G200 Aquarium DIY CO2 Generator System Kit

Work good and easy to setup, nice design

The system basically comes preassembled, so it's plug and play. I put sugar and yeast into Bottle A and RO water in Bottle B. You want the ball out of the sugar/yeast water for this method, so it doesn't foul Bottle B. Use the magnet for this. Anyways, it produces massive amounts of CO2 that you dial in with the needle valve and I was only using 1 liter bottles! The price is right for smaller tanks. I have a 20 gallon long.

So this device works as planned and all the valves and connections are worth the cost. With that being said they say to use 1 bottle of an acidic mixture and 1 bottle of a base. The acid drips into the base causing co2 to be released. The problem, even with the needle valve turned way down it still goes through a bottle of acid daily. A bag of citric acid will make 2 bottles and is $15, you do the math. Tried cheaper alternatives for acid like just using vinager and the reaction wasn't enough to build pressure and didn't last long at all.As an alternative if you ferment some sugar water with yeast in bottle 1, allow it to bubble into water in bottle 2 (1 way air valve) and it builds around the same pressure and will last for weeks on pennies worth of materials. As the yeast eats the sugars turning them to alcohol, the byproduct is co2. I like to let the alcohol then sit out and sour to vinager and use it for cleaning, no waste.

This is a really solid set of hardware for a 2 liter co2 setup, this is meant for a baking soda and citric acid. You can make some tweaks and make it work for yeast as well. The gauges and needle valve are pretty cheap but they work.

This kit requires nearly daily maintenance. Initially, I expected to refill the baking soda and citric acid only every other week. However, regular water replacement is also necessary. The water is transferred from one bottle to another via a slow but steady siphon process. With a 1L bottle (4 qt) filled halfway, one bottle empties after a day while the other fills up.Exercise caution when replacing the water. The bottles are highly pressurized, and there is no release valve. To safely open the bottles, you need to remove the diffuser and release the CO2 before unscrewing the caps. I once made the mistake of loosening the cap slightly to release the pressure, which caused the cap to pop off and water to splash out. The water, after reacting, becomes sticky like syrup, resulting in a considerable mess. Although the chemical product is low in acidity and food-safe, it still makes me anxious each time.Additionally, since the two bottles are attached, the entire setup is physically unstable. If the bottles fall, liquid can enter the gas outlet pipe, flow directly to the diffuser, and potentially reach the pressure gauge as well. This risk is particularly high when changing the water or refilling the reactants.The kit includes a magnet to stop the reaction by moving the pipe away from the reactants. However, this needs to be done twice a day, which can be inconvenient. Overall, the solution is not sustainable in the long term.

The two-bottle CO2 reactors suck. They're prone to clogging the line with baking soda, the valves are of poor quality and hard to modulate just right, and always seem to release CO2 in massive surges no matter how I adjust the primary and needle valve; I've tried the ball valve wide open and the needle valve to regulate by itself, I've tried just cracking the ball valve to assist the needle valve with regulation, trying to target 4-8 bubbles per second for my 4x3x6 grow tent (my setup is bottle output -> solenoid -> ball valve -> needle valve -> hose to tent -> bubble meter -> diffuser in jar of water), and it is very inconsistent. I've tried purging all the lines with air, added a solenoid valve to run off a timer in tandem with my grow lights, so the valves can be set in place essentially calibrating the system so when I refill I don't touch the valves at all... all to no avail - sometimes the acid is consumed in a day or less, and sometimes it will last a week or more. The system just plain sucks - and yes, I've verified there are no gas leaks. The valves in this kit are just a really poor choice for this application. Great concept, but really lousy implementation.I'm taking this system and tossing it in favor of a stainless steel bottle reactor that uses a single bottle with a proper pressure regulator and high-quality needle valve. I suppose the best I can say about this is that this review can save you wasting money on an unreliable solution. :D

This CO2 generator kit may seem like an affordable option for those who are new to the aquarium hobby, but it ultimately falls short in both convenience and effectiveness.Firstly, the kit requires citric acid, baking soda, and water to work, but the citric acid is not included in the package. While baking soda and water are easy to obtain, sourcing citric acid can be a challenge for many, and it would have been helpful if the manufacturer had included a small packet of it.Secondly, even after sourcing the citric acid, getting the kit to work was a challenge. The instructions were not very clear, and it took several attempts to get the generator to produce any CO2. Many other Amazon reviewers have also noted similar issues with getting the kit to function properly.Finally, even when the kit was working, it did not produce enough CO2 to have a significant impact on plant growth in the aquarium. For those serious about growing aquatic plants, investing in a proper CO2 system would be a much more effective and worthwhile option.Overall, I would not recommend this CO2 generator kit from Clscea. The hassle of sourcing citric acid and the difficulty of getting the kit to work, combined with its limited effectiveness, make it not worth the expense or effort.