Joining the ranks of the planted

[pseud]

Hey guys,

Thought I'd start a thread to post the exciting on-goings of converting my 55 gallon tank into a beautiful planted little world. Thanks everybody so far for all your help, you guys are the best There's ALOT more to learn than I would have thought, and I still need ALOT more of your help, so please bare all.. I mean bear with me!

Ok, so I ordered my lighting and it got shipped today, so I'm officially declaring this Day 1. No idea how long it'll take to get here but it's shipping UPS ground from CA to CT, so probably not for a week!

I started making my DIY CO2 unit today, drilled a hole in a 2l soda bottle using a 15/64" drill bit, put the tubing in, used silicone sealant all around it. Leaving it to cure for 48 hours. The plan is to use 1 2l soda bottle with gf's special mixture that Canoe seemed to have a lot of luck with. If it doesn't produce the CO2 I require, then I'll make another bottle up, and see how it goes.

55 Gallon Aquarium (48" x 13 x 21 I think)
Penguin 350 Bio-Wheel Power Filter. (Also with Bio-Media 'rocks'. Will reduce surface agitation; possibly by removing bio-wheels)
200W + 100W Heater
2 x 65w PC 50/50 bulbs (I know, I know)
Sand substrate
Ammonia: 0
Nitrates: 0
Nitrites: 10
GH: ? (off the scale)
KH: 4

To do: Decide on fluorite or laterite with sand. Decide on plants. Do it.

Here's a before picture, and I'll edit an after picture in when it's complete. I didn't put too much effort into the 'scaping because I knew I'd be tearing it down in a couple of weeks, but anyways:

After:

 

[Jen]

Sounds like a good plan.

I'm using laterite under my sand, and although I'm having good luck with it, next time I change the tank around I might try the flourite. I find that when I have to up root a plants (dying or moving it around) the roots tend to bring up a good deal of the laterite with them. It's not a huge deal, but can be a pain if you are moving things around alot.


How much yeast did you end up using in the bottle? I used the 2 tsp's the first time, and my co2 went up to 45mg/l and I lost about 8 fish (all my babies )

 

[Aussie_Star]

yea def. go 100% flourite if ya pocket can afford it

 

[pseud]

Yeah, flourite sounds like the better option. I tend to change my tank far too often. I've had to resist moving those pieces of slate so bad! So flourite might what I go for, but then, I am on a budget. We'll see.

I haven't actually started mixing the stuff up yet, but I think I'm just gonna start with 1/4 teaspon of yeast. Which fish did you lose?

 

[Jen]

1/4 sounds like a good start. Best to start small and work your way up.

I lost 4 baby barbs, at least 4 baby platties, 4 black neon tetras, 3 ottos, 2 julii corries, 2 danios, 1 snail. Wow when I actually type it out... I can't believe how many there were. But on the good side of it, I was able to buy a bunch of angels. I've wanted angels forever, but was unable to due to tank size and stocking.

 

[Walt]

Go for it pseud!!
My second ladder looks like itll be here on Friday.
1 ladder is just barely enough 'power' to make it to 30ppm in my tank..
Im going camping this weekend, so ill hook it up next week, and i should be good to go
I also have a phosphate test coming... and a bunch of microswords

 

[pseud]

Alright, Day 2. Just set up my DIY CO2 unit. I figure I'm gonna need to play with a few things to get it to where I wanted. Started off with 400g sugar, 4 tsp baking soda, 1/4 tsp yeast.

Can't see any bubbles coming from my airstone The airstone is a crappy one anyway, but I'll keep an eye on it, and maybe take it off to ensure that the CO2 isn't leaking. I doubt that it is. I'm thinking I don't have enough yeast.

pH: 7.2
Kh: 3.5

 

[pseud]

Ok, the tubing is fine, no leaks. Added another 3/4 teaspon yeast.

 

[GirlinWayside]

tank looks great!

 

[Fish_Mike]

You need to wait a couple hours before you see te actual CO2 bubbles emerging from your system

 

[pseud]

I thought it would produce bubbles in about 10 minutes. Anyway, it's bubbling away now. About 60 bubbles per minute. Nice.

 

[pseud]

When should I test to check the CO2 levels?

 

[pseud]

Well, I tested just now and I got a pH of 6.6, with a KH of 3.5 this gives me a CO2 level of about 26! Nice. And I was worried that I was going to have to use more than one. I custom made a diffuser by putting the airstone underneath the bottom of a soda bottle. I pierced two small holes for the CO2 to escape when the pressure builds up enough. This lets the CO2 be in contact with the water more by being trapped under the soda-bottle-bottom. Anyway. I turned the CO2 off for now, don't want a pH crash through the night.

Questions:

When I add plants, do you think I'll have trouble obtaining this CO2 level again? (Since CO2 will be being used up by the plant)

Im going to try cutting the yeast back down to 1/4 teaspoon and trying again.

Any tips for getting a constant amount of CO2 would be great.

 

[houndour]

Any tips for getting a constant amount of CO2 would be great.

You'll never really get a constant amount with DIY, but you can improve it by running 2 or more bottles and changing them one at a time.

e.g
day 0 set up bottle 1
day 3 set up bottle 2
day 6 change bottle 1
day 9 change bottle 2.

Of course the number of days you leave depends on when you really need to change them...

 

[Walt]

Very cool pseud!!
Sounds like youre able to get more co2 into solution with a turned over soda bottle then i can with the ladder...
Course you may be correct in thinking i had a harder time, since my tank was already fairly planted up.....
It will be interesting to see how everything comes along as plants are added....

houndour makes a great point about consistancy... with only 1 unit, you will deff see some down time, when the yeast stop producing at the end, and having to get a new batch going.....

Having run my co2 for a week now, i see that the adjustments on the bpm is a sensitive game..... once it slows down, it doesnt take long for the ph to start to rise...
At least in my tank