This DIY CO2 System Lasted Almost 5 MONTHS! My Final Review Of The Colombo CO2 Reactor 

Would you buy the Colombo CO2 reactor? Similar but cheaper FOR USA: amzn.to/3qMYFPc FOR EU: amzn.to/3xrocQA Or prefer the Pro System from Plantedbox? planted-box.com/product/compl... Unboxing video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mh6oG10kCns.html Refill instructions by William Aaron Hicks! Just did my first refill/recharge. A few things: 1 - getting the regulator off was... challenging. I’m no slouch and it took several attempts and various grips and angles to finally make it happen. When I finally did get the regulator off, there was some crystallized residue in the threads and on the o-ring from a bit of an overflow experienced during the first charge. avoid the overflow if at all possible (see more below), and this shouldn’t be a problem. 2 - there will prob be crystals when you empty the solution that’s contained inside the cylinder, which I believe to be unreacted sodium bicarbonate precipitated out of solution - harmless, but be sure to get them out. 3 - rinse the cylinder out with very hot water, then fill to top up to the threads with more hot water. Let sit for a few moments until cylinder is too hot to handle, then empty. leave upright to cool and the residual heat in the metal helps to dry the cylinder inside, which helps minimize bicarb or citric acid sticking to threads during refill. 4 - remove the o-ring from the regulator and rinse - but don’t forget to put it back on the regulator after. carefully rinse the threads of the regulator (as needed), being careful not to get water inside the regulator itself - do not immerse the regulator or turn it upside down under running water such that water could possibly get inside the regulator body itself. sit upright on a piece of kitchen paper or a towel to dry, allowing threads sufficient time to dry completely before reinstalling 5 - when you add the recharge chemicals, add citric acid first. it is lighter/less dense and dissolves more quickly in water. adding the bicarb second and on top of the citric acid provides a “barrier” to a premature reaction, as it is more dense and dissolves more slowly in water. gently shake cylinder after each addition of the two components to spread powders into even layers, helping to facilitate this insulating effect. 6 - the ~45° cylinder tilt recommendation while adding water is really effective, especially after the above layering technique. while pouring the water slowly and steadily at this angle, I heard the first bit of the reaction begin from inside the cylinder, but it never bubbled over and I was able to reinstall/rethread the regulator with zero overflow or spill, which hopefully means no stuck threads next time I recharge. instinctually it may seem better to pour the water into the cylinder as quickly as possible, but doing so will invariably stir up the chemical layers leading to a potentially very messy and unexpected premature reactulation - however do not be embarrassed if it happens to you, as it is a common occurrence during one’s first time. (...you’re welcome 😜) 7 - once the regulator is fully reinstalled and the cylinder is properly sealed, gently swirl - do not shake - the cylinder contents/solution to help facilitate proper mixing and a complete reaction. After above, my cylinder was fully recharged and ready to go within about an hour, but will continue to react over the next several hours. Overall I’m really pleased with how the system has worked thus far. I’ve found several retailers with different versions of the same product for as little as US $80, a bit more for those that include the electric solenoid. As I live in NYC and finding a CO2 provider nearby was neither convenient let alone cost effective, and I find this system to be both. And as it uses food safe ingredients to generate the reaction, there shouldn’t be any risk of introducing potentially unsafe trace elements/chemicals into the tank using CO2 from a potentially unreliable source. 👍 ---------------------------------------------- 👉🏻 Looking for good fertilizers? This is what I recommend: Liquid fertilizer EU bit.ly/2LFmDvl US amzn.to/3bwAfnp Bottom fertilizer EU bit.ly/2LFsxfO US amzn.to/35xnFR2 👉🏻Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to my RU-vid channel: RU-vid.com/mjaquascaping 👉🏻Follow me on Instagram @aquascapingamsterdam 👉🏻Destroy ALGAE with my FREE ebook 📖 bit.ly/3aBaAcy 👉🏻10% DISCOUNT on buceplanet.de with code: Amsterdam10 👉🏻10% DISCOUNT on CO2ART products with code: amsterdam Some of these links are affiliate links. If you buy the product through these links I will get a small commission at no extra cost for you.

