Problems with Hagen CO2

[177ichael]

Hello everyone - I just recently set up a 7 gal mini-bow heavily planted tank. I'm running a Penguin 125 bio-wheel filter without the bio-wheel. I have 14 watts of lighting on the tank yielding about 2 watts per gallon. My only fish in the tank are a pair of German Blue Rams. I just recently added the Hagen system and have had no luck with getting the thing to bubble consistently. I've tried the mix it came with and my own DIY mix and no bubbles either way. I screwed the chamber tight every time. I've only let each mix sit for about 1 1/2 days and I didn't see anything. The only way I've been able to get bubbles is to give it a shake and then it will bubble for about 15 seconds and stop. It seems as though I'm not getting the reaction in the chamber to get the consistent bubbles in my tank. Any suggestions???

 

[medge00]

try new tubing, you could have a leak... make sure the tubing is tight onto the reaction chamber... how warm is the water you put in? it should be warm. too cold, nothing gets going, too hot, yeast dies...

 

[malkore]

You could have bad yeast packets with the kit...have you tried some store-bought bread yeast? It works just as well, if not better.

Water temp could be the other issue - when you add water to the canister, it should be lukewarm...right around 90 degrees. The yeast likes this warmer initial temperature...which is similar to when you proof homemade bread.

The only other thing I can see is that the room temperature is too cold, so the yeast is only very very very slowly creating CO2.

 

[peterp]

I have it working on a tank and it takes 3-4 days till it starts to make fairly consistent bubbles that last for 2-3 weeks and you have to start over.
My tanks are in a basement that in the winter dosen't get much over 60f.
But the CO2 chamber is hung on the back of a tank at 80f so it gets heated from the tank.


IMHO: One thing though, 2 watts per gallon in a small tank sounds low, up to a point the smaller the tank the more light per gallon you need to get the same effect on plants.

 

[TankGirl]

I believe yeast needs 104 ideally to get cranking. Anything much higher and it will die. I will bet that this is the crux of the matter, since those Hagen units are pretty well sealed once you screw the caps on. Make sure the water feels warm to you, not hot.