# Obtaining C02



## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

I was in chemistry class about 5 mins ago (I'm in the library now) and we did an interesting experiment with baking soda and vinegar to obtain carbon dioxide. We put about a cup of baking soda in a flask and added about the same amount of vinegar and then quickly put a ballon over top of the flask. The ballon soon filled to capacity with c02. I was wondering if it is possible to do this at home in an empty soda bottle and a large ballon and then empty the contents of the ballon into my tank. Any ideas?


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## hughie (Sep 7, 2003)

I suppose you could but you would have to watch out you dont spill the vinegar mix into the water.
Also for a constant supply you would be standing there doing it all day.

Interesting experiment tho dude!


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## Husky_Jim (May 26, 2003)

i 've never heard of that mixure.But from what you say i think that this is useless cause it will produce a lot of Co2 instantly which wil cause a dramatic change in your tank's chemistry.Note that with the other systems or DIY bottles the Co2 supply is 2 bubbles per second.(this varies according to the tank's size....

But if you finally do this please tell us the results


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

when you try to empty the CO2 from the balloon into your tank its all going to escape out of the sides. Gas molecules move VERY fast. There are other options to get the gas directly into the water.


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## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

what i was figuring was putting a ballon over top of the bottle to capture the c02 gas, then pinching the ballon so no air excapes, then holding the filled ballon under water and letting the c02 out slowly.


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

hmm, theoretically that sounds like it would work........try it out and let me know how it works. I think somewhere in the Non P section, spiderman20099UK put up plans for a makeshift co2 system.


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

I copied the DIY CO2 system stuart (spiderman2099) uses, cost me less then £1 and is working fine, give him a PM, sure he'll explain better than I can.


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

link to stuart's co2 design?


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## Burf (Nov 3, 2003)

I've just found this, it isn't stuarts, but I think its where he got his design from (its the same as I use):

http://www.plantedtank.net/co2.html


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## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

Thats an awesome idea. I definitly have to do that.


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## channafreak (Mar 27, 2004)

I am running a fluval canister filter. If I ran the tubing next to the intake to let the CO2 get sucked up into the filter would this work as well for diffusion.


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## HighOctane (Jan 2, 2003)

I think putting the tubing into the filter intake would cause the filter to make a crap load of noise because of the air pockets hitting the impeller. I have this set up right now and what I HAD was the tubing running into the intake of my Powerhead which every second spit out a burst of small bubbles which quickly diffused into the water. This was working great for about a week and I GREATLY noticed a change in all my plants. Currently I took the bottle off my 125 gallon and put it on my 10 gallon to help that tank out. I have an air stone hanging in the tank which pops out a few bubles every one or 2 seconds. Every morning I shake the bottle which reactivates the yeast and for a few seconds I get HUGE bursts of C02. This is seeming to work great so if putting the tubing into the filter intake isnt working for you try what I am doing.


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## lament configuration (Jun 22, 2003)

cool, glad to hear that those DIY co2 plans work well.


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