Just passing this forward. Instead of adding water, try using ice cubes. Just make sure that the cubes are small enough to fit into the hole. Measure the desired amount of water and place them in an ice tray. Alternatively, get the desired weight of ice, for example 300g, and then add it into the tank. This way, you don’t have to worry about immediate reaction and you can take your time sealing the tank. Downside to this is that you can’t use the tank in a short amount of time just because the ice needs time to completely melt. However, you will maximise the amount of co2 generated for a single batch. 👍

Just ordered one. Thank you for the review it helped me make a choice between this and a traditional CO2 system.

Thanks for all the useful info mate. You really made getting into aquascaping easier and very enjoyable. Currently running two 40l tanks on your DIY CO2 system (the one where you use gelatin and yiest).

Right on man thanks for the help. Just got my first reactor set up last week thanks to your help!

Your videos are excellent, presented naturally and well informed 👌

Mixed the citric acid and bi carb powder well before putting in the canister. It will help dissolve all. I built my own using just one old R/o water canister. Works a treat.

recently bought one from zrdr would love to see more update on this kinda system in the future, gr8 video man

I just got a system similar to this one and I'm excited to use it. I have it set and ready to go but I want to be home while it runs for the 1st time as I'm new to co2. I did a test run and it's so easy to use. Thanks for making these videos on a better diy co2 system. Oh n hello from Florida 👋🏼

Impressed with the videos 📹, both very informative 👏 pushed me on to get one for my nano tank 👍👍

Wow ❤️great sharing for CO2 lovers who want to start use new things 👍

I just purchased this system and I'm pretty happy with the review, being that it's over a year old and the cheapest setup i could find. I'll be using it on my 20 gallon . I'm super excited

I have this system 4L bottle version. I found some downside as below: 1) the refill materials, if you round up for a year or two years is actually higher then go store and refill the co2. 2) i found the co2 consideration is not the same as refill bottle one. For example if you use refill bottle version use 3 bubble per second, when you use this self-genration version you may need 6 or more bubble per sec. 3) each time refill the materials, it only good for a month or abit more then a month. Its very troublesome, and make people easier to feeling burn out. 4) i think the only 2 good side is if you live in some area which no co2 refill service, this will be a very good option. Also good environmental friendly. I think this system is only good for some small tank. I am using 40L aquarium, so i end up change back to refillable co2 instead of this self-genrate.

Thanks. Definitely the fzone it's a good choice

Sweet information bro. Very cool you took advice from a person who was kind enough to spend the time to try and throw you enough information that they could on the system you were attempting to work with. There are some really cool and nice like minded people in this hobby of ours. Love your videos and thank you. I do not use CO2 but still like having the info I might need if I decide to get into co2. Your tanks look great brother!

Seems to be one of the better systems like that and it should be for that price! I want to set up a regular co2 system in a 29g I’m setting up right now but I’m scared because I’ve never done it! I’ve watched plenty of videos on how to do it but it still intimidates me!

im considering this or one like it for a 75 gal medium planted tank. I have no paintball stores etc near me for canister refills and going to full 5-10lb canister and having it refilled by a welding shop etc is a little daunting. Im hoping the mixture will last 5-6 weeks for me, I am ok with more prep work for safer system to get into co2 on a larger tank.

@MJ Aquascaping keep up your content I enjoy watching your set ups and your experiments! Did you ever have any issues with CO2 dumping with this system since it doesn't have a dual stage regulator? That is all I'm worried about if you're still using this specific system.

Perhaps another tip: When baking, you seive your flour and what not to prevent clumping. Maybe if you seive the baking soda and CA, you can even get more CO2 by dissolving all solids?

