Co2

[i_ganjaman]

well its a safty thing if co2 production starts to decline there is a good chance it will back syphon and the yeast mix might go into your tank...which you dont want at all...so what deffuser is it?

 

[RadaR]

Aqua Mini Diffuser

 

[i_ganjaman]

Have not tried these ones,but had good results with the ladder.Take it back and tell them your not happy with it,get another one to try because there is something wrong somewhere...

 

[RadaR]

Hhmm ok. Thanks for all the help

 

[martin_jones]

The diffuser might be too deep in your tank - try raising it so that less pressure is required for the co2 to escape from the diffuser.

HTH

Martin

 

[RadaR]

Very good point. Thankyou.
I have placed it about 25cm down because i thought the lower the better , as i would want the CO2 to dissolve with out reaching the surface quickly.

 

[Spinal]

I can solve your problem. I had that diffuser too (and still do on my DiY pressurised for 15£). It requires pressurised CO2. The way that diffuser works is by forcing your CO2 through TINY gaps it would normally not go through. The airstone is so fine that unless its under high pressure, no gas will come out.

My advice is take a siringe, fill the "bell" halfway with water (yes, inside it), then attach your CO2. You will be using the water in the bell as a bubble counter. After a while, if the bubbles don't stop... congratulations, you CO2 is diffusing so well that the bubbles are too small to see. If the internal bubbles do stop, then the pressure attained has either killed your yeast, reached the maximum the yeast can produce, or simply found another way out (leak?)

Michele

 

[vic]

Hi there:
I can think of several possible problems. First, the yeast you are using is a bakers yeast and will not do well in the fermentation environment. The fermentation process results in the yeast culture "eating" the sugar and producing ethel alcohol, CO2 and heat. Eventually the fermentation process is terminated by the build up of ethel alcohol which kills off the yeast culture. You therefore want to use a yeast culture that has a higher tolerance for the ethel alcohol. I would suggest that you use Brewer's Yeast or go to a wine making store and purchase a canabalistic champagne yeast. These yeasts have a much higher tolerance for the ethel alcohol. Secondly, the method is correct but the size of the system is flawed. You shold be using a 4 litre reactor with three cups of granulated sugar and fill to about 85%. Mix well. Slightly warmer than room temperature until the culture blasts off at which time the heat produced by fermnentation will support the process. Three, the yeast should be "started" before it is dumped into the reactor. The starting is quite simple. In a 5 oz wine glass add 1 tsp of granulated sugar after getting the glass to 3/4's full at a tenperature of 100'F and mix well. Add a drop of dechlor and the yeast. Let sit for about 10 minutes, the yeast will "come alive'. Stir gently and pour into the reactor. You should have CO2 production within several hours. These are the three most likely difficulties however, google DIY CO2 and you will have enough reading to keep you out of mischief for a considerable period of time. I would also give some thought to running the CO2 through a filter or a powerhead. The DIY production may no be enough to drive the difuser.

The ultimate DIY CO2 site http/www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html
Cheers

 

[dewbo]

I had exactly the same problem, I was getting CO2 at 1 bubble every 3 secs without a difuser, as soon as i put the diffuser on the count stopped and i was not getting any CO2 for days, a squeeze of the plastic bottle produced bubbles through the diffuser so there was no leaks, i think the pressue was too high and the CO2 was disolved back into the yeast bottle. Gave up with the difuser and attached the CO2 line to the top of a power head, everything now works great. Hope this helps.

 

[RadaR]

Spinal, vic and dewbo thankyou very much for you replies. Ill get playing around with the suggestions.

 

[voo]

Interesting... i didnt know these wouldnt work for DIY. I saw some on ebay and was considering getting one as a few of my fish keep getting trapped in the ladder.

Thanks
Radar.. i await your test results

 

[AlexAndCarmen]

I've tried a few diffusers and the Hydor ario1 diffuser (£20 for the kit with tiny pressurized co2 bottle which i binned.) works brilliant for diy and pressurized. It is basically a plug in pump that sucks the co2 in and chops into tiny bubbles. On my diy bottles i've installed tee on the main co2 line under the tank water because this diffusers sucks the co2 and at night you just hit the power off to the pump and the bubles come out of the tee,so as not to over dose co2 during lights out. If you want pics I'll have to hook some out of an old post.

Another thing, your mix try using tank water to make up the mix, 2l bottle,two cups sugar, 1/2 teaspoon yeast and 1 teaspoon bicarb. Mine bubbles for about a month. I have two 2l bottles on a 50gal with 25-30ppm CO2.

Alex

 

[RadaR]

Ah, very clever there Alex, thanks.
So is there a bit in the Hydor ario 1 that the CO2 tubing can connect into?


Edit: Just realised there is a bit ontop of the filter that you can put tubing on to it if you want the filter to blow air around, so ive just put the CO2 tubing onto it and it seems to be working ha!
Still intrested in this Hydor ario 1 idea for my Rio 125.