I just built a co2 reactor w/diffuser Oh Boy!?

Question

Yep, and this is the recipe I used:

1) Pour 2 cups of sugar in container

2) Fill bottom rectangular portion of juice container w/ lukewarm water

3) Add 1 teaspoon of (dry active) yeast

4) Replace lid and tighten as good as possible

5) Place diffuser inside tank

5) Wait

Now my question is going to be of course about the recipe, (as I have scoured the internet and the results of exactly what to do are inconclusive.) But also about my diffuser.

I of course do not have a power head in my small 29 gallon aquarium. SO instead I used a air stone lined up with the flow coming out of my power filter's outtake. Which lines the resulting co2 to be coming out near the surface of the tank, but then the water flow is going to take the bubbles down, and jostle them about a bit.

I'm hoping to have good results with this setup! I'm really excited!

So what do you plant experts think about the recipe and the diffuser set up?

Answer 1

The mix is perfect, though you may want to add a bit more water if the sugar hasn't totally dissolved.

As far as diffusing it the way you mentioned, it will be almost entirely ineffective.  The power filter agitates the surface, allowing oxygen into the water.  The same process allows built up carbon dioxide to escape from the water.  This means that almost every bit of CO2 you inject into the tank will be almost immediately released into the atmosphere.  Consider lowering the current of the filter and getting a diffuser.

EDIT: Sorry, as you saw, I was working on your other question. ;^]  There are several DIY diffusers, most of which take up considerable amounts of space and are quite the eye sore.  However, you could try a simple air stone-- it will be less effective than a glass diffuser with ceramic plate, but it will work none the less.  I have yet to see a glass diffuser in a store, but you may want to make a quick run through the phone book and call ahead before spending $10 on gas and a couple hours to make a run from store to store.

EDIT 2: Yikes!  I need to keep closer tabs on your added info (lol)!  You don't need to reduce the filter's bubbles as much as how it agitates the surface.  Flat water (------------) has less surface area than the same lateral amount of agitated water (~~~~~~~).  If you can hide it, you might try hiding an upside down water bottle just above the air stone and poking tiny holes in the bottle with something like a thumb tack or even a small s***w or nail.  Any bubbles that make it into the bottle will not only have the extra exposure to water (helping them to dissolve more entirely), but they should stream out of the bottle as microbubbles, which have a far greater combined surface area than several large bubbles.  Again, this will be difficult to hide, but would be quite effective.