# DIY Yeast/CO2 Recipe...Modifications?



## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*How many of you use the standard measurements of 2 cups of sugar and 1/4-1/2 tsp of Yeast on the recipe? I did that, but it wasn't generating near enough CO2. I actually put about a tablespoon or more in my mixture. Is this normal or is there something wrong with my system?*


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## CherylH (Jul 22, 2004)

I add a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar to my mix. It seems to give it a lot more kick than just white sugar alone. I also find when my yeast is getting old (near the bottom of the jar), I need to use more to get the same results.


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## lnb (Nov 20, 2004)

I have the Red Star turbo set-up. Got tired of paying $6 for sugar and yeast. Just tried my first DIY refill with sugar, champagne yeast and baking soda. My water is soft so I added the 1 tsp of baking soda.

I was amazed at how fast I got bubbles! I mean it was literally within minutes and lots of them. The yeast was super fresh. I'll see how long it lasts. I saved the Red Star refill plastic container to use as a "measuring cup" for my DIY refill. It also used the small plastic yeast vial to measure the champagne yeast. It beats guessing.


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## Turtl3boy21 (Apr 9, 2008)

I use 2 cups of sugar and 1/2 tsp.

I have two mixtures of those running on my 29 gallon and my plants pearl all the time.


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*I just made a mixture with 3 cups sugar, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1 tbs yeast, and ran it through a new powerhead...the water got extremely soft (6.2) and there was so much CO2 the fish began to gasp for air and I had to add an oxygen line.

Right now I've got it running the CO2 and oxygen together until I get more plants in my tank.*


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

The following is part of Tara Nyberg's article in TAG Vol. 17 #2. : http://forum.aquatic-gardeners.org/viewtopic.php?t=97

How to live on the cheap --CO2
I have used yeast CO2 on tanks up to 180 gal. Also 75s, 65s etc. 
2 gallons of yeast changed once every 3wks to month depending on the temperature works well. I don't rotate the bottles either. 
The key to long lasting cultures is allowing them to grow and be happy. Also a little basic knowledge of yeast growth helps.

Yeast Growth/metabolism 
Yeast can either produce energy by fermentation or oxidative phosphorylation (ox/phos)
Yeast greatly prefer fermentation over ox/phos and will not start ox/phos until all the sugars are converted to ethanol.

Ethanol is a good source of energy and in the presence of oxygen yeast use it up as well. 
Fermentation also produces 2 CO2 molecules per molecule of sugar-- as a by product. =)
Why is just sugar and water not ideal?

When you just add sugar and water to yeast, they are essentially starving to death.
However the enzymes for converting sugar to ethanol are still in the cell and will work for a limited amount of time. Since the cells do not have what they need to make new enzymes as cells starve/run out of enzymes the culture produces less and less CO2.

Also, we add too much sugar.
Ethanol and sugar are increasingly toxic to yeast at greater than 10% concentrations. 
Therefore 2cups (~500ml) of sugar in 2L of water (~25% sugar) is unhealthy for the yeast. 
It is also a waste of sugar because 10% sugar will yield roughly 10% Ethanol at which point the yeast stop growing anyway. Special strains of yeast, like champagne and wine yeast, have stronger cell walls that protect them from the Ethanol -- so they grow longer.

Happy yeast give you long, productive cultures.
The solution is to give yeast less sugar and also supply them with the nutrients they need to grow. 
This will give you a long lived culture that produces a consistent amount of CO2, (they are not challenged by toxic conditions at the beginning and end) Also your yeast mass at the end will be alive and well and able to quickly start growing again when you add more sugar.

The Recipe!
Improvise at will, but here is a good start:
Use 1 cup sugar per 2L H2O (tank water is great or dechlorinated tap -- chlorine, but not ammonia, kill yeast. ) (they like ammonia)
Add 1-2 tsp of a protein drink mix
(optional) Add 1 tsp of ammonium sulfate, otherwise use 1 T molasses. (or both)
1 tsp baking soda is also nice to keep the pH from crashing (they like it >pH3-4)
Leave yeast from previous mix in the bottom.

Benefits/conclusions
Growing yeast this way saves you time (less re-starting) and money on sugar and yeast.
The only real extra cost is the protein mix, but you can use really old/cheap stuff. 
The key thing is that it has protein and vitamin/minerals, Anything that has "yeast extract" in it is perfect.
(Even non-fat powdered milk will do the trick, but it will smell funny)


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

ericpop27 said:


> *I just made a mixture with 3 cups sugar, 1 tbs brown sugar, 1 tbs yeast, and ran it through a new powerhead...the water got extremely soft (6.2) and there was so much CO2 the fish began to gasp for air and I had to add an oxygen line.
> 
> Right now I've got it running the CO2 and oxygen together until I get more plants in my tank.*


One tablespoon of yeast is too much and so is 3 cups of sugar. The yeast will multiply very fast and use up the sugar rather quickly and then die from ethanol poisoning. In other words, you'll have a strong burst of CO2, but it won't last very long.


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*Ethanol, you say? As in the kind you can put in those new cars? I see dollar signs.

I'll try your recipe when this one dies, which I'm guessing will be soon! I'll just have to find some kind of protein drink mix...does it have to be JUST protein in the drink or can it be a mixture like Slim-Fast?*


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

Ethanol is for drinking too.

I used a chocolate flavored soy protein powder from CNC that was on sale. It's called "PROTEIN 95." It tastes good enough to drink when mixed with milk, but that's before the yeast have had their go at it.


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*I definately would not drink one drop of the stuff I pour out of there, lol.

Just as you said, my mixture has died already. I went to GNC and bought some protein powder and mixed a batch according to the recipe you posted. Waiting for it to bubble up now.

