Hi everyone!

[sandi]

Hi All, I am glad to be here. I am hoping to hook up with some other plant folks that might have trimmings to sell/trade. Also any advice on how to go from slow-poke yeast type co2 to pressurized without going broke would also be appreciated.;)
Sandi

[seahorse12790]

Hi , not a moderator here but very interested in plants in the aquarium!
I have a 30 gal tank now that is using undergravel heating!
It is working more than i ever though it would!

I also am usiing yeast type generators. I actually have a large pitcher with a screw type lid. I just using telon tape around the threads and have a port opening on top!
It gives me co2 for about three weeks!
The only thing i tried, was going to a soda & beer distributor! They will sell you co2 But the regulator!! talking in ppm here! I think you still have to buy the regulator for the min ppm we need for the plants!
Was meaning to ask you. How much are you changing your yeast??

I also was looking into the bottles that you buy at wal-mart for the co2 paint ball guns! They are pretty good but they only have 1lb tank. But again the regulator we need wont fit.

If this helps,,I add a teaspoon of baking soda into the yeast and sugar mix! Because, when the co2 is in the water it is forming carbonic acid.. This acid then kills any remaining yeast in there! But the baking soda acts like a buffer for the acid being produced! It adds some extra life in the mixture!

I know the co2 systems are expensive but at least if you have more than one tank with plants you can distribute the co2! futher with co2 tanks you dont have to worry about getting yeast into the tank and cleaning the lines out! I think in the long run its not bad!

[Vyrl]

For the co2 tank and regulater try your local Homebrew store. They will have or can get different size co2 tanks and regulators. You can also look at www.beveragefactory.com/draftbeer.shtml.
I hope this helps.

Vyrl

[seahorse12790]

Hello and nice to meet you!
I checked the site that you posted. Pretty Nice!
Only one exception is that the regulators for the beer is in lbs.
We need a very fine regulator measuring in bars which will produce a fine injection of co2.
I think the threads on the tanks are probably the same since its the co2! For instance if you found a regulator that was for O2 the threads are different than co2 tank. SO you have to buy a regulator that will match!
I think you cant get away from the price of a regulator for a fine injection of co2! I know , the price is high, but you have it!!
But i think you can save on a co2 tank from your local beer distributor!
I am still looking!

What is funny is that co2 is easy to make! Just about everything organic and in-organic makes it! It is just collecting and introducing it at the right amounts....

[waruss]

The initial setup is expensive but is alot easier to measure doseage. I purchased a regulator, needle valve, solenoid and bubble counter from here and have no regrets. The CO2 is regulated to 5-8 psi and the needle valve is adjusted for the correct amount of CO2 bubbles/minute. The CO2 is shut off at night when it is not needed by using a timer on the solenoid. The initial expense is well worth it. The regulators from the link posted look good but I still recommend a needle valve assembly for fine adjustments. The CO2 tanks everywhere I looked seem unreasonably high priced though.

[seahorse12790]

Do you find that shutting down the co2 at night produces a shift in the ph level?

I think that a 15-20 ppm dosage is ok! How mahy bubbles per min will produce this ppm?

Can you have a reserve co2? I mean can you have a co2 bubble that will slowly disolve???

[waruss]

Seahorse12790;
CO2 injection and live plants are a new area for me - I'm still gathering info
Do you find that shutting down the co2 at night produces a shift in the ph level?
Yes, I do see a change in pH. Mine still creeps up way too much. My initial use of CO2 was to lower the pH ( normally at 7.8 due to a high carbonate hardness ), not to enhance plant growth. But since the addition of CO2, I've been having to prune every 2 weeks.

I think that a 15-20 ppm dosage is ok! How mahy bubbles per min will produce this ppm?
I honestly couldn't tell you. The residual CO2 concentration would depend on the water volume, surface area of the tank, surface water movement, surface water tension, and the CO2 concentration of the air above the water.

Can you have a reserve co2? I mean can you have a co2 bubble that will slowly disolve???
Yes, to an extent. If you were to invert a shallow cup under water you could place a bubble of CO2 in it. The rate at which it would dissolve into the water would be dependant on the rate of water movement under the cup.

Most of this was gleaned from other websites/posts/books that I've come in contact with (other than the last 30 days of personal exp. with CO2). I'm just learning this stuff myself.
:CMP

[sandi]

Anyone have any advice on what to expect from a fresh batch of yeast/sugar/water getting into a tank? I had aout a 1/4 cup get into my tank a few days ago...it had only been mixed up for about an hour so no alchohol worries but what about weird fungus or bacteria forming in the tank? I have corrected what caused the problem (cat/kid proof now) and did aproximately 60% worth of water changes in 20% increments over the following 24 hours. So I guess my question is basically what could happen next.
thanks Sandi

[waruss]

Sandi,
Here's a link to someone who had this problem.
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/yeast-disaster.html#8

Unfortunatly it's not good news. Hopefully you caught the problem early eanough. There's some other pretty good reading there too. HTH

[sandi]

Hi Ward, I think I must have caught it right after it happened because only the area near my bubble counter was foggy. I did 3 20% water changes over the next 24 hours and thankfully it seems my fish have been spared. The tank is still a bit cloudy and I have seen some "hairy" algea on a few of the leaves (removed most of them) but my parimeters are fine and so are my apistogrammas. I did remove a coupe of the "lower rung" apistos that were already having a bit of a hard time from their more robust tankmates and put them in a 20H with a couple of rams and curvecepts. Other than that things are the same as usual; I change 10% every 3 days anyway so I think in a week or 2 everything will work out OK. Thanks for the great link...I checked it out and will watch for the bad stuff...I will also be MUCH more careful in the future;)
Thanks again, Sandi