DIY Co2 Mixtures

[Oliver]

hi all i was just wondering what you all think is the best mixture of yeast, sugar, baking soda, water. i have been playing around with it a bit but am still curious as to what you guys do. i am getting a 200Lt tanks soon and am thinking of running 2 or 3 2litre bottles to an inline diffusor. but i want a good yeast mixture that will last a long time. I have been using brewing sugar but not sure if it is better than normal sugar or not. any help would be appreciated. thanks

[Oliver]

i have been playing around with this for a while and here is a recipe that has been working well for me
4 cups of Coopers Brewing Sugar
6 cups of water
1/4 teaspoon bi carb soda
1/2 yeast
1/4 protein powder

i made a batch of this up a week and a half ago and it has been producing a strong flow of co2 since then i will let you know when it runs out.

[ILLUSN]

what worked for me was 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of yeast bout 7 cups (1400ml) water, lasted between 2 and 4 weeks at bout 2-3bps

[Hassles]

If you were running a yeast bottle that ran continuously for 4 weeks, wold you be concerned about the CO2 over night with regards to any adverse infleunce on oxygen for the fish

[ILLUSN]

not really, all my co2 systems run 24/7. use an air pump 24/7 as well and adjust the output to keep the co2 levels in check, you'll get it with a bit of practise.

[Greggy]

For my own DIY CO2 system I use three 2L plastic Coke bottles (A,B and C) where I refresh the CO2 mix on one bottle each week (A then B then C then A and so forth)

Recipe for each 2L bottle is as follows:

Prepare the yeast pre-mix as follows:
Add about 100mLs of slightly warm to a small mixing bowl
add 1/4 teaspoon of bakers yeast, allow it to dissolve for a minute
Gently mix the yeast and water together to form a creamy white solution
Leave it to settle whilst you move onto the next step...

I then prepare the main contents of the bottle:
Fill 3/4 full with slightly warm water
Add 2 cups of sugar
Add 1 pinch of sodium bicarbonate
Mix well until all sugar has dissolved (this takes a few minutes of shaking)
Now add the yeast pre-mix to the bottle and gently mix it all in

Place the complete bottle into your CO2 system and within 24 hours you'll have a few bubbles being produced and within about 2 days the whole solution will be 'fizzing' CO2 for at least 3 to 4 weeks.... EASY!

If you want more CO2 at the expense of the mixture lasting less time double the amount of yeast used to 1/2 a teaspoon.

Note: DO NOT shake the bottle of mixture after it has started bubblling/fizzing as this is akin to shaking a bottle of fresh coke... you may have small CO2 explosion on your hands!

I almost forgot, I run an airstone during the night and have had no issues with pH or Oxygen levels being too low.

Overall the DIY CO2 system noticably improves the health & growth of the plants and also reduces my pH from around 7.6-7.8 out of the tap down to approx 7.0 (neutral)

Regards,

Greggy