29 Gallon Planted Tank Journal

[IovaykInD]

I added co2 using the DIY method. Used a 1.5 liter Coke bottle, instead of the normal 2 liter bottle(I don't drink that much soda ) . Here are some pictures of my setup, which includes bottle, check valve, and airline. Recipe is: 1/2 teaspoon yeast, 1 3/4 cups of sugar.

It is currently producing 1 bubble every 3 seconds, because I just set it up this afternoon. Diffusion is via power filter intake, and is working quite nicely I think. pH is 7.6 right now, but will check tomorrow to see if it has dropped. If it has, then I'm successful

 

[IovaykInD]

Co2 is still going strong, on the third day of having it. I don't know why its still producing 1 bubble every 3 seconds. I would've expected it to be around 1 bubble every 6 seconds. Does this mean I am using too much yeast? If so, next time I will use less, so it doesn't create so many bubbles, and eat up all the sugar too quickly. Any ideas as far as co2 is concerned? Is there anything I'm missing?

 

[phlawed]

Just a little update.

View attachment 34792

The water sprite has grown tremendously, so much that I had to throw away some live plant That's something I thought I would never do. I've also started transplanting some of the water sprite to the substrate to let it start forming a jungle. Right now, I'm waiting for the water sprite to "evolve" into a submersed form, as you can see which water sprite was formerly floating.

On another note, I got two dwarf gouramis and two angelfish. They are happily nesting(the gouramis, I mean) and have started building some nice bubble nests using the roots of the water sprite. The angelfish have started eating, and its great to see them hide in the plants that I provided

My plan now is to wait for it to get a little warmer, then order some vallisneria to fill the left side of the tank. I'm also waiting for the java moss to grow, so that the left side will be a safe haven for the fry that I have. The water sprite will be slowly transplanted until that entire section of the tank is covered in water sprite. Also, the amazon sword in the back is continuing to grow larger and larger leaves. Can't wait till it grows large enough leaves to be considered a "background" plant.

Isaac

looking good but i dont think you need to worry about fry with those angel fish in then tank

 

[IovaykInD]

Finally got some more plants, thanks to ModernHamlet He gave me some dwarf hairgrass, which I'm so thankful for. It sort of looks like dwarf sagittaria but eh, whatever, maybe it just looks like that when its a plantlet.

Here's a picture of it planted:


Hopefully it will grow, I don't know, I've had bad experiences with many plants

Also, its been exactly 12 days since I started the DIY Co2, and the unit is still producing bubbles at 1 every 2 seconds. This is crazy, hopefully it will last me a couple of weeks. The only thing I can see that makes the unit last so long with so many bubbles is that I'm not using regular sugar. The sugar is brown and I got it from Brazil, so for some reason, I guess there's something in their sugar that is really good.

 

[lljdma06]

Now that's an interesting concept, whether or not different types of sugar has an effect on the bubble rate? Hmmm, I wonder what our gurus think about this subject?

 

[IovaykInD]

Does Zig, Jimbooo, or George have any input on this topic? It seems a likely possibility, please correctly if I'm wrong.

Isaac

P.S. Is that really dwarf hairgrass, it looks a lot like dwarf sagittaria?

 

[IovaykInD]

I actually asked for hairgrass, but he sent me some chain sword as well. So I guess I have to plant the hairgrass now, I'll be back to post pictures up. There's one problem though, yesterday I planted one strand of hairgrass and the angelfish keep uprooting it. What can I do to stop this, or will I have to keep replanting it until the angelfish decide to leave it alone?

Also, the co2 is still going at one bubble every two seconds, anyone have any ideas as to the concept of sugar having an effect? I'd really like to know, pleaseee

Isaac

 

[Krib Crazy]

Just keep replanting it and the angel will get eventually bored with it and leave it alone. My angels did the same thing for a couple of days

 

[IovaykInD]

Yes, the angelfish have finally left it alone, after replanting it about ten times

Here's a picture of the hairgrass that I planted, I planted a lot of it that Modernhamlet sent into another tank, because I didn't know if it would survive.


So I guess I planted both dwarf hairgrass, and pygmy chain sword Hopefully they will both carpet and take over the substrate of my tank.

Anyone have any ideas as to what's next for my tank? I'm thinking about removing most of the watersprite, so that more light will get to the bottom. I also want to add more background plants to cover up the background of my tank. Remember though, this tank only gets about 1/2wpg, even though it has DIY co2 and ferts.

BTW, its been two weeks since starting the co2 and its still producing co2 at 1 bubble every two seconds..this is becoming interesting. If it lasts more than three weeks, I will be very pleased. Thanks goodness for brown sugar

Isaac

 

[Krib Crazy]

Why dont you add a nice peice of drift wood for a focal point

 

[IovaykInD]

Maybe in the future, but first I wanna get the hang of getting the plants to grow into a luscious jungle.

Anyone have any ideas as to a background plant, preferably a common stem plant that will grow well in my lighting? I want it pretty much cover the background, so it has to grow to around 18".

 

[Themuleous]

These aren't all stem plants but hey now you have more choice - Cambomba, valls, lugwigia, amazon sword, other swords, egeria, rotala rotundifolia. Thinks valls would be your best bet if you want a 'wall' along the back.

Sam

 

[IovaykInD]

Thanks, I think I'll go with cabomba, it seems to be the most common and I can probably get some for free from a friend

Next problem: The water sprite seems to be taking over the top of the tank now, and restricting light to the lower plants. I've taken a lot of it out already so the new plants get enough light in the beginning to stay alive. My question is should I remove them completely? I don't know if they're a good plant to keep because there's really no way to aquascape with them. Any ideas for these plants?

Oh and yea, I switched the co2 diffusion method to the bell method, because I didn't want the co2 to break my filter. The bubbles come out the bottom, and float up the tank into a co2 bell. The bubbles are pretty much have the size when they get into the bell, and its been a day and the bell is not even close to being filled. I'll post a picture later to show you guys what I mean.

Isaac

 

[Qays]

tanks looking good! I have kept java fern, and theyre great! a Java fern would look nice in the bg. it grows to 12"+ high.

Whats that hair on the gravel? Algae>?

 

[IovaykInD]

The brown stuff is algae, if you're referring to the green stuff sticking out of the gravel, that's dwarf hairgrass.

I always thought java ferns were tiny plants, growing to around 6" max. I didn't know it would grow that big, except for George's crazy java fern thats on steroids. I'll consider java fern, let me go check it out next time I go to my LFS.

Isaac