That system looks really nice. I am using a cheaper version with two soda bottles with citric acid and baking soda. One thing that I don't understand at all is why are the recommended citric acid and baking soda ratios 1:1. One person with some chemistry knowledge will use 200g of citric acid with 250g of baking soda (i.e. 1:1.25 ratio). That is one of the reasons why you might get some crystals when the bottle is empty, another one is the cross-solubility of the resulting salts, citric acid, and baking soda in the water (to overcome this, one must find what is the minimum volume of water to dissolve all those materials at the same time. I have no idea). So for next time give it a try to lower the citric acid or increase the baking soda to meet the 1:1.25 ratio. Remember, it is 1 of citric acid to 1.25 of baking soda. You will not be disappointed, I've been doing this for almost a year now. Let me know your results! I am not a chemical engineer, but I have some basic knowledge in chemistry such as finding balanced reactions, atomic weights, and mol definitions, which are very handy for this topic. Cheers!

Thank you, after watching your video I bought the cheaper FZONE model from Amazon and added the solenoid which came to total of £103 GBP. The cylinder is 2.5 litres which they say makes it taller and less likely to overflow during a fill. For the ingredients I bought 2 KGS of Citric acid and 2 KGS of baking soda, both food quality for a total of £14.27 GBP. so plenty if fills for a while. I have to say it was easy to set up and the ingredients bought this way are so cheap. The whole thing feels good quality and no leaks at all. The only thing I will replace is the diffuser which could be better. I only have the one small 10 gal Nano so I am so pleased I watched your videos and feel I couldn't have a better CO2 set up to meet my needs. If you find any info' on how to maintain or replace the filter for the pressure gauges I would be grateful if you would report., Kind regards.

These CO2 reactors are quite good but they have their problems, 1. My pressure indicator has jammed at 20kg 2. The reaction doesn't always happen properly and can sometimes produce very little CO2 with the two parts not mixing properly (user error) 3. The reaction should be done within a bath of hot water, this will allow the reaction to produce more CO2 and this is not included in the instructions 4. The remaining crystals in the bottom are citric acid and not bicarbonate, always add more bicarbonate than citric acid, I usually add 25% extra bicarb 5. The valve can jam/become blocked meaning you have to dump the whole bottle of CO2 in an outside/well ventilated area, dismantle and thoroughly clean everything in hot water after wasting a refill 6. the water in the bubble counter will evaporate, use mineral oil instead. 7. The pressure coming through the filter will randomly vary throughout the life bottle meaning that the amount of CO2 being dosed will fluctuate sometimes I have set the bottle to 1bps and 30 minutes later it's dosing 5bps for no apparent reason Now for the plus side 1. A 20kg sack of Bicarb and 20kg sack of citric acid is cheap 2. No having to find somewhere to get refills, the closest place to me is over 30km away, all gas suppliers required me to have an expensive contract and only use bottles supplied by them on an exchange system 3. If you were bored before you will no longer be because you will always be trying to solve problems with the reactor, after a couple of months of use problems become constant

I recently purchased this system from Amazon. It was about $100 USD with the solenoid. It's so funny that I received it today, same day as this video. I'm pleased that your final review is positive and I'm excited to install. Thanks for the great videos and knowledge.

If you are handy and willing to out in the work, you can daisy chain a few together. If you have more than one tank in a system you will have more capacity.

I am using a similar 2kg steel cylinder for a 60 gallon 52 inch tank at around 4 to 5 bubbles per second. It has lasted me over 4 weeks! And this is when I filled it with only half its recommended capacity of 400 gms of citric acid and 400 gms of baking soda.

Hello, I am only starting with aquariums from January anf find you. I see that dimilar CO2 systems are now at 70euro mark. So I guess it would be now good choice. :)

I need your reply please... Does this thing support splitter in order to have a two co2 output?

Hi did you get chance to use this reactor with sugar and yeast system? If so how did it do?

