Help: DIY CO2 disaster

Yesterday my DIY CO2 reactor (coke bottle) fell over and managed to dispense
just under 1/4 of the total mixture in to my tank(tube goes in to Fluval
filter). My wife just called to tell me the aquarium water is a milky white
color and some fish are dead. She indicated that It looked "alive, like
plankton". Is this possible? Perhaps a chain reaction? Help.

default wrote:
Yesterday my DIY CO2 reactor (coke bottle) fell over and managed to dispense
just under 1/4 of the total mixture in to my tank(tube goes in to Fluval
filter). My wife just called to tell me the aquarium water is a milky white
color and some fish are dead. She indicated that It looked "alive, like
plankton". Is this possible? Perhaps a chain reaction? Help.


Someone had this happen last month. I believe the advice was to do big
water changes daily until the mess is back under control.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

I guess my main concern is if the alcohol slurry has wiped out all of the
previous biological filtering, and the "living" plankton my wife described.
I don't leave work for a few hours still....

"Elaine T" wrote in message
m...
default wrote:
Yesterday my DIY CO2 reactor (coke bottle) fell over and managed to
dispense
just under 1/4 of the total mixture in to my tank(tube goes in to Fluval
filter). My wife just called to tell me the aquarium water is a milky
white
color and some fish are dead. She indicated that It looked "alive, like
plankton". Is this possible? Perhaps a chain reaction? Help.


Someone had this happen last month. I believe the advice was to do big
water changes daily until the mess is back under control.

--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

default wrote:
I guess my main concern is if the alcohol slurry has wiped out all of the
previous biological filtering, and the "living" plankton my wife described.
I don't leave work for a few hours still....

Hard to know what's happened to the biofiltration without an ammonia
test, but the total percentage of alcohol in your tank should be
vanishingly small. The "plankton" is probably strings of yeast or
bacteria growing on the sugar. You could tell your wife to add a dose
of an ammonia neutralizer like Prime, AmQuel or Stress Coat if you have
any around. An airstone would also be a good idea if she can set one
up, since the yeast and bacteria will be depeleting oxygen.

Good luck with it.
--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

Thank you.
That makes sense. I only hope it is not a total loss before I get home.

"Elaine T" wrote in message
om...
default wrote:
I guess my main concern is if the alcohol slurry has wiped out all of
the
previous biological filtering, and the "living" plankton my wife
described.
I don't leave work for a few hours still....

Hard to know what's happened to the biofiltration without an ammonia
test, but the total percentage of alcohol in your tank should be
vanishingly small. The "plankton" is probably strings of yeast or
bacteria growing on the sugar. You could tell your wife to add a dose
of an ammonia neutralizer like Prime, AmQuel or Stress Coat if you have
any around. An airstone would also be a good idea if she can set one
up, since the yeast and bacteria will be depeleting oxygen.

Good luck with it.
--
__ Elaine T __
__' http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__

"salcini" wrote in news:cvgc5b$7un$1
@gnus01.u.washington.edu:

Thank you.
That makes sense. I only hope it is not a total loss before I get home.


Once you get it under control (water changes) there should be no lasting
damage (been there done that). You might want to switch to a wider CO2
bottle. I found the large plastic jugs (think they are about 3-4) you can
get juices in (cranberry, ocean spray etc.) are great and much less
tippable.

P.

"Pete" wrote in message
...
"salcini" wrote in news:cvgc5b$7un$1
@gnus01.u.washington.edu:

Thank you.
That makes sense. I only hope it is not a total loss before I get home.


Once you get it under control (water changes) there should be no lasting
damage (been there done that). You might want to switch to a wider CO2
bottle. I found the large plastic jugs (think they are about 3-4) you can
get juices in (cranberry, ocean spray etc.) are great and much less
tippable.

P.

That's what I did and haven't had anything get tipped over since. Look at
the bright aside of it ..... you don't sound like you were using Jell-O.
Now that really makes a mess :-(

Bob

Thanks again for the help! I only lost 2 loach's but It looked horrible,
smelled bad too. The water change did help considerably though. I think I
might have to invest in some hardware soon. I am going to use different
containers for sure, try and cat proof them.

"Robert Flory" wrote in message
...

"Pete" wrote in message
...
"salcini" wrote in news:cvgc5b$7un$1
@gnus01.u.washington.edu:

Thank you.
That makes sense. I only hope it is not a total loss before I get
home.


Once you get it under control (water changes) there should be no lasting
damage (been there done that). You might want to switch to a wider CO2
bottle. I found the large plastic jugs (think they are about 3-4) you
can
get juices in (cranberry, ocean spray etc.) are great and much less
tippable.

P.

That's what I did and haven't had anything get tipped over since. Look at
the bright aside of it ..... you don't sound like you were using Jell-O.
Now that really makes a mess :-(

Bob

I am going to use different
containers for sure, try and cat proof them.

The 2 liters are superior because the bottles and caps are co2 resistant
and designed to contain pressurized gas. Juice bottles and caps are not
so there is an inherent risk involved with using them. Many people do
use them apparently without incident, but over time I think the chance
for failure of some kind is increased.

My 2 liter bottles are stored under the tank in the stand cabinet where
my 15lb cat likes to play. I put an adhesive hook strip of velcro
vertically on each bottle and the matching loop velcro strip on the
cabinet. The bottles are very secure and easily removed and replaced.

Rich M

"Rich M" wrote in message
...
I am going to use different
containers for sure, try and cat proof them.

The 2 liters are superior because the bottles and caps are co2 resistant
and designed to contain pressurized gas. Juice bottles and caps are not
so there is an inherent risk involved with using them. Many people do
use them apparently without incident, but over time I think the chance
for failure of some kind is increased.

My 2 liter bottles are stored under the tank in the stand cabinet where
my 15lb cat likes to play. I put an adhesive hook strip of velcro
vertically on each bottle and the matching loop velcro strip on the
cabinet. The bottles are very secure and easily removed and replaced.

Rich M

I've been using some for a year. The only problem I've had us seal failure
around the fancy poly tubing I use. I am switching to small brass bayonet
fittings .... the tubing slides over. I don't think I've ever had a lid
not seal, if it did... I'd just get no pressure to the tank. That's a pain
but no disaster.

Bob