There are a couple of DIY methods to create CO2 for your aquarium, each one with its own pros and cons:
Baking Soda + Vinegar
The fastest, easiest and cheapest way to create CO2. However, it doesn't last long. Thus requiring constant intervention to keep the CO2 production.
Yeast + Sugar
A little more complicated then the previous one, but still easy. The production last for some days, but is somewhat irregular. After some days, acid starts to buildup, which kills the yeast and stops the CO2 production.
Yeast + Sugar + Baking Soda
The baking soda neutralizes the buildup of acid and increases the CO2 production. After some fine tuning, this method can last for 1-2 weeks and will only stop after the yeast have consumed all the sugar. However, the CO2 production is still somewhat irregular (a peak in the first few days followed by a fast decay).
Yeast + Sugar + Baking Soda + Gelatin
The goal of the gelatin is to control the sugar consumption. It takes some trial and error to fine tune the proportions of the ingredients. You will notice that different manufacturers requires different proportions. However, after doing so, this is the method that can last longer (up to a month) with the steadiest CO2 production.
This article will discuss solely the 4th method for CO2 production. The delivery system into the aquarium and other production methods will be discussed in other articles.
Materials Required
Steps
Alternative
Some folks prefer a softer gelatin instead of hardened. That's up to each one taste, there is no right or wrong answer.
The tradeoff to care about here is very simple:
Materials Required
Steps
Attention
Colorless gelatin sold in sheets is much more expensive than ready-made gelatin, for example:
Also, colorless gelatin requires more sugar while the ready-one has already half the sugar needed.
Therefore, there is no reason (besides esthetics) to use colorless gelatin in this DIY.
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