diy yeast co2 help

[cars4fun2001]

ok first I know I have no leaks. twice now I have mixed up a diy yeast reactor and the mix puts out great co2 for 1.5-2 days and then nothing. It just stops. If you shake it up a lot it will start back for a a couple of hours. Slowly dying down the whole time till nothing. I have read and reread the mix and I did it right. So what the heck could I be doing wrong. I would really like to get this to produce for more then 2 days. If I cant I guess I will have run a pressure system.


thanks for any help
Mike

 

[Blueiz]

What is the temperature of the room it is in? What mixture are you using?

Are you certain that it isn't producing? I ask because after the initial "burn" usually it settles into a steady production of co2 that is no where near as intense as the initial "burn". Because you have co2 when you shake it, this leads me to think that you are having a production of co2, it's just not that fast.

 

[fort384]

Mike,
what kind of yeast are you using? Are you activating the yeast before you put it in the bottle? What size bottle are you using? How much yeast/sugar/water? Are you using baking soda in the mixture?

 

[WhiteDevil]

I go back and forth on DIY Co2

what size container are you using? what diffuser? check valve in place?

This is the recipe I use without any variances in Co2 production less initial burn.
Aquatic Plant Central - View Single Post - DIY CO2 Guide with Pictures & Recipes

 

[cars4fun2001]

Dang you guys are fast. Lets see

room temp about 70*

yes I am 100% sure the co2 out is 0

the shaking thing only seams to work 2-3 times after that I have no co2 no more

I am usingfleischmann's activedry yeast. it is the only thing I can find around here

yes I activated it first by mixing a bit of sugar water with the yeast and waiting for it to foam.

No baking soda on the last go. I tried it the first time so I thought I would try it with out it to see if I would get better results. They where the same.

Mixture is 1 teaspoon yeast 3/4 cups of suger 6 cups of watter in a 1 gallon bottle

I am using a balsa wood for a diffuser. I have a check valve and a bubble counter. I have a live ph meter.

I think I answer all the questions. Thanks for the help

Mike

 

[fort384]

Room is a bit cold, but not so much that the mix should die. Sounds like an ok recipe. Baking soda usually helped when I did diy. I tracked all my mixes and experimented to find the best. I settled on a mix pretty close to what you are using and I changed it about every two weeks. The only thing I can think is you have a weak batch of yeast.

I had some success using chmapagne yeast that I ordered online. Theory is that strain of yeast is better suited to tolerate the alcohol that is produced. It costs a bit more than fleischmans. You may want to try a different pkg of yeast from your local grocer before ordering the champagne yeast 'cause it seems like you are doing everything right.

Only other thing is add more water if the container can hold it. The more volume the less alcohol content, the longer the yeast will survive.

 

[cars4fun2001]

ok update. I came home to no co2 output again today. In a attempt to do something I added more sugar when shaking had no results. I shook some more and nothing. This was about 3hrs ago. I just got up and waked over and is once again putting out co2. this has started back in the last 30min. It was that long ago that I checked it.

 

[timwag2001]

i think i was using 1 teaspoon to 2 cups of sugar. i was using a two liter and filled it up to where the bottle starts to bend. worked well for me. i think in your gallon container you have too much air space for the diy mixture to fill.

try 3 cups of sugar, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of yeast and 3 liters of tempid water.

to be honest. i really think you have a small leak. use soapy water at everyconnection (everywhere there could be a leak even the cap) and then shake your mixture

 

[cars4fun2001]

Fort looks like we where typing at the same time. I wondered if room temp might have something to do with it. I had even thought about putting a spare heater into the bottle.

 

[cars4fun2001]

I have checked and double check for leaks. Then checked some more. All fittings are o-ring sealed. I dont see how the bottle could be to large. The gas is going to expand and it has to go somewhere. the bottle will only hold so much area so if it is putting out at all then it cant just no longer put out enough co2 to fill the space. Or at least that is how it seams to me. But what the heck do I know I cant make co2. I can see if I can find a smaller bottle that I can use.

 

[beglely]

when you mix the sugar water, are you using hot or cold water? Usually I use luke-warm to get the sugar to dissolve better. However I allow it several minutes to cool after that. If the water is too warm it will kill the yeast. Also its possible you have a leak in your reactor. The first one I made worked great for 2 days and then completely stopped. I would shake it and then it would die shortly thereafter. I remade the setup with a much tighter seal around the airline tubing and I have had a working reactor since. Also, Blueiz is right-make sure you are giving the mixture enough time to build up enough pressure to release co2 at a constant rate--you have to build up enough pressure for the gas production to overcome the water pressure in the portion of tube in the tank. Shaking the bottle will produce bubbles as you are speeding up the reaction by adding energy, but it will slowly equalize out again as equilibrium is reestablished. Let the reaction go naturally. However, if you are shaking the bottle, and gas is being produced, but after several days completely stops again, I would not blame the mixture so much as I would blame a leak in the seal in your reactor. A good way to test this would be to tape a balloon over the bottle opening of the reactor on a mixture that has been running for a week or so (ensure a tight seal). If the balloon fills with gas then your reaction is going accordingly and the problem lies within a seal in the reactor.

