[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: [APD] Now, some tedious yeast CO2 questions



When the activity is so low that you aren't getting bubbles
in to the aquarium anymore, and you pour out some of the
mix -- does it smell like a nice cheap light beer or screw
cap wine?  If not, then the yeast are probably not spent
but the container/mix is probably contaminated with some
bacteria or such.

If yes, then the yeast are peaking too quickly. Yeast are
sensitive to temperature and the alcohol level. Different
strains of yeast have diff peak ranges for both parameters.
Try starting a culture of some wine yeast, eg, champagne
yeast -- it can tolerate higher alcohol levels (some up to
18%-21%). And you can pick yeast that is more or less
active. The really active stuff gets going very fast and
burns out quickly. Here's one place to look:

http://www.brewsource.com/ProdNav/Ing_Yeast_vw_44.asp


A little pricey for yeast but remember, once you have a
culture started, you can use a small portion of your old
mix to seed the new mix each time you replenish. And you
can store this stuff inthe fridge for about a year or so.

Or, to make things easier, go to the lfs and get some of
the stuff sold as refills for the Hagen Plant Gro system
(the ready-made yeast reactor). That yeast variety doesn't
peak so fast, although I've found that it is not very
actdive at low temps (around 50-55F) so it might be very
active past 80F.

Clean out the reactor with very hot water and no soap just
to make sure nothing has contaminated the container and the
mix. Or, if you use any detergent or soap, be sure to rinse
the parts very well.


Have gas, have fun,
sh


--- Holly Wagner <holly5dogs at yahoo_com> wrote:
> 
> Hi All,
> 
> The yeast CO2 setup works well as long as the yeast is
> alive and bubbling (DUH).  Here's the thing.  I read all
> these reports on the Net about people who replenish the
> yeast mixture every two weeks but mine is fizzling out
> after a couple days.  I have 2 two-liter bottles running
> on a 55 gallon tank.  In each bottle I used this mixture:
>  1 liter water, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1
> Tablespoon molasses, 1 Tablespoon protein powder, 1/2 tsp
> yeast.  I got the recipe from the aquatic gardener's
> website.  I used regular baking  yeast.  The weather has
> been warm here, about 80-85 and I'm frugal so I've not
> been using the a/c, just running the ceiling fan.  Can
> ambient room temps cause the yeast's life expectancy to
> drop?  I'm getting a bubble every minute to two minutes
> if I'm lucky.  A day to two days after mixing the mixture
> I was getting a bubble every three to six seconds and the
> bottles were bubbling like club soda.
> 

The AGA's Sixth Annual International Aquascaping Contest is opening soon. The webpage for 2005 entries well be ready in a few weeks. So, start planning, planting and pruning and dosing, doctoring, hosing and posing. Going exotic? Then round up those rare plants now. Need some iinspiration? View prior-year entries and winners here: http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org
_______________________________________________
Aquatic-Plants mailing list
Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com
http://www.actwin.com/mailman/listinfo/aquatic-plants