DIY CO2 and Temperature

[DanSanDiego]

I have been doing some research about DIY CO2. One of the things I haven't seen discussed is how the yeast is being kept at a productive temperature.

During the summer I would not have any issue keeping the yeast at a warm room temperature (no air conditioner).

During the winter is what i am concerned about. Even though I live in San Diego, the inside house temperature can get down to the low to mid 50's. We do not run the heater very much. I have heaters in the aquariums. I would think that those temperatures would slow or end the production of CO2.

I was thinking of getting a Hagen Natural CO2 kit. It has a bracket that attaches the bottle to the aquarium. Do you think that the aquarium would "radiate" enough heat to keep the yeast going?

Any thoughts, ideas?
Thanks for your time!

 

[fort384]

I would skip the hagen kit. It really is a bit of a rip off.

I am not sure how much radiant heat you would get from the tank. Glass is actually a pretty good insulator. Certainly it would be a bit warmer, but maybe only a couple of degrees. If your house is getting down into the 50s, can your heaters keep up with that? That's pretty chilly . I would think at that temperature you would get poor production from the yeast mix. Have you considered investing in a pressurized system? No worries about temp then...

 

[aqua_chem]

Also, the coldest times will be at night, when you don't really need the CO2 production. Assuming the temperature comes up to more comfortable levels during the day, you could possibly be fine.

 

[DanSanDiego]

Also, the coldest times will be at night, when you don't really need the CO2 production. Assuming the temperature comes up to more comfortable levels during the day, you could possibly be fine.

Thanks for the replies! The reason I want to try the DYI CO2, is its low expense. If I don't want to spend the time with it, i am not really in to it more than maybe $30.00.

I know that I could get the Fluval mini CO2 kit, for about the same price, but I really do not like buying proprietary systems.

All I can do is give it a try and see what happens!