Re: [AGA-Member] GLOB from DIY Co2 using TAG recipe?

[Heather J Gladney <hgladney@comcast.net>]

SunflwrgrlS@aol.com wrote:

> I appreciate your advice, and I first suspected bacteria either from the old 
> tank water or some other source; however, the new mix I did was new bottle, 
> new co2 silicone tubing, the whole works, fresh water, and a different protein 
> mix. Even new yeast.
Ahh, excellent, you're way ahead of me on it.

>  I'm now suspecting my molasses as it is a new molasses 
> too.  I did make some new mixes, so I'll watch how it goes.  I'm skipping the 
> baking soda from now on, even though my water is very soft -- I didn't need it 
> in the past.
The soda is just to keep pH stable as the mix ages, so it lasts longer.  
I think the article mentioned that the alcohol content will eventually 
slow down an kill the yeast.

>  It takes a few days to do the GLOB thing, so I won't know for a 
> few days.  I did clean out the bottle with very hot water (just short of 
> boiling) and it is empty right now.  I don't want to throw that one out as it is one 
> of the nice big orange juice bottles.  
>
> I'm intrigued as to why the cornstarch though?  I have some cornstarch and 
> never use it, so if it can somehow help, I'll add it to my co2 mix.  
>  
I had read somewhere on the net that it gives a platform for the yeast 
to attach and spread out besides the walls of the bottle--sort of like a 
spnge filter surface.  What I suspect is also that it gives some 
micronutrients, as with using protein or molasses.

> You use a lot of protein powder.
I was not using powder, it was drink mixture already made up, ready to 
drink, just what I happened to have.  Just lucky, as it gave me much 
less risk of overdoing it!  Also adds in a little more sugar.

> I had only used a little before and 
> suspected maybe I put in too much, but it would have only been one scoop.  In the 
> past, I'd sprinkle it in from the envelopes they came in.   Well, I'll update if 
> anything changes. 
>
> I also wondered about pectin.  Does molasses have pectin?
No, generally not.  I wouldn't have expected your protein mix to have it 
either, as it takes heat to activate pectin (as in making jelly--such as 
gelatines or agars) but a cool-coagulating material such as carrageenan 
may be involved there.

>  Might it be from 
> the cooler temperatures?  My house is getting to 69 degrees at night lately, 
> and the times it did the glob was overnight (although I can't remember if the 
> first time it got that cold or not).  
>  
If the protein mix has a lot of one of the thickeners such as guar gum 
or gelatine or carrageenan which coagulate as the mix cools, then cooler 
temp would do it.  Changing to a different protein supply ought to fix 
that..

> Thanks again for your help! 
>  
You're welcome--and of course I defer to S. Hieber's advice, as it's 
been incredibly helpful to me with tank chemistry issues.

> In a message dated 10/10/2004 1:48:58 AM Eastern Standard Time, 
> hgladney@comcast.net writes:
> Not an expert source, but until recently, I had a whole gang of bottles 
> eating sugar every week!
> I suspect two things:  off-balance proportions or contaminated source 
> supplies.  You could have some sort of bacteria going in  there when you 
> put the bottles together, in spite of using different bottles.  Perhaps 
> something else has crept in on utensils or storage containers that goes 
> wild on such a great high-quality culture.  I believe the helpful 
> article noted that yeast solutions can be overtaken by other things such 
> as molds, and there are bacteria that do make impressive gelatinous masses.
>
> You may want to run your bottle lids (tubing and all) through hot water 
> and soap, recheck proportions you're using, use different utensils, 
> perhaps try a different recipe without yeast food or molasses, or try 
> different supplies of them.
>
> BTW, I started trying protein drink after reading that article.  It did 
> seem to extend the life of the solutions a little longer.  But I had 
> some odd reactions when I tried adding leftover wine as an experiment to 
> see if wine yeast might last longer and be more resistant to acid.  
> (Apparently not, and it went bad, moldy & smelly.)  After a year and a 
> half, my recipe ended up using soda and white sugar and protein drink.  
> I didn't need to use molasses or yeast food to get it to work fine.
> On proportions:
> for a 2-liter bottle, I added about 1/4 cup protein drink (this happened 
> to be ready to drink liquid), 1/2 - 1 teaspoon cornstarch (as a starch & 
> site for attaching for better growth), about a tablespoon of baking soda 
> to counteract increasing acid of solution, 1/4 tsp yeast, about 1 cup of 
> sugar, and warm but not hot untreated tapwater with plenty of headspace 
> left for foam.
> You may need to adjust soda for your water conditions.  Some people have 
> very alkaline tapwater and don't need as much soda, other people have 
> nearly distilled stuff coming out of the faucet and really need to add 
> *lots* more soda.
> I've read panicky posts about using tapwater without removing chlorine, 
> and perhaps some systems really overdo the chlorination, but I've never 
> had a problem.
> I also ran a whole gang of 18 bottles  (it's not a big tank by *this* 
> list's standards, but it's pretty big by mine!) through multiple 
> airstones, and rotated out a third or a half of them every week so I'd 
> get an even gas supply from them.  It looked like a distillery under the 
> tank!
>
> Hope this helps!
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