WANTED: Your best Hagen CO2 recipes!

[Momotaro]

I am looking for the best DIY recipes for the Hagen CO2 unit.

I was reading a couple of past threads, and while the discussion was about the Hagen unit, the recipes always seemed to revert back to the 2l bottle. The Hagen canister is no where near 2l, so those recipes don't translate easily! We have so many resourceful and experienced people on this board, I am sure a great recipe is out there!

I am asking the DIYers to post their best Hagen CO2 unit recipes! If recipe proportions need to be different because of different types of yeasts (bread, wine, beer or champagne) post them!

Mike

[amanda huggenkiss]

I fill sugar up to the line indicated in the Hagen canister, add 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 tsp baking soda, and then fill water up to the top line. Recipe courtesy of anonapersona

[mpb]

I use the Hagen ladder with a 2l bottle. Does it count?

Anyway one thing that does make the recipe last longer is to activate the yeast culture using the guideline on this article:
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

[cookingnerd607]

Im using some hard plastic lemon juice bottles similar in size to my hagen unit, i too would like a good recipe. Seems they go strong @ 14 bpm for about 7 days then drop drastically to 3-4bpm. thanks!

[scalare altum]

Originally Posted by amanda huggenkiss

I fill sugar up to the line indicated in the Hagen canister, add 1/4 tsp yeast, 1 tsp baking soda, and then fill water up to the top line. Recipe courtesy of anonapersona

That is what I use :P

[Wasserpest]

Baking soda has not worked for me, it only caused the mixture to foam. So if you have hard water like I do, you might want to test the recipe minus the BS.

[Momotaro]

I use the Hagen ladder with a 2l bottle. Does it count?

NO! LOL! Just joking MPD!

I am looking for a recipe with proportions that anyone can use in conjunction with the Hagen System as it is. The refill packets are expensive, and they often seem not to work. I am hoping to get a few recipes for myself and the rest of our members.

So far we have Anonapersona's recipe:

When I refill the Hagen canister, I fill it to the line inside with sugar and then to the top line with water, then add 1/4 teaspoon Fleischman's yeast, regular I guess, and 1 teaspoon baking soda.

With the additional information that adding baking soda to brewers yeast or wine yeast may make those mixtures less effective.


Mike

[malkore]

If you have semi hard water (I'd say at least 4dKh and 6dGh) then you can skip the baking soda.

[Jumbotummy]

hmm..... I think its time to do some experiments....

[anonapersona]

Even with semi hard water, it still may be useful to try it both ways. Try it once with the teaspoon of baking soda and once without. I found that at the two week mark, the tank with baking soda (started at the same time, same recipe, same size tank) had twice the bubble rate as the tank with no baking soda.

But, the sort of yeast used does seem to make a difference. I found that bread yeast seems to like baking soda and wine and beer yeast did not. My water is GH 10, KH 8ish, mostly calcium, not much magnesium.

[Momotaro]

I am trying Anona's recipe using champagne yeast.

I will update!

Mike

[g8wayg8r]

If got a small container of buffer left over from the days when I had a fish tank. My pH is about 9.4 and I've got up to one mg/l of chloramine in my tap water. I need to get a DIY set-up going with my new 10-gallon tank and I thought about adding the buffer and some Aquasafe in the water before I put the little beasties in there to do their thing.

Anybody ever use that stuff?

[Momotaro]

I tried Anona's recipe. I am using Champagne yeast in my Hagen system, and using the suggested amounts of sugar and water.

The CO2 is flowing, and flowing and flowing! What a difference! I actually need to monitor the CO2 output for fear of crashing the pH!

So far, so good!

Mike

[oldfarmhouse]

Momo every time I have a mixture that puts out lots of bubbles it usually leads to a shorter life.. Good Luck keep us posted on the champagne yeast.

[Momotaro]

I'll keep an eye out for that.

I believe Rex suggested Champagne yeast a while ago as a longer lasting yeast. Guess we'll put it to the test.

Will keep you up to date!

Mike