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Re: CO2 Questions
>> >Most yeasts work best if the density of the sugar/water mix is about
>> >1.030 (you can use a marine hydrometer to measure this, or buy one at
>>
>> This is very interesting. Does this mean that I've been wasting
>> 85% of the sugar in the generators?
>Can anyone suggest a proper amount of sugar in a 2L mix?
>I get erratic results from my DIY setup a lot of the time...
I have used 1 3/4 cups of sugar in a 2 liter bottle with 1/2 tsp.
Saccharomyces Cerevisiae wine yeast
and 1 tsp. baking soda and it works fine. I then add 1/2 tsp. yeast nutrient
in week 2 and week 6.
The S.G. drops from 1.065 to very close to 0 and the fermentation lasts for
almost 2 months. I have
tasted the result and it is a little sweets so not all the sugar ferments
but if I go with less with the sugar the yeast
floculates too soon so I don't think there is a proper ratio. It depends on
a lot more factors
than you might think. Things to consider are the strain of yeast, the method
of hydrating the yeast, the amount of air left
in the bottle, the size and shape of the bottle, the buffering capacity of
the water, the temperature of the fermentation, the concentration of the
sugar and the available nutrients. If you fix all these variables then there
is no reason why you shouldn't get repeatable results. I have now switched
to 4 liter bottles for my 90 gallon tank and I like it a lot better. The
initial CO2 production rises slower which gives me steadier production and
I, of course, get more CO2.
Another thing to consider is the possibility of leaks in your system. They
are very difficult to detect and when I was first using CO2 I was assuming
that my mixture was only lasting a week when it was actually just that the
CO2 production was dropping below the leak threshhold so no more CO2 would
go into my tank.
I have more information on my home page at http://www.mnsi.net/~waj/#item5.
It is rather out of date but you might find it useful.
Wayne