getting fed up with DIY CO2...

yeah, I've had that happen on my air stone already... and one of the glass ones clogged when I let it sit for a weekend not running. after a bleaching and a rinse, it seems to let some flow through, but not compared to how it was new, 2 weeks ago.

so how does the hagen finally diffuse co2? I understand he bubbles rise throught he marble trap, but what happens at the top, does it not have a stone of some sort?
 
also: today went looking for yeast alternatives to fleishmans... the health food store had several types of brewers yeast, but the guy thought they were inactive cultures meant for consumtion in health shakes, he didn't know if they would brew... any idea?

and, what hose is the most ideal for this? I have normal airline tubing... some from a lfs and some from home depot... but the lfs tubing has gotten cloudy and seems to get slimy on the outside in the tank.
 
The ladder is designed in a zigzag slanted step, as the CO2 bubbles travels up the steps it comes into contact with the water and diffuses CO2. The design prolongs the time the CO2 bubbles are in contact with the water and you can see the bubbles get smaller as it climbs.
 
The best yeast I have found is Champagne Yeast. Easily found if you have a home brew store nearby. Mine cost me 85 cents a packet and will since I only use an 1/8 a teaspoon when starting a batch that is a lot.

Brewers Yeast is a nutritional not useful for our purposes.

Any wine or champagne yeast will handle higher alcohol content than standard yeast, so you can add more sugar.

If you can;t find a good yeast local, I will ship you some at my cost plus shipping. But it is supposed to stay refrigerated.
 
thanks for the description phanmc, that makes sense... although I'm still not sure what the final exit point looks like, and wonder how much water moves through it. I've only seen that part once, at a lfs, and I didn't examine it closely.

thanks snickle, I'm sure there is somewhere local, I just haven't found it yet. but I'm in the middle of nyc... shouldn't be too hard.

I just made a cap without any valve, in the fashion you described, and put a dab of silicone on the outside of the cap only. silicone1 this time too. I found from some water tests that all of the valves I have leak at the switch... that's ebay for you.
 
question: the driftwood in my tank catches co2 in very large bubbles under it for days at a time. I've even seen duckweed trapped down there, "floating" as if the bubble is the surface of the water. if I did this deliberately, delivering the co2 to the underside of the log, could that work?

I have a bubble under there now about 2" long, that has been there for at least 3 days.
 
If it's been there for 3 days, it hasn't diffused into the water, so what's the point?
 
mellowvision said:
one would think that it was in a constant state of diffusing... it's in contact and most likely shrinking... there is current through the water.

how is the hagen bubbler different?
Click to expand...

The bubbles get smaller as they move up the ladder. If there is no circulation and no movt. there is no diffusion. It has to mix with the water. That's why when using other diffusers you want the bubbles as small as possible, they have more surface area as a whole and more contact with the water. The bubbles have to be moving in order to let the gas diffuse into the water.
 
An additional note on the Hagen system. Due to the buildup that phanmc mentioned, and debris that can get trapped in the ladder, I have to pull the ladders from the tanks every other refill or so and clean them. I would love to be able to use the glass diffusers with this, they look sweet, but the ladder still kicks @ss.
 
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