Co2 enrichment with animals (happy animals)

I live in a cold climate and winters coming so instead of sucking air from outside i have to take it from inside.
There's a built in shelf near the closet grow so i put the vent at the back and a sheet of plexiglass in front with air holes in it.
Perfect for a few little CO2 producing critters. I haven't seen anything on this but I'm gonna run the set up and measure the CO2 (with and without furry friends)

Would love to hear peoples opinion on this, is there any drawbacks?

What kinda critters you plan on using? Just curious that is all.

Sounds like a good idea but how much Co2 can they produce? Will you need 2 or 200 of them to get what you need.

Pretty good idea though something to check into.

Drawbacks would be bugs, urine mist from chamber intake, feces, all stuff that could be figured out. Even if they produce a little Co2 may be worth it if you like pets. Kinda like this idea though. Also might help cover up some of the smell. Guinea pigs would be great for this or even a ferret hut made of plexiglass if you had the room. They have there own order you could blame some of it on.

Sounds like a pretty cool idea man let us know how it works!

Great idea. I love critters and have had many over the years. What I would consider: Little mammals breed a lot. Will be its own job to keep clean and sell/ give away extras. Never had birds but they don't breed as much. Will love to hear your results.

Rats would be clean, sociable and low maintenance.

As for how much they can produce I will measure that and keep you posted. at least it will be constant.

Byproducts of the animals are my only worries but i would have taught the plant hardy enough not to be effected by another living species emissions. Methane, Ammonia etc.
Maybe a filter or something just in case.

Good idea mango I'll let em get high and multiply.

I'm pretty sure this would have been taught of before, It is the natural functioning of the eco system after all.

Would love to see a text on this but if not there's only one way to find out.
Anyone have any more pros and cons?

a pre-filter after the animals and before the grow, and then a UV purifier in the ducting at the bends that lightproof the intake

Just an air filter? similar to one u might find in a vacuum cleaner?
don,t have any problems with light, Thanks for the input.

Just got my seeds in the door Northern lights #5 X Haze. but they are not coming out till I have this perfect.

The chamber for the rats is about 3/4 of a meter cubed and the room is about two or three cubic meters.
Co2 levels are normal of course and as I said some problems with cold gonna need oil heater for dark period
Intake will be constant when lights are on but outtake will only activate when temp rises above 29 degrees C then off again at 24 degrees C
air in the chamber is usually 10 to 15 degrees C so maybe the body heat of the rats would also be beneficial especially if they're pounding each others brains out making baby's

Looking forward to seeing results.
Does anyone keep rats and what species is the cutest so mammy doesn't flip the lid too much

I used to keep rats. Hairless and blue rats and dumbo ears, oh my!!!! Blue rats with dumbo ears are very high on the cute factor Maybe you can keep just females for several months and you might not need a male at all... not sure. The designer rats weren't really bred for reproduction so they may be okay with just females. The white ones from the pet store are usually line bred from lab companies and have high repro rates.

I don't think the rats will raise the temp too much.

Just seen a pic of the dumbo rat lovely little chaps they're perfect. Not to sure about the hairless ones do

Gonna put a heater in my room on a thermostat just to keep the chill out, Keep the rats happy too.

Still haven't found anything on the subject of producing a Co2 enrichment from animals?

Any 1 have a clue if this is something that is worthwhile.

Findaway,
It's a fun idea but I doubt rats are big enough to affect your grow room environment. I'd go with a small rabbit breeding op. They are quiet, easy to keep, good to eat, and produce high quality waste that can be used directly in plant pots. (just turds...not urine)

Another idea is the yeast slurry generator idea. That can produce significant CO2.
Good luck,
JD

He dose have a good point here. I wonder how much Co2 a rat expels per breathe. Like I said in my first post that you may need 200 rats to make enough Co2 to even make a difference.

For optimum Co2 in a room for plants is what 1100ppm to 1500ppm. Not sure what the average room would be without enrichment.

The Slurry idea I know many people use. Pretty much sugar water and yeast. Which you can also distill and drink afterward. Which you can do legally in most states with a permit. You need brewers yeast though. The alcohol content kills regular yeast so you need the brewers yeast. I may even use this for my plants on the next grow. Quick easy and effective depending on your size grow.

As well as producing CO2 you could have dynamo's connected to those running wheels.... So, as Gerald the Gerbil runs in his wheel he creates energy to power the HID's AND Co2 to enrich the plants atmosphere.

I figure about 200 Gerbils, running around 200 wheels (at an average of 4 revolutions per second [RPS], each) could power a 250w HPS and create another Co2 for 2 or 3 plants.
If a system where the Gerbils had to run to try and reach a treat (such as a sunflower seed) could be innovated the average RPS could be increased.

The corpses of dead gerbils could be composted to create fertilizer.

It could be like that part from The Matrix where Lawrence Fishburne says "Human beings have been turned into this" an holds up a battery.
Except it wouldn't be humans, it would be gerbils - and no one gives a toss about gerbils.
If Hitler had killed 6 million gerbils he would've lived a life of quiet obscurity - devoted to exterminating a particular rodent.

I can't find an exact number but it states all over the web that it takes a lot more than one organism to up the c02 count.

Its more for stealth than solely producing co2 so taught i might as well.
The results will be interesting.

just get some sugar water and add yeast. make the co2 dick around with pets. or burn a candle