# Every morning DIY CO2 system fails to make CO2... WHY????



## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

Irs making me very aggravated that every morning since ive made this contraption that I come out to find that NO CO2 is being made. Everyone online said the mixture I made would last up to 3 week but it wont even last a day. I shook it up quite a few times this morning and it just fizzed out 5 minutes or so after shaking. what is wrong with this stupid reactor???? thanks for any help

P.S. I changes the yeast and sugar fluid yesterday morning thinking I must have done something wrong, but the same thing happened today so Im not wasting all of the fluid again.


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

im really starting to hate this thing. I added more sugar, fizzed for about 10 seconds then went back to making zero CO2. i know everything is air tight so its not the system its the yeast. do they need something other than sugar and water to make co2??? thanks


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

There has to be a step you are missing or messing up.....people use these mixtures everyday. Are you boiling any water in your mixing?


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> There has to be a step you are missing or messing up.....people use these mixtures everyday. Are you boiling any water in your mixing?


nah, no boiled water when I mixed it, I just turned the tap on hot and used water that felt to be at about 140 degrees F or so. Im quite confused because it worked all yesterday perfectly. jump on chat if you have a sec jr?


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## paronaram (Jul 12, 2008)

Check for leaks, and mixture temperature.
I had no CO2 when bottle was standing on the concrete floor, I had no CO2


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I used lukewarm water.Too hot kills the yeast IMO.This is how I do mine:

Aquatic Eden: DIY CO2 Recipe: Duration vs. Intensity - Aquascaping Aquarium Blog


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Look up DIY CO2 in the DIY section and find James0816's post on how to make a great recipe for CO2 using Jell-O, sugar, baking soda and yeast. You boil some water, mix the sugar and Jell-O together, let it set, cube it and throw it in the bottle with some extra hot water (not boiling) and baking soda, then activate the yeast by taking warm water and adding a little sugar, swirling it then adding some yeast, let the yeast sit and activate for 15 minutes, throw it in the bottle and throw in another little dash of yeast. I do that and my CO2 lasts about a month.

Also, as mentioned, your system might not be air-tight. Get a dish soap solution and try a bubble test around the junctions in your system. To do that, coat the junction with the solution and look for bubbles. Some places I can think of that might be leaking - the cap of the CO2 reaction bottle, the silicone seal where the tubing leaves the bottle, the check valve, and/or a gang valve if you're using it for an emergency bypass like I am.

Lastly, what are you using to dissolve the CO2 into the tank?


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

Maybe ya got a batch of bad yeast? 

Too much yeast and you'll go through the sugar quicker.

What are your ingredients exactly?

I'm having issues with my CO2 generator too. I don't think I've ever got 3 weeks out of a bottle. I'll be looking for leaks next.


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

thanks all for input. system is 100% air tight, Im pretty sure the problem was that i mixed ti with too hot of water at the beginning, because I added a tbsp of yeast and its running again. ill look at that DIY thanks gizmo


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

Gizmo said:


> Look up DIY CO2 in the DIY section and find James0816's post on how to make a great recipe for CO2 using Jell-O, sugar, baking soda and yeast. You boil some water, mix the sugar and Jell-O together, let it set, cube it and throw it in the bottle with some extra hot water (not boiling) and baking soda, then activate the yeast by taking warm water and adding a little sugar, swirling it then adding some yeast, let the yeast sit and activate for 15 minutes, throw it in the bottle and throw in another little dash of yeast. I do that and my CO2 lasts about a month.
> 
> Also, as mentioned, your system might not be air-tight. Get a dish soap solution and try a bubble test around the junctions in your system. To do that, coat the junction with the solution and look for bubbles. Some places I can think of that might be leaking - the cap of the CO2 reaction bottle, the silicone seal where the tubing leaves the bottle, the check valve, and/or a gang valve if you're using it for an emergency bypass like I am.
> 
> Lastly, what are you using to dissolve the CO2 into the tank?


im using a super fine bubble stone from petsmart, it makes super small bubbles and its doing well. I need a new recipe so Im going to try that DIY


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Did you say TBSP or TSP? Makes a big difference. A little more info could be beneficial to help you out.


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

James0816 said:


> Did you say TBSP or TSP? Makes a big difference. A little more info could be beneficial to help you out.


i said TBSP as in tablespoon. Co2 system still stops making bubbles every 2 days or so, so i have to pour out a little water and add some yeast. I have a 55 gal so I use a lot of CO2 for my tank, id say im getting 70 - 80% that dissolves off my bubble stone, bubbles start relatively large and decrease to about 1/20 of the original size by the time they get to the top. I have a bubble counter and to get the amount of CO2 bubbles I feel is necessary for my tank I keep it at 2 bubbles per second or so. It just doesnt last long because I think I use a lot of CO2. but its still cheaper and easier than refilling a CO2 tank.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

Ok. Are using 2litre bottles? 1tbsp of yeast means you will get a quick burst and then quickly out do itself as it consumes all sugars. Too much yeast. Cut back to 1tsp. What is your exact recipe anyway?

