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DIY Yeast Disaster



I should have known I was jinxing myself when I said "the worst 
that could happen in my champagne yeast plus nutrients 
experiment was that I'd have to start a new bottle sooner than 
hoped."  Wrong.  

I had added malt extract to the basic yeast formulation, hoping to 
turbo charge the yeast CO2 production over a longer period of time. 
In a day or so, a whole lot of foam was produced in the bottle, far 
more than I'd ever seen before.  I figured this idea was really 
working!  But before long, things seemed awry in the tank.  The 
plants were not doing so well.  A funny brownish film covered the 
front of the tank (I haven't had an algae problem in years, and with 
4 watts/gal, brown algae didn't seem likely).  After about a week 
and a half, fish began to die.  I lost 4 cardinals, one serpae, and 
one oto in the space of 3 days.  One of the rummynoses developed 
what looks to be a tumor.  The foam still persisted in the DIY 
bottle, but little gas was being produced anymore.  I pulled the 
bottle, poured out the contents, and found that it was all slimey 
gunk rather than the usual liquid.  It didn't smell foul, but it wasn't 
right.  

I am guessing that the extra nutrients in the culture allowed 
bacteria to compete with the yeast, and that they were producing 
some undesirable gas which damaged the tank chemistry.  I've got 
a new bottle of yeast going sans malt extract, and it is bubbling 
normally.  The ugly brown film is gone, the plants are growing, the 
fish are not dying.  I don't think I'll mess with the basic formula 
again.

Has anyone else had problems with contamination in their yeast 
set-ups?

Cathy Hartland
in Maryland where spring blossoms lighten the heart, and the rivers 
are calling to kayakers