 

[An t-iasg]

You've gotten some good suggestions. I will agree with using wine or champagne yeast. It really does produce CO2 longer. My mixtures lasted for three or four weeks. I got my wine yeast from a "homebrew" shop. Don't refrigerate it - I did that with mine and it died. Just keep it in a cool room/closet. You may want to keep your yeast/water container in a bucket of water and put an aquarium heater in the bucket water. The yeast container will be surrounded by warm water, which will help with the CO2 production. Try a temperature of about 76 degrees to start.

 

[cars4fun2001]

ok that makes a bit of since. basically the pressure from the water is greater then the pressure from the co2. This would prevent the co2 from moving until the pressure was higher. The water I used was not hot but not cold. around 80deg. I let it cool before placing the yeast in it for 30-40min. I did not use a coke bottle. The lid on my bottle has a o-ring seal rated at 100psi. the out put line also has a o-ring seal that is rated at 100psi. The line does not go into the lid but rather the top of the bottle next to the lid. I am using zip ties on all the barbed fittings to cinch it down tight to ensure no leaks. I have test all with soapy water. I would be willing to bet money that there are no leaks.

thanks for all the help guys.

 

[cars4fun2001]

ok I am still putting out co2. I think what was going on is that after the start up burn died off I had to give it time to build up enouhg presure to over come the resistance of the balsa wood defuser and the presure of the watter on it. By me shaking it up I was causing a spike out in presure that would allow it to go for a while. Then that spike would die down and it would once again be to a point where it needed to build presure back up. The out put is slow but steady at this point.

I was reading a lot online trying to figure out what the heck I could have be doing wrong. I cam acrose a wright up that said hi tap water ph can slow the production of co2. Is this right? If so what can you do about it? My tap water is around 7.8 and that is what I am using in my yeast mix. would I be better off using ro water?

thanks Mike

 

[fort384]

You could test it if you have ro water available to you. I can't imagining it making a huge difference but might be worth testing.

 

[JPKeenan]

I use bread machine yeast. Funny thing is on one reactor I get a nice bubble every few seconds, the other has been lack luster.... so I resealed it.

Bread Machine yeast you can get at wal-mart or the super market, little glass jars. I have a bread maker so I always have yeast around.

I don't drink soft drinks, but got some 99 cent ginger ale and cream soda (good with vodka) cause I will drink those plain.

One of the suggestions I read was when you drain the water out, leave the sludge in there... cause there is still active yeast and some "food" for them to eat in the sludge. You still add some yeast sugar and water to re-charge it but leave the sludge in.

 

[mfdrookie516]

i did something a little different last night... i decided after reading your post to try one myself for my 10g. I took 2 milk jugs, one full of water, sugar, yeast, and a tad of baking soda, ran an air line from it to an empty jug (to catch the foamy stuff), then ran another air line from it, to my in tank filter which had a barb for an air line (intended for a muffler), which diffused the co2 very nicely. I decided to leave the lights on last night since i had only had them on for a couple hours yesterday, woke up, 2 of my 3 zebra danios had died... so i was obviously getting co2, more than what i should have been...

 

[cars4fun2001]

Man I dont know what to say... I am sory that a tread I started lead to the death of your fish. ever thing I read said a diy system could not put out that much c02. wounder what caused it.

 

[beglely]

I decided to leave the lights on last night since i had only had them on for a couple hours yesterday, woke up, 2 of my 3 zebra danios had died... so i was obviously getting co2, more than what i should have been...

Im shocked you had enough output of co2 to kill fish with DIY. Usually doenst happen

 

[mfdrookie516]

Man I dont know what to say... I am sory that a tread I started lead to the death of your fish. ever thing I read said a diy system could not put out that much c02. wounder what caused it.

dont think youre at fault... i had been considering it for a while now after some suggestions in chat. its totally my fault for just setting it up and leaving it while i slept. i should have watched it more carefully. i think the problem was that the way i had it attached to my filter, it was sucking the air from the jugs, causing it to make more co2 faster.. enough threadjacking though, worry about your situation... I dont even need co2, just thought id try it