Hi guys. I've got a Hagen co2 system running with 1/2 tsp. of yeast (the rest of the recipe is normal, sugar and water to repsective lines, 1 tsp baking soda). I'm getting 20 BPM. Most people reccomend using 1/4 tsp instead. I've got a 3 liter DIY co2 bottle project going, and now all I need is a screw in thingie to make a seal with the other screw in thingie the air line connects to.

Heres my question. The DIY alone should give me 1 bubble per second, acording to what I read from another member here. Is it a wise idea to go ahead and leave the Hagen on the tank and connect the two using a T connector if I use 1/4 tsp. instead of 1/2 tsp of yeast? My recipe for the 3 liter is 3 cups sugar, 3 tsp. baking soda, 3 liters of water, and 1/2 tsp. yeast. My recipe for the hagen system will be sugar and water to their respective lines, 1 tsp. of baking soda and 1/4 tsp. of yeast. Is this overkill? should I just forget about the hagen canister and just use the 3 liter co2 bottle? This tank is a ten gallon with the rocks and substrate probably holds 7 gallons of water. I'm dosing ferts and have 4 wpg (screw in power compact lights). I'm going to use a hagen ladder (man I love these things! they look cool and work great!)

I'm thinking "hey, why not?!" but i'm also thinking "Oh god they could all die! DIE!!!!". I'd appreciate your opinions.

I have another question that really isn't that related to this, but it kind of is...

How come the more bubbles I get, the less is absorbed? But the fewer I get, the more is absorbed? Like if I get 20 BPM, by the timy they reach the top of the ladder they are super tiny, but If I squeeze the air tube to get more bubbles for a short time (I shouldn't do that, but I did to see if this would happen) they aren't NEARLY as small as they normally are. What's up with that?

I had a Hagen co2 system and then replaced to canister with 3 two liter coke bottles and change out one bottle every week. I also replaced to ladder with Rex's PVC reactor which dissolves 100% of the bubbles.
The larger the bubbles start out at, the faster they travel up the ladder. The smaller the bubbles, the slower they travel and dissolve more.
I hope this helps.

I've noticed the bubbles all start out the same size, but it really doesn't matter to me. I was just curious.

do you think this is overkill? Will just the DIY 3 liter c02 bottle alone be a hazard with that recipe?

what size tank? plant load?

It's a 10 gallon, moderate plants but will be heavy once they grow in.

I've got just the three liter co2 bottle in there.

I believe 3 liter is overkill. Could use a 1 liter no problem. Switch to small ceramic glass diffuser - awe much much betta. Also use champagne/wine yeast - even more betta.

I'm getting about 20-30 bpm. Why am I not getting 1 bps? I don't understand.

Another quarter teaspoon of yeast? That would make me up to 1.5 teaspoons!

It's been running about 24 hours. will it crank up if I wait it out?

i think 1 hagen unit will be good enough to supply the 10 gallon tank of co2 or make a DIY 2liter

Adding more yeast may not be the right thing to do. Getting a good quality yeast may be a better approach.

If your yeast to sugar ratio is too high, you get a lot of CO2 at first and then it fizzles out and doesn't last very long. This is because all the extra yeast ate up the sugar quickly and then the CO2 rate slowed down quickly and stopped. Also, the yeast are reproducing while all this is going on and making the sugar amount get used up quicker still. Ethanol is also being produced at a rapid rate and killing some of the yeast and reducing the CO2.

This info comes from Rex's site Rex's Guide to CO2 and I quote: "Use plain old white sugar. I prefer to use wine yeast because it works at the lower winter temperatures I keep the house and it has a much higher alcohol tolerance than bread yeast. And $1 will buy a year's supply. Also when recharging the bottles I pour off the liquid and use the bottle sludge for the next bottle. That's the yeast."

Did you notice his comment that the bottle sludge is the yeast and it can be used again? Add sugar and water to this sludge and you are good to go again.

I saw a post that Rex is selling some packets of a very good yeast. You may need to find his post about his product and how he uses it.

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