Yeast Based Co2 System

da7thson

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Hi all,

When I set my tank up a few months ago I purchased the jbl co2 system for my tank. It came with a defuser tubes bottle and two packs of "stuff" (basically the sugar and yeast). It was working ok ish for over a month (only generated a bubble ever 5 seconds or so which I think was too little).

I refilled it over a week ago and haven't had a bubble since. So last night a made a generator my self last night using a 2L pepsi bottle with a whole in the lid and connected both my DIY one and the jbl canister to the diffuser. I also emptied the jbl canister and put in my own sugar and baking yeast.

I left it all night an checked this morning and still no bubbles. If I shake both bottles I get a flurry of bubbles but nothing if it leave it to do its own thing.

Getting a little frustrated with it as my water asteria arnt looking well and loosing all the foliage from about half way down :-(

Any ideas???

The tank is in my living room so is about 16oc in there at the moment (not had the heating on yet).

Cheers

Andy
 
what was your mix?
I used to use homemade co2 using soda bottles as well. I had 2 20oz bottles, tubes running to a gang valve to an airstone in the tank. Best to have 2 bottles in line and mix alternately to keep co2 supply constant. There is always lag after a mix. Depending on ratio of yeast to sugar can be fast, or take a few days and is incredibly dependent on air temp (or temp of the bottles to be more accurate).
I used in my bottles 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (gosh it was a while ago cant remember which...maybe i wrote it down somewhere lol), teaspoon of yeast and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda. I would add the sugar to the bottle and fill about 2/3 with HOT water. shake shake shake to let the sugar dissolve (the water will cool to a pretty decent "yeast temp" during the dissolving) and then add the yeast and baking soda. Gently shake(more like mixing than shaking...dont want to kill the yeasties) and connect to the system. I would remix the bottles once a week on alternate days (one on say sunday and the other say wed/thurs). That way there is always co2 and you dont have the fluctuation that you would see when only using one bottle-there is always a lag after mix and i didnt want the instability that may cause algae issues.
this worked very well for me for a year i had it set up. Was certainly slower to produce in the cooler months so I would up the yeast a bit. Also try wrapping the bottle in a towel...anything to keep it a bit warmer. In fact at one time i had the bottles in an old coffee can (big one) with a heating pad on low wrapped in a towel).
Hope that helps :good:
cheers
 
what was your mix?
I used to use homemade co2 using soda bottles as well. I had 2 20oz bottles, tubes running to a gang valve to an airstone in the tank. Best to have 2 bottles in line and mix alternately to keep co2 supply constant. There is always lag after a mix. Depending on ratio of yeast to sugar can be fast, or take a few days and is incredibly dependent on air temp (or temp of the bottles to be more accurate).
I used in my bottles 1/4-1/2 cup sugar (gosh it was a while ago cant remember which...maybe i wrote it down somewhere lol), teaspoon of yeast and 1/8 teaspoon baking soda. I would add the sugar to the bottle and fill about 2/3 with HOT water. shake shake shake to let the sugar dissolve (the water will cool to a pretty decent "yeast temp" during the dissolving) and then add the yeast and baking soda. Gently shake(more like mixing than shaking...dont want to kill the yeasties) and connect to the system. I would remix the bottles once a week on alternate days (one on say sunday and the other say wed/thurs). That way there is always co2 and you dont have the fluctuation that you would see when only using one bottle-there is always a lag after mix and i didnt want the instability that may cause algae issues.
this worked very well for me for a year i had it set up. Was certainly slower to produce in the cooler months so I would up the yeast a bit. Also try wrapping the bottle in a towel...anything to keep it a bit warmer. In fact at one time i had the bottles in an old coffee can (big one) with a heating pad on low wrapped in a towel).
Hope that helps :good:
cheers

Cheers mate. I'll give it a go. My measures are metric so have no idea what a "cup" equals ;) . I'll have a google for the conversion and try thoese mix sizes. If it doesn't start working after another couple of attemps i might just bin it off and purchase a pressurised system as i am starting to worry that my house is a bit on the cool side to get the yeast active.

Thanks again

Andy
 
Sounds like a bad mix to me...

I worked with DIY CO2 for ages before giving up and going pressurised ;)

*Cough* blatant plug *cough*

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/372564-aqua-medic-pressurised-co2-kit/
 
Sounds like a bad mix to me...

I worked with DIY CO2 for ages before giving up and going pressurised ;)

*Cough* blatant plug *cough*

http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/372564-aqua-medic-pressurised-co2-kit/

LOL, can't blame the plug. But, i want to try and and get the kit with the yeast that i bought from the LFS (under their recommendation) if i can, as it's £40 down the drain if it doesn't. if i can't, want to research the options around manufactures for a pressurised solution.
 
It may not have been a bad "mix" per se but rather bad activation of the yeast. There's a very simple formula I follow with a 2 liter bottle and it works every time and activates within an hour or two EVERY TIME.

2 cups sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp yeast

Start with a small cup or bowl and add a small amount of lukewarm water and a pinch or two of sugar. Mix in the yeast with a fork, stirring vigorously until the water is bubbly. This will help to "activate" dry yeast by adding oxygen, preventing mass die-offs that occur if you just dump the yeast into the water. Let this sit while you prepare the container, or for at least 10 minutes, and stir every few minutes to keep the water oxygenated.

Rinse out your container if you have used it before to remove all traces of alcohol. Fill it about 2/3 of the way with lukewarm water. Tap water is fine.

Using a funnel, add the 2 cups sugar and the baking soda to the water in the container. If you've used the container before, it's likely you don't have a lid you can use to close it up and shake it, so just put the palm of your hand over the opening and turn it upside down over the sink and shake it gently, making sure to keep the seal with your hand. The point is just to dissolve most of the sugar in the water (otherwise it will just sit on the bottom). If you haven't used the container yet, wait to drill a hole in the lid till after you've shaken it up, just to save yourself a sticky hand.

If it's been about 10 minutes or longer, pour the yeast and water mixture into the container using a funnel. No need to mix it up, just put the lid on and it should start producing CO2 in anywhere from a few hours (I've had it start in around 1 hour!) to 12 hours depending on how well you activated the yeast.

Source credit: http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/09/diy-co2-recipe-duration-vs-intensity.html
 

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