Have you tried using this with your usual DIY solution of Yeast , Sugar and Gelatine? If so how did it go? Did it last longer than the factory solution, did the pressure build up enough to diffuse properly?

Nice video, but I have a question: Could I use this in combination with my Co2 Art Pro-SE regulator ? I don’t wanna use the regulator from the set

About the refils.. You can buy the pure ingredients much much cheaper in 500 g or 1 kg quantities much cheaper than the official refilss. So the refills will be much cheaper that way than the original refills.. all you need is a grams level scale to weigh off the ingredients. So in my eyes it is mainly the cost of buying the system.. and as all companies they want to harvest your money with the refills.. It's the equivalent of relatively cheap printers with the huge cost of buying new printer cartiridges

The problem with the CO2 pressurized bottle is that it is difficult to get it refilled depending where you live!! I went for the DIY kit just for this reason!

These Co2 systems are very good, just don't get complacent on refilling the system, as they last a fair amount of time I forgot the process and made the mistake of adding the water first then the bicarb and lastly acid and the reaction happened in a second causing a complete mess. Really, do follow the instructions in the video description! 😆

Does anyone know if we can connect a different connector if the provided one is damaged after a long period of use

@MJ Aquascaping Wonder if you experiment the Colombo DIY system with yeast and sugar as you said you would try? If so, is it better?

9:19 "The Colombo Slap" :D

Merci

I’m running this on a 40 gal and it is running out after about a week. Am I doing something wrong? The meter never gets up to 20 kg only about 10 kg.

Hey MJ, have you noticed that the bubble count per second that comes with the DIY kit is different than the bubble per second in the neo diffuser? Mine runs at about 2 bubbles per second in the kit bubble counter, but the neo diffuser only shows 1 bubble per second.

How do you set the timer it?

Hi, I have seen a very similar system from the fzone brand. I ask u because I've seen that u use some products from this brand in some of your videos. Do u know about this fzone's system? Would u recommend it?

how often did you have to refill the bubble counter? also is the bubble counter and magnetic valve also wobbly on yours?

Hello, how you are getting lime green with bubble in 3-4 seconds? I have same system with my 25 liters i am gettin lime green with 3-4 bubble in second. Diffuser is aquario and it’s located against surface skimmer. Thank you.

I bought it from amazon Spain for 45 euros like 6 months ago and ended up returning it because I saw some substance getting out (little but worrying as should be completely closed, ended up worrying also about safety). For ~200usd I'd totally go for a professional system. I went for a 2kg fire extinguisher and here in Spain you can get the whole setup for 100e or less, so not bad.

Can it be used without using/plugging the solenoid, I planned to refill my passive bottle C02 so I need it to be portable.

Great video , I was looking at possibly cheaper co2 options, but would you agree I can buy a good co2 regulator cheaper than this system, and I can get 2kg for £20 , So am I right in think really a normal pressurised co2 is cheaper

Hello my friend I would like to buy this kit model. My question is if it is necessary to change the filter balls that are in the filter from time to time and if so, where can I get the necessary spare parts. note I am thinking of buying the complete kit including the solenoid valve

well, i guess i will buy it since my DIY one just keeps leaking no matter what

Shameless plug 😂 . Did that big shallow already hit a 1000? Need to see more fish in there✅

Wow

Hi MJ, my question is, isn't the bb affected with the inline co2, will they die? I wanna try with my hob filter.

You can buy exactly this reactor from aliexpress for around 60€.

No , I would not buy it. I bought one similar and after 2 test the CO2 circuit is blocked ( the valve from the right has no effect, the pressure remains inside) . SO I cannot use it. Does anybody has an idea what to do ?

How long will 2L last for 18 gallon tank ? Thankyou

3:54 sorry for asking, you had tell this in another Video defenetly, but what is the Name of the plant and how difficult it is? Have a nice Day ☺️

I think the "Planted Box" link is not working or the site is down...

