How do I knoe if DIY CO2 is working?

B

blankenship

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Sep 27, 2004
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Hi,

I just set up my DIY CO2 injection last night. Right now I have my jello with a cup of water and 1/4 TSP of yeast in a 2 liter bottle. I have the hose going from the bottle right into the tank to see if any bubbles come out before I connect the tube to a bubbler. Nothing is happening :(. Shouldn't I see bubbles come out of the tube or is there something else I should be doing?
 
Ok, I'll check it when I get home from work. Just making sure I didn't do something wrong. Thanks!!
 
leaks

Possible leaks, typically that is the problem if you dont see bubbles in an hour or so.

Be careful of starting DIY CO2 and then going away or to sleep, it might foam up and that'd be a mess. Better to start it when you can be there to see that it does not drive pH down too far.
 
I guess a leak is possible. I watched it for about 6 hours yesterday and nothing was happening. I put my hand over the top of the bottle and I didn't feel any air coming out, so I'm pretty sure there isn't a leak.
 
Sometimes the yeast isn't active - the first batch of DIY mix I made up didn't work. After 24 hours I gave up, dumped the bottle, bought yeast from another store and made sure I mixed it with dechlorinated water that wasn't too hot and, voila, bubbles in less than half an hour.
Jell-O will take longer to get going, but if it's been a day and nothing's happening you might want to mix up a new cup of yeast and water with a little sugar (they need a little to get them going), dump out what's on top of the Jell-O right now and replace it. You should see some bubbles in the bottle fairly quickly, and within 24 hours it should be running at full capacity.
 
Ok, if its not bubbling when I get home I'll go and get some new yeast. One more question, I don't stick the tube in the water that is in the bottle right? It just hangs above the water and the air travels through the tube.
 
Sounds right to me - on my bottles the mix comes about 3/4 up the bottle and the airline extends about 1/2" into the bottle, so there's about 3" or more between the top of the mix and the bottom of the airline.
 
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