DIY CO2 Generator System Kit with Safety Valve 1 Second Quick Reaction for Aquarium Plants Integrated Design

This is a pretty great deal. I can't speak to the longevity of the gauge or valves, but the reactor works perfectly and citrate and bicarbonate are both dirt cheap, so there's no reason not to give this a try if you enjoy carbonating things. Be careful who you tell about it, however, as many people tend to get very, very angry at CO2 because it's an evil gas which infuriates swedish children and makes your feet grow . Plants crave it though, so I dig it, and so should you.You'll have to take my word for it that there is indeed gas being generated in the photo. For whatever reason, it just will not show up on camera.Edit: After a few weeks running the generator, I should add a caveat. I believe others may have mentioned this, but it is very easy to induce a runaway reaction that can drain your reagents in a matter of hours. A blocked tube at the bottom of the bicarbonate chamber, for instance, or a leak somewhere in the output. The volume of gas space is important, as the reaction is driven by pressure differentials. All of this is to say that you should take care when starting a new cycle, and take care to weigh your reagents precisely. And if you're end aim is free gas rather than dissolved gas, put a bubbler/scrubber in the line to maintain pressure.

I wanted to try CO2, but I didn’t want to break the bank. I’ve never used CO2 before and wasn’t sure I’d like it, so I started small by getting this kit. I am IMPRESSED.I paired this kit with a FZONE DC CO2 Solenoid Valve set on a timer from 6a to 3p. One bubble per second in my 10 gallon tank and the DIY co2 lasts just over two weeks.I’ve refilled it three times. I thought I could squeeze out an extra week during last night’s refill by using 300g of citric acid and 300g of baking soda (instead of the 200g of each) and the corresponding increased amount of water (900ml and 300ml, respectively), but pressure never really built to a usable amount. Since the ratio of agent:water was still the same, I thought I could just dump 1/3 of the liquid in each bottle, but it still took a long time to build pressure. I dumped out both bottles and started over with the recommended amounts. BOOM. Almost instant pressure. Moral of the story: don’t try to cheat. Or if you do, maybe just 10% more, not 50% like I tried.Aquarium photos top/bottom before/after shows my tank the day after I set it up and again about 10 days or so after I started injecting CO2. A noticeable difference. My floating plants are also doing very well.Second photo shows a little wastebasket I found that holds the two bottles perfectly (with room for the magnet on the citric acid bottle).Third photo was taken moments ago. Emersed plants (water lily, monstera adansonii, and pothos n’joy) are also very happy. They all seem to like the 77 degree water temp, light, and aquarium water.Great value. Easy to use (lots of YouTube videos out there). Holds up well. Worth a try.

If you are looking for an inexpensive way to add co2 to your fish tank, then this is a fairly easy way to go. You choose how big you want to go. Just make sure you have your ingredient measurements figured out. I went with 2 1 liter bottles as I’m just running it on a 5 gallon tank.The build quality is good as is the finishing. The instructions are easy to follow and other than the bottles, chemicals, a diffuser, and a automatic valve & timer, your all setSet up is fairly straightforward, but a scale helps get your dry ingredients correct. Helpful hint make sure to mix both ingredients, but the baking soda (not baking powder) will not totally dissolve. As it mixes with the citric acid it will slowly dissolve. Make sure to use the test tube thingy for your initial charge to get your pressure building. Drop it in and screw the bottle in quickly. The instructions are a bit vague on the amount so I just fill it up to the topmost line.The way this works is pretty neat. Since you’re not reacting all of the ingredients at once you get a lower working pressure over all but a good amount of time between recharging.As the pressure builds in the acid BOTTLE it will force the acid solution into the baking soda (BS) solution causing a reaction. It is fairly self regulating. As you use co2 it drops the pressure in the BS bottle allowing the acid to enter building pressure again… It will follow this cycle until the acid bottle empties. This being the case, the system runs at 2-4 bars in my experience. A regulator option would be nice, but once you get used to how it operates it’s almost set and forget (on a timer) as the pressure generally stays fairly constant until the end. There is pressure relieving valve. I also use an inline needle/check valve to help regulate the amount of co2 as well.Leaking is not great. Not that the unit leaks at all, but if you develop a leak in a line then the unit will deplete the acid relatively quickly. I recommend keeping the valve body well above the water level to insure that water does not enter any valves/regulators you might have in line. Don’t rely solely on a check valve. I’ve tried numerous brands and types and all have failed to one extent or another. With the included magnet you can raise the level of the intake tube for the acid to stop the reaction before depleting the acid solution.I had an issue where my pressure gauge was not reading correctly. I contacted the company and they immediately offered to send me a replacement valve for free. It was to come from China, so it would take a week or four, but not really an issue as I’ve grown accustomed to how the system should operate. As it happens they ended up just sending me a whole new unit, which I received within a week. Awesome customer service!!

Using this to add CO2 to my indoor grow. So far it works as needed.

This worked for about a month and I was very happy with the results. Then last night it came within minutes of killing all my fishI happened to look at the tank and noticed most of the fish at the surface as far as they could get from the co2 diffuser gasping for breath. The bottom dwellers were laying on their sides or backs also gasping. I noticed that the co2 stream, which had been fine 20 minutes earlier, was gushing.I immediately turned off the co2 and cranked up the air stone. I went to bed not knowing if anything would be alive in the morning but everything seems to have survived.As I tried to figure out what happened I noticed that the reading on the pressure gauge was almost off scale. I assume the white pressure release valve failed.Now I'm afraid to go away and leave it running so I have to turn it off every time I leave the house, at least until I can get a different system.