I paid 150.00 for 4L bottle and works 2.months 49 gallon 1 bubble per sec

This system isn’t available anymore. What’s the most similar available today?

How many gram soda&citric acid you use ?

It looks like a paintball tank system would be less expensive, and less work, than this system. I suspect that neither this nor a paintball canister system would be appropriate for a larger tank.

hello does your system have the gell type spheres inside the regulator? if yes, what is that meterial material? are they hydro gel beads?

Nice review btw. Prob. CO2 tank is better option, for long term. I also own similar DIY CO2 System, and it has 1 to 2 weeks to refill, for me its fine in the beginning, but later on its annoying, you have to buy the ingredient also. For small tank it is OK (20-30 cm tank), but my personal opinion CO2 Tank is way lot better, my 5 kg CO2 bottle needs to refill once in 6-8 months, and my 3 kilos in 4 months. Maybe you can make side by side comparison between those 2 system, DIY and regular CO2, in money spent/investment and practicallity.

I could listen to him say Wahtur all day lol

I think the price on these have dropped. There’s a few manufacturers on Amazon that offer them for around $100. I have ordered one that will support a 45x25x25 on a timer. I chose this method due to the insane costs of acquiring a real co2 cylinder here in Japan. $400 plus for true CO2 setups here.

Jar Planted Aquarium - DIY Part2 #FreeEnergy - RU-vid

I heard from a lot of people that their bottle started roasting. Did you have this kind of issues, too?

I can get 5kg fire extinguisher £10, CO2 regulator with bubble counter and regulator £40 so no. Enjoyed the video.

Ik draai hem nu op mijn 100liter en hij haalt het net niet ppm dus ik zal zeggen tot 80 liter aquarium zeg yess.

This system need the same components, like bubble counter, solenoid, adjustable valve. Where I live they refill the 2Kg standard canister with 5euros. I cannot understand why anyone should try this one, citric acid and yeast cost money, maybe more maybe less than 5euros. NO GO for me.

💁🏻‍♂️ #woot

I would recommend to go with a 1:3 raio for the acid and soda as this is how the reactionequation looks like: 3NaHCO3 + C6H8O7 → C6H5Na3O7 + 3CO2 + 3H2O. NaHCO3 is sodium bicarbonate, C6H8O7 is citric acid. When they react the produce C6H5Na3O7 (sodium citrate, a salt), CO2 and H2O. To get best reaction this is inportant as if you go 1:1 ratio you wont get as much CO2 out of it.

you can buy your own baking soda and citric acid for cheap

I brought my CO2 reactor on Amazon for 50 dollars it just didn't come with an electric solenoid

Hello friend I hope you're doing well. But for that to last that long you're not injecting that much.

Lol my diy co2 lasts 11 days with 1 bubble per second.

I bought the fzone one here in US and run it on a 20 gallon tank. It’s active for about 10 hours a day. My drop checker is in the green state. I think I’m due for a refill here in a couple days which means it lasted about 4 weeks. Im quite sure it would last a little longer because for the first 2 weeks I had it running for 12 hours a day, and before I hooked it up to a timer - it may have run all night once or twice 😆 I will eventually be getting a couple more to replace some soda bottle / yeast CO2 setups. I like fiddling with aquariums and don’t really mind doing the refill. I’ve never had a full CO2 setup. Coming from the yeast soda bottle method this a nice step up - mainly being able to quickly adjust CO2 levels and being able to turn off at night to keep CO2 levels more stable.

The price is ridiculous. I am Chinese and checked the price for Chinese market , only costs 60-70 CAD dollars 😂

For a 200€ Bioreactor you coukd get a gas system and refils for a few years, not really a DIY solution...

I just killed my fish for the second time with one of this systems. I feel like shit. I was supposed to look after them not kill them. First time I was a a complete noob, now I was just careless, which is even worse. Remember the co2 reaction is incremental the moment you set it will not bet the final result. Wait a few minutes/hours, and keep checking it.

Nothing about this is diy...