# DIY CO2 - Glass Bottle?



## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

I don't see why not. I'd think the glass would be even better, honestly - less chance of tipping.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

cg49me said:


> I don't see why not. I'd think the glass would be even better, honestly - less chance of tipping.


Thanks what I thought. Plus, it looks a lot better than the plastic.

It's just that some write-ups I have seen talk about bottle explosion. But that only happens if the gas outlet is stopped. Any chance of a check valve failure?


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi dgaplin,

I always used 1 liter or 2 liter (or 2X 2 liter on a 45 gallon) soda bottles. I think the reason some folks might shy away from glass is if the tubing gets plugged (don't overfill your bottles) there can be a substantial build-up of pressure and there is the possibility of this! With glass it could have been worse.


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## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi dgaplin,
> 
> I always used 1 liter or 2 liter (or 2X 2 liter on a 45 gallon) soda bottles. I think the reason some folks might shy away from glass is if the tubing gets plugged (don't overfill your bottles) there can be a substantial build-up of pressure and there is the possibility of this! With glass it could have been worse.


This guy was using a home brew pulped fruit recipe to make some wine, and was just utilizing the resultant CO2 for his tank. He made a batch with the pulp too high, and it got clogged in the air line. Normal DIY CO2 sugar/yeast mixes don't have anything floating at the top that might clog the lines, but that gunk can still get IN the lines and into your tank (not pretty), hence why a go-between bubble counter/separator bottle is used (which dgaplin has set up).

However, in any pressurized system, there is always the chance of catastrophic failure. As far as worrying about the glass bottles shattering, though, I'd say the greater likelihood is of the caps blowing off.


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## mattinmd (Aug 16, 2014)

cg49me said:


> However, in any pressurized system, there is always the chance of catastrophic failure. As far as worrying about the glass bottles shattering, though, I'd say the greater likelihood is of the caps blowing off.


No, a normal thickness glass bottle will have the glass fail before a threaded cap or even a pry-off beer cap will fail. I've seen this many times in homebrewing.

Beginning homebrewers use a form of DIY CO2 to carbonate their beers in the bottle. Use a little too much sugar (or aggressive infection) and one of the bottles will eventually explode. The resulting shock will very likely set off others, and the chain reaction tends to roll through and destroy the whole batch in a giant mess of glass shards and beer froth. It is a reasonably common problem.


This post has a great example of the resulting mess... I particularly like the quote: "Two of the cap assemblies went through the plastic shelf above."

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/too-much-priming-sugar-323776/#post4306724

That said, it does take a lot to blow the bottles, in part evidenced by the bottle tops being shot through a plastic shelving unit, it takes a few hundred PSI to do this. You'd have to be very unlucky to block the airline solidly enough to hold that much pressure.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

Someone suggested on another board to use a rubber stopper in place of the cap. Pressure buildup will blow the stopper. Easy and safe solution!


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## ffmurray (Nov 10, 2014)

I just made a diy co2 set up very similar to yours. I don't believe the glass is a problem. The lid you have on it has been drilled and airline tubing is set in it. The holes are weakening the cap. If you use clear airline you can inspect it for problems as well, and if you are putting stuff into the mix that clogs airlines..... Well don't do that. I like your setup its done well.

If you are afraid check out rubber stoppers, look at a local home brew store or online for home brew. They come pre drilled and are common and cheap.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

ffmurray said:


> I just made a diy co2 set up very similar to yours. I don't believe the glass is a problem. The lid you have on it has been drilled and airline tubing is set in it. The holes are weakening the cap. If you use clear airline you can inspect it for problems as well, and if you are putting stuff into the mix that clogs airlines..... Well don't do that. I like your setup its done well.
> 
> If you are afraid check out rubber stoppers, look at a local home brew store or online for home brew. They come pre drilled and are common and cheap.


Good tip on the predrilled stoppers. There are a few homebrew stores here in Memphis. Thanks!


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## EndlerGame (Oct 19, 2013)

I can't imagine a yeast and sugar mixture EVER building enough pressure to blow up a glass bottle, expecially a sturdy growler bottle. They normally can't even build enough pressure to make a ceramic diffuser to work, they'll just build-up pressure in the bottle and airline...and those diffisures are made of glass...if its not getting through the ceramic, it certainly won't bust glass.

What sort of diffuser are you using with this system? I've always used a ladder diffuser or a powerhead for my DIY CO2 systems.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

EndlerGame said:


> I can't imagine a yeast and sugar mixture EVER building enough pressure to blow up a glass bottle, expecially a sturdy growler bottle. They normally can't even build enough pressure to make a ceramic diffuser to work, they'll just build-up pressure in the bottle and airline...and those diffisures are made of glass...if its not getting through the ceramic, it certainly won't bust glass.
> 
> What sort of diffuser are you using with this system? I've always used a ladder diffuser or a powerhead for my DIY CO2 systems.


Just a cheap airstone at the moment.


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## mcubed45 (Jun 30, 2010)

EndlerGame said:


> I can't imagine a yeast and sugar mixture EVER building enough pressure to blow up a glass bottle, expecially a sturdy growler bottle. They normally can't even build enough pressure to make a ceramic diffuser to work, they'll just build-up pressure in the bottle and airline...and those diffisures are made of glass...if its not getting through the ceramic, it certainly won't bust glass.
> 
> What sort of diffuser are you using with this system? I've always used a ladder diffuser or a powerhead for my DIY CO2 systems.


DIY works fine with ceramic diffusers if you don't have leaks. There isn't actually a limit to how much pressure DIY can build up. Yeast don't stop fermentation when pressure builds up. Pressure just stops increasing once you spring a leak. You would probably pop a line before shattering the glass, but it's definitely possible.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

Anyone tried the cheap ladder diffusers from ebay?


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## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

They're not as good as the ceramic ones.

Hence the cheapness, probably. 

Basically, the way they work is by keep the CO2 bubbles in the water longer, giving them more time to diffuse than if they floated straight up. The ceramic diffusers break the CO2 up into smaller bubbles, which gives you a larger surface area to volume ratio, resulting in increased diffusion.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

cg49me said:


> They're not as good as the ceramic ones.
> 
> Hence the cheapness, probably.
> 
> ...


Yea, I know the glass/ceramic is better but I've read a lot about not having enough pressure to push through them in a DIY setup. So, would this cheapo ladder be the same as the Nutrafin? Better than an airstone? My tank is low-light and only 20 gallon. I'm not necessarily concerned about maximum diffusion but just something that works.


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## cg49me (Oct 25, 2014)

All of those ladder type diffusers are pretty much the same.

Depends on the airstone. If the bubbles coming out of an airstone are the same size as or larger than the ones going into the ladder, the ladder's better. If they're smaller, the airstone's better.

I'm not sure about your pressure question. As far as "just something that works", I used an airstone in my DIY setup, and the results were there.


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

Microbubbles with a bamboo skewer. Cheapest diffuser out there.


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## dgaplin (Nov 10, 2014)

THE V said:


> Microbubbles with a bamboo skewer. Cheapest diffuser out there.


Chop sticks?


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## jstehman (Dec 13, 2010)

Use a 2l instead.

The growler is better for beer!


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## ipkiss (Aug 9, 2011)

If you're going to mess with ladder diffusers , why not just go with a mini reactor? More efficient and no diffuser back pressure issues. There's all sorts of DIY ones and commercial ones https://www.google.com/search?q=aqu...&sa=X&ei=l1VmVO7fGImcNuKQgfAG&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAw 

In my experience, the ladder diffusers just build algae and were mostly useless.


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