Also, for a 55g w/ DIY, you'll want to run multiple bottles.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

I don't use co2 but my fist thought was use a bigger bottle. 

So +1 for above from the ignorant co2 guy.


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

James0816 said:


> Ok. Are using 2litre bottles? 1tbsp of yeast means you will get a quick burst and then quickly out do itself as it consumes all sugars. Too much yeast. Cut back to 1tsp. What is your exact recipe anyway?
> 
> Also, for a 55g w/ DIY, you'll want to run multiple bottles.


I already thought of that, Im using a gallon Hawaiian punch bottle not a 2 litre.











and I know that more yeast means it is going to eat it faster, I keep adding sugar and yeast. I just added sugar the first few times and nothing happened. 3 hours later added a bit of yeast and hot water and it started up again.

exact recipe: 2 gal of water (about 100 degrees F), 2 cups of sugar, 2.5 TBSP of yeast, 1 TBSP of baking soda,.


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## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

joevw007 said:


> exact recipe: 2 gal of water (about 100 degrees F), 2 cups of sugar, 2.5 TBSP of yeast, 1 TBSP of baking soda,.


Judging by your recipe, your yeast to sugar ratio is definately way off. In the "usual" setup using the 2l bottles, the recipe calls for 2c sugar to 1tsp or less of yeast. In your setup, you are using ~8tsp of yeast to 2c sugar.

To give you a better perspective, with the setups I now use, it is ~ 1 3/4c sugar to 1/2 tsp yeast.

* EDIT *
Another thing to note after seeing the picture of your setup....the gas seperator bottle will be more suseptable to leaks. I ran across that issue originally myself and was more prominent after I switched to the glass nano diffusers. I swapped out that bottle for the 20oz Gatorade bottles and they have been working like a charm ever since.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Are all of your lines going through the caps sealed properly?


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

jrman83 said:


> Are all of your lines going through the caps sealed properly?


all caps are air tight, used the dish soap test. I changed out my reactor and went with 

1 gal of water, 1/2 TSP not TBSP of yeast this time, 2 and a half cups of sugar, and 1.5 TSP of baking soda. Lowered the amount of yeast drastically and made mixture around 9 this morning and still no bubbles. going to wait 24 hrs for bubbles but I doubt it will ferment correctly with such little yeast. doesn't make enough pressure to run a system as big as I want/need.


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

I'm hunting down my co2 ghost problem too. I replaced all my rubber tubes and found the tube (the next morning) had kinked. This prevented air going into the tank. I unkinked it and.. I'm just glad the bottles didn't explode!! :O

(on the plus side, I know I don't have leaks!! haha)

Off chance your one way check valve is in backwards?


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## joevw007 (Jul 6, 2011)

FishFlow said:


> I'm hunting down my co2 ghost problem too. I replaced all my rubber tubes and found the tube (the next morning) had kinked. This prevented air going into the tank. I unkinked it and.. I'm just glad the bottles didn't explode!! :O
> 
> (on the plus side, I know I don't have leaks!! haha)
> 
> Off chance your one way check valve is in backwards?


its no hardware it was my mixture. im trying different recipes to figure out which one works the best. Im trying out 1 gal water, 2.5 TSP of yeast, 2.5 cups of sugar, and 2 TSP of baking soda


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## ohiobr (Jan 26, 2011)

I don't use CO2 in my tank but i do do a little home brewing (mead and beer). Applying my experience with that to your situation I might have a few tips/observations that could help(or not) 

1. There are specialized brewing yeasts that are bred to withstand higher levels of alcohol. This could help with our longevity issues as a bakers yeast will die off well before yeasts bred specifically for brewing. Try Lalvin K1V-1116. You can get it from any online brewing supply store or check your local liquor stores. 

2. The healthier the yeast the more it feeds and the more it feeds the more bubbles you get. Think about cutting back on sugar and adding some lemon juice (acid) and raisins (tannins) to the mixture for happier/healthier yeast. Grape juice has both acids and tannins so you could also add a dash of that to every batch. 

Not sure how well this translates to a DIY CO2 system but any time I make up a batch I usually get this Bubbling Airlock - YouTube for at least a few days, then it slowly peters off over about a week.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Yes, brewers yeast is much better.


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