# Best DIY cO2 Diffuser



## Geniusdudekiran

I use a piece of a bamboo chopstick. Works very well and doesn't look bad. It's on the first page of the link in my signature. Check it out!


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## AquaStudent

wow that's nice. Does it have to be a bamboo chopstick or can it be just a regular cheap one from a chinese restaurant. i just made a trip to walmart (my suitemates wanted to go) and i picked up some tubing, sugar, yeast, baking soda, valve check, and two small airstones.

I spent $11 in total so if this works im going to be very happy.


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## johnnygstacks

I built this one today. It cost me about $8 to make, looks like a ceramic one, doesn't take up a lot of space and produces fine bubbles. I stole this design off someone from youtube.

Easy to make, vinyl hose, a plastic syringe, 3 cotton circle facial things, and a suction cup.


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## boringname

Has anyone tried glueing the end of the tube shut and then making a tiny pin hole to let the co2 out? Just wondering if that works.


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## AquaStudent

Johnny I think I have seen that design. Where did you find the plastic syringe? The only thing I was confused about is i thought they made the rings from cotton balls that he jammed up into the tube or something.


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## Cottagewitch

AquaStudent said:


> I have a 10 gallon tank that I want to start up a DIY co2 system. I'm confident with everything except the diffuser at the end.
> 
> Would it be acceptable to attach the exit line to the intake of my Aqueon quiteflow 10? I want something that's simple and cheap...preferably DIY if possible.
> 
> Would purchasing a wooden airstone work just as well?
> 
> Thanks



I use a wooden airstone and it works fine. But I wouldn't mind trying out the bamboo chopstick idea when the airstone has outlived its usefulness.


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## kevmo911

AquaStudent said:


> JWhere did you find the plastic syringe?


Any medical supply store. They're all over the place, and the syringes are dirt cheap. Other uses for them in our hobby including measuring out ferts and other chems, spot-dosing plants for algae outbreaks, and squirting soapy water on CO2 setups to find leaks.


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## johnnygstacks

AquaStudent said:


> Johnny I think I have seen that design. Where did you find the plastic syringe? The only thing I was confused about is i thought they made the rings from cotton balls that he jammed up into the tube or something.


The plastic syringe i got at petco in the dog medicine section for $2.50 the 10 ml. i also had to put the airline in boiling hot water to slip it over the nipple of the syringe. I got the piece of clear vinyl tubing from home depot, 5/8 x 1/2 in 10ft for $5 ( in case i wanna make extras).

The cotton balls thing is kinda tricky. In that person's demo they just took the circle cotton pad and cut it in half and shoved as many they could fit into the hose. 

I Just cut maybe about a centimeter thick straight line on three of the cotton pads, then and only using the center piece lines i cut, i wrapped them very tight and stuck into the tubing. Shoved the tubing into the syringe grab a suction cup and your ready to go. It seems like it takes a little while for it to get going, think it builds alot more pressure to shove through the cotton :icon_conf.

Chopstick seemed to produced large bubbles every few seconds for me. I like wooden airstone but the fineness of the bubbles seems to decrease after awhile.

Good luck if you decide to go this way, you won't regret it if you make it properly, I haven't after a day and a half :icon_bigg lol


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## Zmuda

I just made a DIY Co2 and this is what im using. Nice because it adds extra filtration. http://www.petco.com/product/13796/Hagen-Elite-Mini-Underwater-Filter.aspx?CoreCat=FishFC_Filters


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## seyone

Zmuda, that is exactly what I use. It works really well and is cheap.


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## seyone

johnnygstacks said:


> I built this one today. It cost me about $8 to make, looks like a ceramic one, doesn't take up a lot of space and produces fine bubbles. I stole this design off someone from youtube.
> 
> Easy to make, vinyl hose, a plastic syringe, 3 cotton circle facial things, and a suction cup.


do you have the youtube link?


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## Zmuda

seyone said:


> Zmuda, that is exactly what I use. It works really well and is cheap.


Good, i just got it like an hour ago and am mixing the suger and stuff now. I glad to know it works good.


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## johnnygstacks

seyone said:


> do you have the youtube link?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2y2QhbVo6HI&NR=1


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## seyone

Zmuda said:


> Good, i just got it like an hour ago and am mixing the suger and stuff now. I glad to know it works good.



check this out http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...s/44053-tiny-super-efficient-co2-reactor.html


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## TRD_Power

Could you jam an air stone under your gravel and make it spread around even more that way?


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## johnnygstacks

TRD_Power said:


> Could you jam an air stone under your gravel and make it spread around even more that way?


I tried this before with a fine air stone b4 and what i got was little bubbles merging into big bubbles, perhaps with different substrates, and pressure conditions it maybe possible, I have yet to hear or see it.


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## james0816

johnnygstacks said:


> I built this one today. It cost me about $8 to make, looks like a ceramic one, doesn't take up a lot of space and produces fine bubbles. I stole this design off someone from youtube.
> 
> Easy to make, vinyl hose, a plastic syringe, 3 cotton circle facial things, and a suction cup.


I'd be tempted to try this myself. Is there a how to out here for it?

I use the glass nano's but it's always good to have others at the ready when it's time to clean them.


