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Re: Poor Man's CO2 setup problems



On 1/12/98 3:48 PM, the skies cleared and Aquatic Plants Digest at 
Aquatic-Plants-Owner at actwin_com said...

>Date: Mon, 12 Jan 1998 14:07:07 EST
>From: LLPJ1 <LLPJ1 at aol_com>
>Subject: Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V3 #20
>
>In the mixture everyone seems to like there is 2 cups sugar, 1 tsp yeast, 1
>tsp baking soda, and the rest water.  
>
>Q-  What is the purpose of using warm water to begin with?

Makes the sugar dissolve more easily. It also gets the production of CO2 
started more quickly. Warm yeasties work harder, it seems!

>Q-  What is the purpose of the baking soda?  I did read some where that it
>buffers 
>      the mixture and makes it last longer. 

Not sure. Would like to know myself

>Q-  What yeast are you supposed to use?  I tried this for about a week and
>lost 2 Discus and 20 neons.  I was wondering if i used some different kind of
>yeast.  It seemed to be the only variable that could change from user to user 
>since sugar and water are all the same. 

I don't think the type of yeast matters (I use the supermarket brand). 
But, you should be aware that adding CO2 to the water can and *will* 
cause the pH to drop. Depending on how much CO2 is entering the tank vs 
how much the plants can consume will determine your drop. My 20 gal went 
from a pretty steady 7.0 to down in the high 5s. I haven't checked my new 
55 setup yet.

The main problem with DIY CO2 is it's uncontrollability. Many so-called 
high-tech systems have a pH probe to shut off the CO2 if the pH drops too 
low. Also, many systems can shut off the CO2 at night (well, when the 
lights go out, anyway...), when the plants don't use CO2.

That said, it's worked well for me in my 20 gal. I hope the 55 takes off 
as well as the 20 did. I had Hygro growing like a weed, and watersprite 
too!

Larry West
PS: anyone have the address for the aquarium list?