"Russell" wrote in message
om...

I've just done another 80L (30%) water change this morning. I found a
dead wiptail this morning, but all the other fish seem ok. I've throw
away the co2 bottle as i really don't want this to happen again. I'm
going to invest in a Proper pressurised dosing unit.

I have two 2L soda bottles mounted inside one of those large white 10L
buckets that restraunts use (I think they use them in the building trade
too); they have a sealable lid, so I just made a hole on the lid large
enough for the air/CO2 piping to go through, and it has the added advantage
of containing a bottle explosion, should one occur, and keeping the ambient
temperature stable (if you put an aquarium heater and some water in there in
cold weather).

I have check valves on each bottle line before the T-connection and one past
the T-connection to the tank, this prevents either the CO2 getting into the
tank, or the tank siphoning out into the bottles. I am also quite mindful of
the temperatures of the CO2 and the tank, because one being warmer than the
other can cause siphoning. i.e. you don't need to have your bottles tipped
over if the tank water is warmer than the yeast mixture, for it to get into
the tank.(rare btw., it's usually the other way around).

I also use tank water for the bottles so this temperature variation is kept
to a minimum.

As a tripple safe guard, I have inside the bucket a 375ml glass jar, half
filled with water, which I can hear (bubble counter) but also acts as a gas
exchanger/buffer.

I don't have cats or any animal other than the fish in the tank, so maybe I
am being over cautious, but I have heard so many stories on the internet of
yeast mixture getting into tanks because of various over looked things.

I guess I am paranoid about, firstly, yeast mixture, and secondly, carbonic
acid getting into the tank and killing everything and having the gas
exchanger there is peace of mind for me.

Also my bottles are lower than the tank (on the ground) which is against
advice about housing and operating these rigs, but once again the exchanger
is a "peace of mind" buffer too.


I hope this is a good warning to anyone using these diy co2 kits to
make sure that they are housed properly! As my tank is close to the
wall i couldn't hang the diy bottle from the back of the tank.

Well one thing's for sure - it won't happen again at your place I
thoroughly recommend mounting the bottles inside something the kittens can't
get into, and if you use a buffer/exchanger and check valves there is less
chance of the kitties pulling the lines and causing a siphon. If you put an
inline joiner in the aquarium line, if the kitties pull the line, it will
split outside the tank and all you will have to worry about would possibly
be drunk kittens, some yeast on the floor if it siphons out, and a pH rise
in the tank , which is better IMO than a cloudy poisoned tank.

How many days do you think i should key doing these large water
changes to get rid of any pollutants? I've now done two 30% water
changes. It is still cloudy but i can now see the back of my tank!

I have never had this type of accident (touch wood) so I can't comment from
any sort of experience, but I read something on a site the other day which
went along the lines: There isn't anything a 50% water change can't fix and
50% changing never killed anything - or something like that.

So my advice (not experience) is to up it to 50% water changes until it
clears. I would imagine the bacteria in the filter were killed off by the
alchohol, so when it clears perhaps a complete media change?

These are only suggestions, as I've stated, they are not from any personal
experience with such issues.


Also, when doing the change, i cleaned the filter media (in tank
water) and it was really really slimy. Do you think i might have an
algae problem as well?

I have heard of the CO2 slimes after an accident like this. I really
recommend you outright replace the media. I'd say the yeast spores that
remain in the current media will always generate this slime long after you
have the water sorted out.

All the best,

Oz

--
My Aquatic web Blog is at http://members.optusnet.com.au/ivan.smith