CO2 Reactor Recipes

[dc]

I use a Red Sea Turbo CO2 injector for my planted aquariums. The brand name
media for this 1 l reactor cost $9 a pop and is rated to last a month. Are
there any comparable and cheap home recipes for C02 that will last equally
as long as the brand name Red Sea media?

Honestly the 240 g of "Media" and and 1 g of "Activator" substance Red Sea
sells looks like nothing more than sugar and yeast. Most of the recipes
I've found on the Web just call for sugar and brewers' yeast, but they
aren't rated to last for a month. Is there something else Red Sea includes
or is it just a con? :D

[Rocco Moretti]

dc wrote:
> I use a Red Sea Turbo CO2 injector for my planted aquariums. The brand name
> media for this 1 l reactor cost $9 a pop and is rated to last a month. Are
> there any comparable and cheap home recipes for C02 that will last equally
> as long as the brand name Red Sea media?
>
> Honestly the 240 g of "Media" and and 1 g of "Activator" substance Red Sea
> sells looks like nothing more than sugar and yeast. Most of the recipes
> I've found on the Web just call for sugar and brewers' yeast, but they
> aren't rated to last for a month. Is there something else Red Sea includes
> or is it just a con? :D

Some people claim that adding baking soda to the mix prolongs CO2 output.

Another thing that you may want to consider is what "rated to last a
month" means. When I was negligent about running a DIY CO2, I'd still be
getting bubbles one month after last fillup, but the bubble rate was 1
every minute or so, versus one every 5 seconds or less with a fresh bottle.

To prolong DIY CO2 generation, you can do things like alter the amount
of yeast(rapid rise vs. regular), sugar, and experiment with additions
like protein powder, molassas, and solidifiers like gelatin. The goal is
to have the yeast grow slowly and consistently, and not consume all the
sugar overnight, or die from depleting nutrients or by poisoning
themselves with alcohol.

I'm sure you could set up a DIY system of the same quality as the Red
Sea one, but it may take some experimenting.

[dc]

Rocco Moretti > wrote in
:

Thanks for the quick reply.

> Another thing that you may want to consider is what "rated to last a
> month" means. When I was negligent about running a DIY CO2, I'd still
> be getting bubbles one month after last fillup, but the bubble rate
> was 1 every minute or so, versus one every 5 seconds or less with a
> fresh bottle.

> I'm sure you could set up a DIY system of the same quality as the Red
> Sea one, but it may take some experimenting.

Even with the Red Sea brand name media I do notice that plant growth seems
to peek at about three to four days after refreshing the reactor, and then
has dropped off considerably by the two week mark. It sounds like one of
the easiest ways to cheaply DIY is to just use a simple sugar and yeast mix
and refresh the reactor every other week or so.

Using gelatin in the reactor sounds like it would be a pain in the ass to
clean.

[Watercress]

$9? Wow you are obviously an idiot.

Use a empty 1 litre bottle ($0.05 deposit refunable)
Add sugar up to 1/4 the height of the bottle.
Add a little baker yeast
Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
Add warm water just short the the opening of he bottle.
I add a little phosphate and Flourish.

Lasts a month. Total cost less than a dollar.

[Wiley Coyote]

Phosphate and Flourish in the C02 generator?
Is that to help the yeast photosynethesize? or does it attach to the C02
molecules and transport itself into the aquarium?

My experience w/ home brew is to not fill quite so near the top... it gets
messy fast...


"Watercress" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> $9? Wow you are obviously an idiot.
>
> Use a empty 1 litre bottle ($0.05 deposit refunable)
> Add sugar up to 1/4 the height of the bottle.
> Add a little baker yeast
> Add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
> Add warm water just short the the opening of he bottle.
> I add a little phosphate and Flourish.
>
> Lasts a month. Total cost less than a dollar.
>

[dc]

"Watercress" > wrote in
oups.com:

> $9? Wow you are obviously an idiot.


And you're obviously a dirty little snot who gets his daily jollies off of
lobbing presumptuous criticism anonymously without fear of personal
retribution. :D

I didn't set the price and I don't make a habit of buying it, that's just
what it costs here.

Thanks for the recipe.

[dc]

"Wiley Coyote" > wrote in
:

> Phosphate and Flourish in the C02 generator?
> Is that to help the yeast photosynethesize? or does it attach to the
> C02 molecules and transport itself into the aquarium?

Yeast does not photosynthesize. It would be very hard for anything to do
that in a sealed opaque container. Phosphorous is used in the commercial
production of yeast, but I don't know what else yeast could gain from the
Flourish fertilizer complex besides possibly nitrogen. All it really needs
to grow is carbohydrates and water.

[Wiley Coyote]

sorry.. I knew..
It was a glib rhetorical response to an abusive know-it-all...


"dc" > wrote in message
...
> "Wiley Coyote" > wrote in
> :
>
>> Phosphate and Flourish in the C02 generator?
>> Is that to help the yeast photosynethesize? or does it attach to the
>> C02 molecules and transport itself into the aquarium?
>
> Yeast does not photosynthesize. It would be very hard for anything to do
> that in a sealed opaque container. Phosphorous is used in the commercial
> production of yeast, but I don't know what else yeast could gain from the
> Flourish fertilizer complex besides possibly nitrogen. All it really needs
> to grow is carbohydrates and water.

[dc]

"Wiley Coyote" > wrote in
:

> It was a glib rhetorical response to an abusive know-it-all...

:D

It's amazing that you can find people trolling in any part of Usenet isn't
it?