.

3) This is a 20 gallon tank - I suspect you have an HOB - impeller on the bottom of the filter... If so just run the tubing from the reactor into the intake plumbing. This is the most efficient method to saturate the water column with CO2 and it costs nothing. Please note: if you have a canister filter do not employ this method unless it's a MarineLand - impeller on the base of the filter - or you run the risk of cavitation, which can lock up the motor or at the very least produce an annoying rattle for a few days before it's toast.

I look forward to following your progress.

Best regards,

William

[Mzungu]

Re: Glass Diffuser and DIY Co2

Wow, thanks for the info, William. I've always heard not to run CO2 through your canister filter unless it's a Magnum, but I always just assumed you couldn't run it through your HOB. Cool!