WANTED: Your best Hagen CO2 recipes!

[Momotaro]

The champagne yeast works very well!

I have had the best results with champagne yeast. I tried a beer yeast, and that one was also thumbs up, but the champagne yeast seems a little more consistent over a longer period of time.

Mike

[Kris]

i like the brown sugar better than white...

[uncskainch]

I'm planning to add CO2 to my 29 gallon. Will the Hagen system with a homemade yeast mixture suffice for that size tank? Thanks for any advice!

[Thanks]

i got sick of having my DIY bottle leak... so i re-hooked up the hagen bottle.
im amazed. with my recipe (i use redstar active dry), i get 1 bubble every 4 seconds on my 37 gallon... i run it into my filter intake. Today, for the first time in a while, my plants started pearling like crazy. Even the Anubias nana. It's flower has constant streams of bubbles... the rummynoses love swimming through them.

PS. Im thinking about adding another bottle... 1 bubble every 2 seconds with 95% dissolving efficiency... sound good? I dont want to overkill on CO2

[Momotaro]

It also goes to prove the hobby is in a constant state of flux, that ideas and perceptions are constantly changing as new information become relevant.

Mike

[supaoopa]

Hey where exactly do you buy champagne yeast? Online?

[uncskainch]

I haven't gotten my CO2 started yet, but I do brew beer at home and www.ebrew.com (Alternative Beverage) carries wine-making supplies as well as beer brewing supplies. Here's a link to the champagne yeast: http://www.ebrew.com/wine/wine_yeast.htm#L-EC

I suppose one could COMBINE home brewing and aquarium enthusiasm to hook up the CO2 system to a brewing batch of beer, but somehow I suspect that 5 gallons of fermenting stout might throw off a bit more CO2 than my 29 gallon tank really needs. You'd also have the problem of needing to have a batch brewing constantly...but then that's not really so much of a problem, really, is it?

Will the Hagen do the trick for a 29 gallon, using a home-made yeast recipe? I saw elsewhere that it was only recommended for tanks up to 20 gallon, but then I've seen a lot of people here using it for 30+ gallon tanks. Thanks for any info!

[rwong2k]

I'm curious how long do these recipe last?

my 2 tanks are about 15 feet apart and I'm considering buying a manifold,difussor/reactor+bubble counter for my current co2 system to split it or just to grab one of those hagen co2 system it's $30 CND compared to $90 CND ish, hmm decisions...

oh the new tank's a 21 gallon tank


Raymond

[cake fan]

This is a great thread btw

I have a small question, what is the approximate temp of the water you're adding? (or cold/warm/hot ?)

[Kris]

i boil the water and add the sugar and then let it cool to room temp.
i live in texas too, so sometimes "room temperature" means that it goes in the fridge for a bit if the kitchen has taken a bit to cool back down!

[anonapersona]

I never boil the water, just use tap water, not hot, not cold, just skin temp-ish.

If the mix smells "like death" then you need to clean everything well, you've gotten some bacteria in there that is not good.

If you shake the unit to mix, you risk getting yeast in the tubing and you will have more yeast-snot form on the end of the tubing in the tank where it can interfere with the bubbles staying on the ladder. If you get much snot, clean the entire cap and tubing well in hot water.

Check your phone book for home beer brewing supplies, you may be surprised how many there are. They will carry probably a dozen or more types of yeast and various yeast nutrients that have assorted chemicals. I tried testing a few and gave up. Some like cold, some tolerate heat, some float as they are used up, others fall to the bottom as they are used up. Bread yeast plus baking soda works fine. Wine and beer yeast don't seem to like baking soda, I suspect they have different tolerances for alkalinity/acidity. The mix goes very acid as it is used up -- do not open a canister and add baking soda after it has been going! (scenes from the old erupting volcano trick)

[Cheeseybacon]

I tried something different today when I changed my vat o' C02 crap. I added the sugar, water, and yeast, all mixed together and such as per usual. Then I sprinkled a small tidbit of yeast on the top of the water, leaving it totally undisturbed, and then closed it up. Within half an hour, I had a steady stream of bubbles going. I have never in my life see the reaction start so quickly and with such gusto. Give it a try the next time.

[anonapersona]

Originally Posted by Cheeseybacon

I tried something different today when I changed my vat o' C02 crap. I added the sugar, water, and yeast, all mixed together and such as per usual. Then I sprinkled a small tidbit of yeast on the top of the water, leaving it totally undisturbed, and then closed it up. Within half an hour, I had a steady stream of bubbles going. I have never in my life see the reaction start so quickly and with such gusto. Give it a try the next time.

I'd never given any thought to the order of adding things... I always added the sugar, then baking soda, then water. Then I added the yeast and I watched for a minute until it fell, then rose again. Then I'd walk over to the tank to hook it up. Usually the gas would begin to visibly move down the airline into the tank in minutes.

[cake fan]

I used your recipe anonapersona and I must say that I stirred it up a bit and within 30 minutes I had really nice bubbles. My hagen set up is new so the bubbles don't glide perfectly yet but I've read that it just needs to build up some slimey coating then it will. Great recipe

How long does yours last on average?

[anonapersona]

When I did it regularly it lasted 3 weeks.

I'm embarassed to admit that I have not been regular at refilling it at all! The Hagen unit has a series of small paper tags that I add that says what the recipe was that I used (whether bread yeast or beer or champagne, volume, baking soda volume - I varied these a lot over the past years) and I note when I refilled it, if I washed the bottle.

When I do check it now I often see that it was 2 or 3 months since I last refilled but that is because I just let it die completely. Sometimes it would still be going, and the tag would say 6 weeks or 2 or 3 months and I have to think that I just neglected to change the tag then, "Naw, that can't be right!" But, when I was obsessive about it, it would last 2 1/2 to 3 weeks. And I'd change it when it got to only 3 bubbles on the lader at one time, since that was pretty close to how many bubbles there were per minute. I'd start at 6 or 10 bpm and decline to 3 then I'd change it.

I am overextended in fish tanks now for the 2 discus tanks take up most of my time devoted to getting my hands wet now with their 3x/week water changes. The little 10 gallon was getting ferts and new CO2 only if it looks like the vals are dying back. The broken line tetras in there were always hiding in the thick plants and I often forgot to feed them. I'd tend it when the Whisper mini got so plugged up it overflowed back by the input line or if the ambulia or water lily took over the tank. So it was terribly neglected and I just recently broke it down, sold most of the plants at auction and sold the tank and Hagen and lights and flourite locally. I still have one Hagen not in use now.

My advice is to add the sugar (never overfill the sugar), then 1 teaspoon baking soda, then skin temp or a bit warmer water, then 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon bread yeast. And watch until the yeast falls then rises again in the water. Seal it up, give an extra 1/4 turn. Put the ladder as high as possible in the tank in an area of good flow.

If you do experiment, just keep good notes of what you did and how it worked. I've used beer yeast, with yeast nutrients from the beer brew store, I've used champagne yeast. I found the bread yeast plus baking soda worked dependably. Sometimes I'd not rinse out the jar, just pour it out and refill, but I never got a true opinion on that, whether it was good or bad, seemed to go both ways either worked great or bad early. Just have fun with it. Eventually you'll see what you think is best.