Yeast Recipes

[benthyer]

I was wandering what Yeast Recipes you are using and how effective they are?
 
I am currently using the following but finding that it is sturggling to produce a steady bubble rate for a week:
 
About 1.75L of Water
280g of Sugar
A sachet of Yeast (About 3 tsp I believe)
 
It starts up quickly and picks up pace well but drops off very quickly, I am only running one reactor which is part of the issue I imagine but I need to get a Y-Connector for the tubing before I can add a second reactor.

 

[techen]

You are missing sugar >:C They feed on the sugar and thats how CO2 is made.

 

[benthyer]

I wrote yeast twice Tech my bad!
 
It should've said 280g of sugar xD I have edited it now

 

[daizeUK]

My current recipe is
 
4x reactors for a 120L tank (recently upgraded from 3x)
280g sugar
1/4 tsp dried yeast
1/2 tsp sodium bicarbonate
 
Fluval diffuser, nice stream of bubbles.  I bleach the ceramic disc every 1-2 weeks to keep it unclogged.

 

[benthyer]

Maybe I should get some sodium bicarbonate as well that may help prolong it slightly.
 
I don't have a proper diffuser at the moment either so I am using an airstone which is placed directly beside my filter but I get lots of bubbles on the surface so should be enough diffusing into the water hopefully

 

[daizeUK]

I did a bit of testing on different recipes and found that the sodium bicarbonate seemed to significantly add to the lifetime of the reactor.  I didn't really think I would need it since I have hard water, but then I do boil the water and allow it to cool before filling up the reactor.  The boiling process probably removes a lot of carbonate hence they need replacing.
 
I aim for each reactor to last 3 weeks.
 
I position my diffuser directly under the filter intake so all the bubbles run through the filter system.  Works very well for me and nearly all of the bubbles get dissolved.

 

[benthyer]

Thanks for the recipe daize I have just setup a new reactor using it so let's see how long it lasts for

 

[daizeUK]

I notice you're using sachets of yeast whereas I use the little tins.  I'm not sure if there is any difference or which is better.  
 
The fast-acting sachets are what I use for making pizza .  I use dried active yeast for CO2 production but like I said, I have no idea if it makes any difference to the recipe!
 

 

[benthyer]

So I tried your recipe daize and it didn't work but that might be my fault or down to the yeast that I am using.

I also managed to put an unwanted hole in the lid of my bubble checker bottle so need to replace that and the water was filtering back up into my new reactor which might be part of the reason why it never worked.

I will try again later this week and let you know how it goes

 

[KirkyArcher]

Daize's recipe is a good one

, may take a while to get going, but will give a prolonged "life" as there is lots of sugar for less yeast to feed and grow on/with, your original recipe will burn out very fast. Plus having any orifice for gas to escape will as you've discovered make the Co2 system useless

 

[daizeUK]

You're right it does take a few days for one of my reactors to start running at full output. I can get away with that because I have multiple reactors but with only one or two reactors you might need a quicker start.
 
If you suspect a leak somewhere but can't see anything obvious then use a bit of washing up liquid mixed with water and spread it around the joins.  If there is a slight leak then you will see bubbles from the washing up liquid.  That's how I found a leak when I first fitted my Fluval diffuser.  The diffuser has a ceramic disc with tiny pores so it requires a lot more pressure to force the gas through than a standard airstone and the higher pressure proved too much for my shoddy DIY efforts!  With a bit of Fairy I was able to find the leak and seal it with superglue.  
 
Here's a picture I took some time ago of my yeast setup.  Notice how each bottle has its own check valve and there is also another check valve between the small scrubber bottle and the tank.
 

 
Yep I give my reactors names .  Clive has since retired but I now have George (after George Farmer) and Coley (after SuperColey who wrote our CO2 guide)