DIY CO2 Question

[Wood_Dog]

Hi all. Decided to try DIY CO2 in my tank. I have followed instructions I found from people here and everything seems to be going fine...I think. I set it up today using Champagne yeast in a 2 litre bottle running into my tank through an airstone under my powerhead uptake. I had lots of bubbles within 20 mins and quite some noise from the powerhead.
After a couple of hours all went quiet and there were no more bubbles. I was a bit worried for a about a half hour and then it all started up again.
So, my question is : With DIY CO2 should I see a constant stream of bubbles....or will it ebb and flow? Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just need to know if I am on the right track.

 

[Tong]

The only time I've had this happen (it seems to start and then it seems to stop) is when I had a small airleak somewhere in the system. Sometimes I think my sealant would compress to block the leak so I got CO2, at other times it didn't and I didn't get CO2.

For what its worth, DIY CO2 is not that erratic. It takes days to see a change in CO2 production. For the most part, it should be fairly constant.

 

[bbrown]

Wood_Dog and/or AA members - could you pls explain your setup in a bit more detail. I have recently added DIY CO2 to my tanks but I was going to just run the airline tubing from the 2 litre bottle down a Hagen diffuser ladder in the tank. Will your method result in more CO2. What are the benefits of the system you are using?? Also, can you tell me the measurements of your sugar/yeast combination. Have you found that champagne yeast is better??

 

[Purrbox]

At a guess, I would say that you used warm water when mixing up the batch. This would result in a high output until it cooled down towards room temperature. The lack of output was probably due to continued cooling and the system working to build up pressure again at a slower rate. You're continued output should be more of a steady decline.

The other possibility is that the half an hour lag was caused by the yeast switching from an aerobic environment (oxygen rich) to an anaerobic environment (oxygen poor). Yeast tends to produce better in an aerobic environment but this isn't an effective production method for injecting into our tanks.

 

[Wood_Dog]

Thats exactly what I did Purrbox. I used warm water beacuse I'd read it will start the yeast reaction faster, so it makes sense that I would get a high output that would taper off. This is what seems to have happened, now it going along nicely but at a much slower rate than initially. Should I start it with warm or cold? It probably doesnt really matter in the long run I suppose. Thanks for the advice.

bbrown :
I believe that running the CO2 through the powerhead, where the impeller will smash it about , is supposed to be a very efficient means to get more CO2 into your water, but lots of people use ladders or reactors , galss diffusers etc with great results.
The sugar /yeast combination I used was 2 cups of sugar and a bit less than a teaspoon of yeast. I used champagne yeast because I have read that it is more tolerant to the alcohol that will build up in the mix, and therefor is more likely to last longer than bakers yeast. As this is the first time I have done this I cant comment as to whether it is better or not. But it seems to be working so I'm happy

 

[Purrbox]

It's most recommended to use tepid water (neither warm nor cool) to start the mix. This is because water that is too hot will kill the yeast and water that is too cool will take forever to get going. I would think that water which is slightly warm to the touch should be okay.

I can comment on the Champagne Yeast, since that's what I've been using exclusively for the last year since I started with DIY CO2. It has several benefits. It's more tolerant of alcohol and won't die off as quickly and it tends to sink instead of floating at the top of the water. My mixtures generally last 4+ weeks, longer if I use baking soda. Since the yeast tends to sink there is less chance that it will bubble up through the tubbing into your tank. It's also generally recommended that you use quite a bit less (1/8tsp is the norm) than when using baking yeast (entire packet). This means that while a packet is more expensive it also will create a lot more batches so the end cost isn't that bad.

 

[Wood_Dog]

Thanks for the info Purrbox. Looks like I used more yeast than I needed to. I'll cut it back next time
Thanks!

 

[bman]

Purrbox, what is your particular mixture with the champagne yeast and baking soda?

What's the baking soda for?

 

[Purrbox]

Recipe for a 1 Liter Bottle (Double everything but the yeast if using a 2 Liter bottle)
Sugar - 3/8th cup + 1T
Yeast - 1/8th tsp
Water - 3/4th Liter + ~1/2 cup (tepid, neither warm nor cool)
Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp (Optional - adjust as needed)

1. Add 3/8th cup Sugar and 3/4 Liter Water to you bottle (and 1/2 tsp Baking Soda if desired)
2. Add 1 T Sugar, 1/2 cup Water and 1/8tsp Yeast to small bowl
3. Stir ingredients in bowl and let sit for 30-60mins (called foaming the yeast)
4. Add ingredients of bowl to bottle, cap and shake well
5. Attach bottle to DIY system

Basically the Baking Soda hardens the water making it a more hostile environment for the Yeast. The results in lower CO2 production which lasts longer. If you've already got really hard water the baking soda can result in killing the yeast.

In case you're wondering the Stabilizer Packet that comes with the Hagen CO2 Unit is actually Baking Soda, and many believe that the Activator is Champagne Yeast.

 

[Zezmo]

The baking soda prevents things from getting too acidic.

in this post, Tong gives excellent instructions for DIY CO2.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=83692

If you want to try a very long lasting mixture, 4 Weeks with regular yeast, 6 weeks or more with Champagne yeast, here is my old formula.

the mixture per 2 liter bottle....

1/4 tsp champaign yeast, or 1/2 packet if baking yeast
2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tablespoon Molasses
1 scoop protein powder drink powder. Muscle blast or whatever. Whey protein works real well too.

Re-hydrate the yeast for 20 minutes in a cup with a tsp of sugar, then mix it all up and fill my 2 liter 4 inches from the top. Let this sit open over night before hooking it into the system.

 

[Zezmo]

lol...purrbox, we were working on our posts at teh same time hehe

 

[Purrbox]

Certainly appears that way. One of these days I'm going to get around to trying your formula, Zezmo, but so far the more simple one has worked well enough that I haven't felt the need.

 

[Wood_Dog]

Yesterday I was at my the lfs discussing CO2 with the guy that works there. He was trying to sell me a new unit they have now. It costs $100....I assumed it was a small pressurised system. After some discussion he opened the box to show me. Inside was a bottle, a packet of yeast, some sugar, tubing and a small powerhead. LOL He wants to charge me $100 for what I'm doing now for maybe $10 all up.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Question, what does adding molasses do? Does it slow the reactions down some to help make it last longer?

 

[Purrbox]

I believe that it's a more complex sugar that takes longer for the yeast to break down extending the reaction time. I don't remember for sure though.