Dry Ice for Co2 - Possible?

[hzeong]

Hi,

Just thinking .... dry ice is solidified CO2 right. Can we drop small pieces into a bottle and let it bubble to produce DIY CO2 . Haven't seen any discussion yet. Could it be (a) not feasible, i.e. it doesn't produce enough CO2 gases; (b) too expensive; (c) dangerous because the CO2 produced is just too much or (d) nor readily available.

Cheers.

[yeoyl87]

we are actually using food grade CO2 for the tank. I am not sure if co2 from dry ice is a good idea...

[Fuzzy]

If you've ever tasted water that dry ice has been melted in, you'll notice that it tastes "funny"

This is because it forms carbonic acid fairly readily, I would advise against doing this in your tanks as you cannot control the amount of CO2 that's being inputted and it can very quickly / accidentally rise the dissolved CO2 to toxic levels.

Also in smaller tanks it can cause rapid swings in your pH levels.

[Shadow]

Will you be able to get constant supply? even if you do how do you plant to control the release (as other said above)? but you can still try it out, more fun that way and update us you experiment result. In the name of science, don't let us stop you

[BFG]

Handling dry ice around water can be dangerous. If you're thinking of placing the dry ice in a bottle and connecting it to a co2 diffuser, make absolutely sure the water cannot reach the dry ice. You might lost your tank if that happen. Be very careful of this combination.

[Shaihulud]

Had a dry ice "bomb" went off in my hand, lucky not to have lost any fingers! Unless you can control the rate which your CO2 enters the water, better use a tank and regulator, the ph change is quite significant!

[Shadow]

wow... didn't know dry ice can explode

[Fuzzy]

You have to contain it in an airtight container intentionally, like a 2L PET bottle, in order for it to explode.

Under normal usage conditions there is no chance of it exploding, heh.

I think the post was intended to warn about the dangers of trying to put the dry ice into a container to bubble into the water.

[Shaihulud]

When its sealed in an air tight container

[Navanod]

My office tank is right next to the dry ice storage box and my colleague sometimes throws a small piece into the tank just to watch it bubble! Haha!

However, it totally useless as a CO2 source for plant since it escapes too fast and cannot be properly dissolved and maintained at a constant concentration.

My best results were to trap the CO2 bubbles under a tub and float it inside the tank until the CO2 is fully gone. Takes about half a day for a large tao huey tub of CO2 to disappear. Very unreliable though

[BFG]

The pressure from the explosion is known to set off the car alarm so it is pretty significant. It's very dangerous. DO NOT PLAY WITH THIS COMBINATION IF YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO HANDLE IT !!! Some innocent bystander might be hurt if you've misjudge your setup. You have been warned!!!

[felix_fx2]

To my memory handling dry ice with bare fingers can get "burnt".
Is that correct? It might be dangerous to even try it.

[hzeong]

Wow! Didn't know that it generate so much interest. Anyway thanks for your inputs & sharing. I will not try it anyway. I started this thread because I thought I remember that dry ice is solidified CO2. I'm relatively new in this hobby and was thinking of starting a DIY CO2 generator. Read all the threads about DIY CO2 and then I suddenly remembered about dry ice because I used to sell ice-cream when I was in school (some 40 years ago). And I couldn't see a thread or any discussion about using dry ice... so I thought maybe the experienced bros her can share. Anyway thanks.

[Shadow]

you can also try carbonated water, the one withoud additional taste of course

[Fuzzy]

Heh, cheaper to use a CO2 tank

[Navanod]

Heh, cheaper to use a CO2 tank

Agreed. Cheaper than dry ice and can be stored for long long time easily. Dry ice cost more and will slowly disappear unless you store it in liquid nitrogen (which cost more!)

[Shadow]

Heh, cheaper to use a CO2 tank

of course but who know he want to experiment with alternative ...

[cdckjn]

Dry ice is compressed CO2. It "burns" because it draws heat from the surrounding so quickly than it "burns". Also the CO2 release quickly builds up a pressure that could "explode" if you threw a piece of dry ice into a closed PET bottle.

Actually what you could do is have a large PET bottle, put a small piece of dry ice into the opening, then cap it up. then let the dry ice "melt" the CO2 then wil be trapped into the large PET bottle (with some pressure) then from the cap, you can have a air line with a stop-valve. noew adjust the stop valve to slowly release the "compressed air" from the PET bottle to slowly release the air into your tank.

Downside:
the "compressed" air is not very high pressure so that it may only bubble for about 1 -2 min. The dangerous of "explosion" is very high. It is not a very good long-term solution. It may be cheaper to just get a proper CO2 cansister and valve - the proper equipment.

Plus Points:
This is for DIY only. I am only giving my 2-cents worth on how it may work. I have not tried it myself as I don;t have ready supply of CO2 to try.

I will not suggest throwing in the Dry ice into the tank as it wil cause problems to the parameters in your tank.

[hzeong]

I may just want to try for the fun of it. Will not direct the CO2 into my tank first. Just try for the fun of knowing the kind of pressure it's producing and how long it last, etc. The only problem is ... where to get dry ice? I know it's readily available some 30/40 years ago (even provision shops selling). But I think it's hard to find it now 'cos modern refigeration is rather cheap and many types available. Could any kind soul tell me where to get dry ice. Thanks

[Fei Miao]

Dry ice can be use to kill bugs and unwanted intruders in vivariun set-ups, remove and critters you may have in there, throw a few pieces in, sprinkle some water and cover the tank...now can I get dry ice?