That protein powder smells DELICIOU! It's vanilla. Unfortunately, it says it makes you gain weight...so I won't be drinking that. *


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*And now it's bubbling up plenty! Wow, thanks!*


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

I'm very glad that it is working well for you!


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*Unfortunately, the mixture is all bubbled out now. Here's my theories on why mine died:
1) I added the yeast/sugar first, then tap water, then dechlorinator...maybe that stunted it?
2) I didn't have baking soda, so I used PH up...maybe that wasn't effective enough.
3) I only used molasses...not sure what ammonium sulfate is. Is that just regular ammonia? Like household cleaner?

Help, please!*


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## xspy (Mar 29, 2008)

Good topic, just made myself a couple of refills. The guy at the LFS told me I should make my own, however when I went back to ask him how to make it he had quit. Real shame the place has gone down the tubes since he left. Every tank has BGA in it and the plant selection is poor to say the least. Anyhow good post, thanks.


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## CherylH (Jul 22, 2004)

This lasts about 10 days before tapering off. I use a 1 gallon gatorade bottle.

2 cups white sugar
2-3 heaping tsp (probably a Tablespoon each) brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda

Put 2-3 inches of warm water in the bottle and slosh it around to mix.

Top it off with warm (not hot) water. I leave around 2-3 inches of space at the top.

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp yeast on the top (no mixing) and let it sit for around an hour before hooking it up to the tank. I usually try to make my mix when the dishwashwer is running and let it sit on the counter above it, so it's warm but not hot.

I've tried the protein powder, molasses, etc. and the results I've gotten aren't worth the extra effort.


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## Left C (Jun 14, 2005)

I use a 3 liter water bottle for my yeast mix and a 24 ounce bottle as a separator. I keep both of them in a warm bath of water. The bottles are in a Rubbermaid mop bucket with water in it. I have a small aquarium heater in it to keep the water in this bath warm.


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## lnb (Nov 20, 2004)

Just about 2 weeks and the champnage yeast mixture is still going strong. Lots of bubbles that are much finer than the commercial refill.


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## CobraGuppy (Jun 16, 2008)

ericpop27 said:


> *Unfortunately, the mixture is all bubbled out now. Here's my theories on why mine died:
> 1) I added the yeast/sugar first, then tap water, then dechlorinator...maybe that stunted it?
> 2) I didn't have baking soda, so I used PH up...maybe that wasn't effective enough.
> 3) I only used molasses...not sure what ammonium sulfate is. Is that just regular ammonia? Like household cleaner?
> ...


Are you supposed to dechlor the water that put into the mixture?!

I never do that >.> Maybe that is why my diy c02 runs out so low/fast?


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## YankyTexan (May 7, 2008)

_Are you supposed to dechlor the water that put into the mixture?_

The consistency and longevity of my DIY yeast mixture improved significantly when I began using RO water instead of tap. I have read that the chlorine kills/harms the yeast. Also a tablespoon of protein drink powder mix helps, don't ask me why.


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## CobraGuppy (Jun 16, 2008)

Ah, i'll use ro water than next time. Thanks for the help.

Does the Protein powder help it last longer or make more c02 ?


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## ericpop27 (May 13, 2008)

*I think the protein powder actually stabilizes it, which sort of makes it theoretically last longer. The molasses didn't really do much good for it though.

Dechlorinated water or RO would be better simply because the chemicals in tap water are harmful to ANY living thing.*


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## pb300 (Jun 5, 2008)

I made the recipe with the protein powder in it. Not only did it only last a few days for me, but the stench it made was nothing short of ***** inducing. Something like a cross between sour milk and rotten eggs times 5. Maybe I just mixed something wrong somewhere. I think I'll be staying with plain sugar and water until I can snag a cheap reg on ebay.


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## lnb (Nov 20, 2004)

Started my DIY Co2 with champnage yeast on 5/30 and it has lasted until now. I will replace it this coming week. 

Not bad ............. huh.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

pb300 said:


> I made the recipe with the protein powder in it. Not only did it only last a few days for me, but the stench it made was nothing short of ***** inducing. Something like a cross between sour milk and rotten eggs times 5. Maybe I just mixed something wrong somewhere. I think I'll be staying with plain sugar and water until I can snag a cheap reg on ebay.


LOL, may last longer than you want it too! ound:


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## fishtechy (Mar 9, 2011)

I think i'll try a few setups and make notes on each for each step and post the results...lucky for me my family stocks up on 2L...

as far as harmful chems like chlorine a floride in tap water, boiling with an open top would remove those, right? Also, if you use tap water and your "cultures" die, you may have a bit of bacteria...yeast and bacteria dont get along all that well, and bacteria tend to win with a protien/sugar mix (might explain the foul smell after a couple days). Boiling the water before desolving the mixture would help with that as well. Although depending on the protien mix, boiling it may nullify some compounds in it, but im no chemist.

What do you think? Am i off base here?

UPDATE

well the first ones up, and FYI, those protein mixes DO NOT mix in hot or even warm water. Molasses also seems to help speed the process of starting steadily without a big spike, as i observed with brown sugar.

First batch. 3L boiled water, mix 2 1/2 cups sugar, 1Tbsp of salt, 2 Tbsp Molasses, and a few tablespoons of whey protein mix which i had to scoop out of the hot water in gross clumps.

2 hours in, i have a steady flow of 2 bps from a single bottle and 1/4 oz of dry bread baking yeast fresh bought.

also...dont ask me why i made a 3L batch when i have a 2L bottle...i dont know.

If i get a response to this (i just noticed how old this thread is) then i'll update once a week as i attempt to make a long term sustainable yeast...foctory?


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