CO2

[ThomasLynn]

I'm interested in boosting the growth in my 20gallon planted. Right now I just use the Excel liquid CO2 booster... Are the DIY video's on YouTube for a CO2 system really that easy to make and work as good as it seems? Anyone have experience building these and can vouch for their 'value'. I'm too cheap to buy a full system, that is until I actually have a fair sized tank.

[magnosis]

You would have to be more specific, there are tons and tons of vids on youtube and tons of different ways to inject CO2 in a tank.  As far as generating the CO2 there are two options:  a DIY yeast-based system (mixing yeast and sugar in a water solution) or a pressurized CO2 tanks & regulator.  The former is cheap in the short term but more hassle as you need to change the mixture regularly and make sure the output is sufficient for your tank, while the later solution is more expensive from the get go (though cheaper in the long term) but simpler to setup and maintain.

One of the most popular DIY system for mixing CO2 in the water column is one introduced by Tom Barr called the Dual Venturi DIY Reactor:  http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/3444-Dual-venturi-DIY-External-CO2-reactor
There are many variations of this particular reactor, some can you purchased on-line either made by other folks or as commercial products.

You best friend here is the SEARCH bar on this Forum.  This topic has been covered multiple time already and you should be able to find all the info you need simply by searching for DIY CO2 or something like that.

Good luck !

[ThomasLynn]

So I cracked and picked up one of the small Fluval mini pressurized co2 units from La Niche. The only issue is I can't freakin figure out if there is any co2 going into the chamber! Anyone have one of these? Suggestions? I don't want to just leave it on and see if I notice a difference since there could obviously be negative consequences...

[smalltownfan]

This setup worked great for me until I went to a pressurized system.  http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=35232.msg220049#msg220049

[smalltownfan]

And oh, by the way. Once you go to Green Side it's addictive. You'll eventually try to duplicate a specific location and research the plants and fish native to that river. My S/A is a biotope of a tributary of the Rio Paolo, part of the Amazon basin.

[ThomasLynn]

Yeah, I've had plants in the tank, but never really went full blast into it. I picked up some Flourite from a member, just added a mini co2 system from Fluval and now will look into boosting lighting. AND just as I think I have a plan it looks like I may be getting a bigger tank... lol OH WELL, better switch things up again! lol Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the other posts.