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## johnnygstacks

james0816 said:


> I'd be tempted to try this myself. Is there a how to out here for it?
> 
> I use the glass nano's but it's always good to have others at the ready when it's time to clean them.


yes there is, google search "VIMI CO2 difuzorius per 5﻿ minutes", make sure and use google translate when you open the page, there is a step by step with pics.


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## kevinslad

another quick way and it works great for diy setup is take a clean cigarette filter and put it in the air line u will end up having some nice micro bubbles


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## Zmuda

kevinslad said:


> another quick way and it works great for diy setup is take a clean cigarette filter and put it in the air line u will end up having some nice micro bubbles


Sounds good


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## AquaStudent

kevinslad said:


> another quick way and it works great for diy setup is take a clean cigarette filter and put it in the air line u will end up having some nice micro bubbles


that's an interesting one


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## GhostRider

I just took a suringe and cut it at the 2ml mark, melted the edge a bit to make it round. Then i took 4 halfs of those round face pads and jammed em in there tight, cut off the extra, chared the frillies a bit. works good, and im getting a good set of micro bubbles. Just make sure if its a diy system you have no leaks. itll take a bit to build enough pressure to push through...


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## Moody636

I used the cig filter method when I had DIY co2, but I just bought a nano co2 diffuser off eBay for 5 backdrop shipped. With that kind of price it's not worth the hassle. 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk


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## Zmuda

Zmuda said:


> I just made a DIY Co2 and this is what im using. Nice because it adds extra filtration. http://www.petco.com/product/13796/Hagen-Elite-Mini-Underwater-Filter.aspx?CoreCat=FishFC_Filters


This is how I have it set up. Drilled a hole for the line to go into the filter, and put a fine mist air stone on it. Once it goes through the filter it comes out the sponge that I took out of re filter and put it on it out take thing. It does better with the sponge on the out take thing so it makes the bubbles even more fine than they would be after the air stone and going through the blades inside the filter...


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## Edub

johnnygstacks said:


> yes there is, google search "VIMI CO2 difuzorius per 5﻿ minutes", make sure and use google translate when you open the page, there is a step by step with pics.


 
http://www.vimi.lt/co2-difuzorius-per-5-minutes.html

This is the website, untranslated. This is what I use in my DIY system, very simple to make and makes very fine bubbles. Total cost is around $2 bucks for a syringe, I don't use the tubing he was talking about or any suction cups and I "borrowed" some cotton pads from my sister. The more cotton you can manage to stuff into the syringe the better, then just hack off the extra and plug it in.


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## AirstoND

The deeper it is, the more backpressure DIY system will have to create to counter pressure from tank water. Don't forget the one-way check valve also.

I use the venturi port from a pwrhead, midway into tank depth.


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## timhowell88

I have just made the syringe diffuser and it works perfectly. Cost less than $10. Using DIY CO2.


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## burr740

I use a powerhead. There is a mod you can do by taking out the impellar and cutting each blade, longways, and spreading them apart, essentially making two blades out of every one. There's a youtube vid somewhere but I cant find it atm. I think Hoppy posted it but Im not sure.

Regardless of this or any of the above mentioned methods, you can benefit greatly by tightly stuffing a piece of regular cotton ball into the end of the line. It acts as sort of a pre-diffuser making whatever method you choose more efficient.

Here's mine, using a powerhead - 



























Link to complete build thread - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=659290


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## jmeeter

Geniusdudekiran said:


> I use a piece of a bamboo chopstick. Works very well and doesn't look bad. It's on the first page of the link in my signature. Check it out!


I don't see the chopsticks in either of the links in your sig! Can you provide a direct link?


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## Tvadna

+1 for what Burr does. There are other methods but the same idea. Hagen Elite used to make an inexpensive filter that you can jam the airline into. The other way is to put it into a HOB. 

I use a HOB for my smaller thanks. I modified the intake with a cheap sponge filter. The parts are modular so a little change in the order results in a great system for me. The CO2 is a gas and wants to naturally rise, it is pulled down by the suction of the impeller and into the filter intake where it is further broken up by the impellar. The clear parts of the sponge filter act as a bubble counter for me. The other added bonus is that it has a prefilter and is completely shrimp safe. The only downside of this method is that it cuts the flow on the filter a bit. Because it is so effective at diffusing, it can be a bit taxing to get dialed in at first but most CO2 systems take a bit of time to get in the goldilocks zone.


It can take a bit of space up in the tank but in the second picture, you can see that it can be folded onto itself for a more compact look.









Again in another tank


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## Kubla

AquaStudent said:


> Where did you find the plastic syringe?


I tried to purchase one at the pharmacy counter in Target and they just gave it to me.


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## Attackturtle

If anybody has trouble getting them in a store they sell them online as well. They are NOT medical sharp and are also great for putting glue in small hard to reach areas. 

I just made a syringe CO2 diffuser with one I had. I took the needle off, cut it in half, and stuffed it full of a cotton ball. There were lots of micro bubbles and a few large bubbles. While out, I bought a few of those cotton face pads. came back and only micro bubbles are coming out. 

https://www.amazon.com/Duda-Energy-...rd_wg=7kxkq&psc=1&refRID=JMTTWYE1V0EZHFBXZM1S

I was pretty disappointed to find out my ceramic diffuser wont work with my DIY setup. Needs a higher pressure than I can produce.


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