made a diy Co2 reactor

[newtothis]

following the link given to me in my first thread here, I built a diy co2 reactor according to Tom Barrs directions..well... more like the modified version where the PH and co2 lines are inserted on the side of the tube and not the top. but have one problem... I put the venturi line 2-2.5 from the top but it is never in the "gas" area of the chamber. The gas level only is about 1.5" from the top. I have no bubbles escaping the chamber so thats not the issue. Are my yeast bottles just not putting out enough? Should I redo the reactor and raise the venturi to 1" from the top?

any advice would be appreciated... due to a broken hot water heater yesterday I had to cancel my order for my co2 system...

and I NEVER see any pearling...nothing! Don't even know what pearling looks like but from what I saw in a google search I've never seen it.

 

[VaughnH]

I don't recall how big your aquarium is, so I'm not sure if DIY CO2 will be enough or not. To refresh our memories, what is your tank size and lighting sysem?

 

[newtothis]

tank is a 55, running two of these reactor thingys and 4 bottles...not getting enough gas to reach the venturi tube on either reactor....think I need to move it up to 1" from top.... or find out why my yeast co2 isn't putting out a constant flow of bubbles...like it used to. hmmm...is it possible to get a bad batch of yeast? my bottles used to give me a steady stream of bubbles for 4-6 weeks...last few bottles only send off a bunch of bubbles every 30 seconds or so. Does yeast go bad?

 

[Henry Hatch]

tank is a 55, running two of these reactor thingys and 4 bottles...not getting enough gas to reach the venturi tube on either reactor....think I need to move it up to 1" from top.... or find out why my yeast co2 isn't putting out a constant flow of bubbles...like it used to. hmmm...is it possible to get a bad batch of yeast? my bottles used to give me a steady stream of bubbles for 4-6 weeks...last few bottles only send off a bunch of bubbles every 30 seconds or so. Does yeast go bad?

Using DIY co2 in a 55 is going to be a problem. It is very hard to maintain a sufficient and stable level of co2 in that size tank. I now use one gallon of diy co2 yeast mixture on my small tanks 20 and 30 gallon and change it every 5 days. DIY co2 is labor intensive. Other people use other methods. Most likely your yeast was killed by ethanol building up in the bottle which is a normal by product of the fermentation process. Yeast can be fickle. It gets old or some is killed off due to using water that is too hot etc. Your yeast mixture may produce some co2 for 2-3 weeks, but it is very unlikely that it would be at a sufficient level for that size tank.

It is possible that you may not have had enough co2 to produce gas to reach up to the venturi. It may also be that your design may be different from Tom's. A different size pump or reactor may have affected things.

Henry

 

[shoggoth43]

Yeast can go bad if it's not stored properly. Once opened it will become useless quickly unless you properly store it. Rinse your bottles well, the alcohol is the killer here for yeast. Also, make sure to "activate" the yeast with a bath of lukewarm water. Anything even remotely hot to the touch will kill off most of your yeast. If you don't activate the yeast first, then you're going to have pitiful output as a lot will settle in the bottle and get stuck in sugar slurry.

I would suggest going to a different store and get some new Fleischman's yeast or similar just in case you got a bad batch. That is, IF you still want to do the DIY yeast routine. I moved off to pressurized after a couple of months. It's a bit more $$$ up front, but.... well, I'm lazy and it's so much easier to make things stable with a tank.

-
S

 

[newtothis]

thanks for all the info...wow.. learned alot in those few posts...thanks!!

The first batch of bottles I made were awesome...I had a steady stream of o2 for a month and everything looked great...plants grew like crazy and zero algae.

then came batches two and three...o2 output was much slower and sporatic at best...then came the bba and growth slowed way down. Like a newbie moron I stopped dosing ferts which hurt the cause.

I used yeast in bags and the bag was cut open and never resealed after my first batch... at least now I know the yeast went bad.

I did a 50% water change last night and as the hose was refilling I sprayed the tap water on my java moss which is more like a huge clump of bba now.

This morning huge chunks of dead BBA is falling off the java moss and the remainer is turning red. Looks like all the BBA in the tank is dieing...wahoo!!


From what I've read yeast co2 should last more than 5 days,no? if it needs replacing after 5 days I would think you have to much yeast in your recipe . My first batch (good yeast) lasted 4-6 weeks and had a steady strong flow of fine c02 bubbles the entire time. the recipe I use was given to me by a well known member of another forum ..... 2cups sugar, 2/3 bottle warm water, 1/2tsp yeast 1/2 tsp baking soda.

Has anyone tried the Jello recipe for DIY yeast co2??

 

[newtothis]

forgot to add my water params.... I finally got a tester!

PH - 7.2
KH - 180
GH - 150
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 60