My first attempt at DIY CO2...

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The skimmer is an offshoot of the main intake of the canister. There's a little cap that I can put on it, and water is still being pulled into the canister. Tho I still tend to run it 24/7. It's not as turbulent as you might think, but it does help keep my pH in check, since diy co2 injection isn't consistent. It also keeps the surface scum to a minimum. I may be losing some co2, but again, where my pH is sitting is OK with me.

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So pearling is when your plants start to release microbubbles? Cuz that's happening now.

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So pearling is when your plants start to release microbubbles? Cuz that's happening now.

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Yes. When a plant produces oxygen at a rate greater than it can be dissolved in the water column, then it forms visible bubbles. If the dissolved O2 level is high then I believe pearling is more evident. Water changes and the addition of hydrogen peroxide (for spot treating algae) can also cause plants to pearl.
 
When using hot glue to seal openings, do you also glue the pieces of tubing to the check valves? And the diffuser? Or just the tubes piped through the bottle lids? Is anything lost through the screw cap that could benefit from plumbers tape, or something similar, or is the lid pretty solidly connected?

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When using hot glue to seal openings, do you also glue the pieces of tubing to the check valves? And the diffuser? Or just the tubes piped through the bottle lids? Is anything lost through the screw cap that could benefit from plumbers tape, or something similar, or is the lid pretty solidly connected?

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I did not use any glue or sealant. A 3/8" hole in the lid allows for a snug fit when used with regular silicone airline tubing. I filled the generator bottle with water to do leak testing. The lid was fine as is (no need for plumbers tape on the thread). I found that the connections to check valve and other fittings was tight and secure.
 
Does co2 also boost algae growth, cuz BBA seems to have taken off while the green algae is in heavy decline... It seems to grow back and faster even after treating daily with peroxide.

On a positive note, my AR had never looked more red. In fact, all of my plants are exhibiting much deeper, brighter, more colorful leaves and stems.

Is there an effective way of manually removing/scraping algae off leaves without just clipping each plant and tossing the affected parts?

Ludwigia repens was already growing fast enough that nothing grows on it, but my AR I'd loaded with BBA. Even my sword has been consumed and seems to have reduced in growth even after adding root tabs. Very odd.

I'm dosing about 15 mL of Excel daily, 6 mL Flourish every other day, and 3 mL potassium, phosphorus, and iron on the alternating days. My co2 levels have been solid otherwise.

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I'm running two hours on, three hours off, four hours on. Not sure I could go fewer hours, though intensity could probably be dialed back a notch. When I go below 75% on my BML, certain plants lose their pink. :(

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Results are kind of a mixed bag. I was able to propagate my cardinalis so that it nearly covers the floor. I was amazed at how dense it had gotten. Originally came with maybe a dozen stems. Fishies really seem to like it.

The stuff on the left has filled in a LOT, but is currently a light green instead of the bright pink for some reason. Stems are growing off in various directions, it looks like a tree!

There are a ton of crypts now, that are filling in the space behind the bushy tree, and under/behind the three swords you see in the middle.

My poor AR. The stems directly behind the bushy stuff on the left are really dense with leaves, but the taller stems in the back aren't that happy. It's all super red, tho... Just noticed my dwarf gourami are chowing down on the algae on their leaves after I just treated it again with peroxide today. Darn BBA, grr. Very tempted to find some SAE.

Ripped up my tiger lily. I really liked the color but it was taking up too much real estate for such a short plant.

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Ah. Figured out why they're not pink. My older images before I'd trimmed and planted the trimmings, it was a good six or seven inches taller. Makes sense. Tank also looks less full from the picture, but in person, everything is definitely growing in more densely.
 
Ah. Figured out why they're not pink. My older images before I'd trimmed and planted the trimmings, it was a good six or seven inches taller. Makes sense. Tank also looks less full from the picture, but in person, everything is definitely growing in more densely.

So the pink color is caused by proximity to light source (i.e. >120 PAR)?


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Seems to be a PAR issue. Or a length of stem issue. When my BML was on 100%, pointed right at it, it was full pink, but was also a lot closer. And the par on my fixture at that depth was around 90. It's about 75-80 at the depth it is now, and I also shuffled my BML fixture to the back of the tank to hit other plants. Definitely gonna flip things back around since my AR definitely doesn't need that much.

Probably going to pull all of my AR and peroxide dip it this weekend. And rearrange that side of my tank. The AR is definitely more mid tank, the bushy stuff grows about 10x as fast, but is still excruciatingly slow.

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Just to explain things a bit better:

To create lots of red coloring you need to provide:

a) lots of light, basically an excess amount
b) lots of phosphate and iron, almost an excess amount
c) not quite enough of nitrate or co2

When this occurs the plant uses phosphate and iron to turn red, so as to block out the red part of the light spectrum and thus receiving less light. This is necessary because photosynthesis occurs like a assembly line, which is regulated by light amount. More light = faster photosynthesis, but when there isn't enough nutrients or co2 then certain plants, through evolution, have developed the aforementioned way to turn red (using phosphate and iron) to block out red light and photosynthesize slower, so as not to have deficiencies.

Lights that are partially red, such as the finnex planted+ or certain settings on the satellite current led+ or ecoxotic e series are better for turning plants red because the plants sort of sense (I assume) that the light has high concentrations of red and this turning red would have a larger impact with those lights than it would a whitish light like a 10,000k light.
 
Round two. Used regular tap, hot water (instead of cold, RO/DI) and heated the yeast portion to just over 110°F (instead of 105°F). 20 sec in the microwave instead of 10-15.

I've kept up and increased my Excel and other bottled fert regime, but have yet to start injecting root tabs. Growth has definitely stalled on several plants, as I'm over the three month mark on my organic soil's nutrient reserves. My gel caps for my Omnicote+ arrive on Wednesday.

Limnophila aromatica has gained the most from co2 injection. It has grown additional stems, and its leaves are much more dense. Not so much in vertical growth, but it's already looking like it needs to be propagated.

My echinodorus altlansberg has also lightened up quite a bit, and grown more densely (even after relocating it), but my large Amazon sword started has been sprouting yellow, curled leaves, most likely due to a depleted soil, since it was growing ridiculously well previously. Though I can't complain about 18"+ long leaves.

All of my crypts have also enjoyed the increase in co2. Nothing else I've done (other than putting them in the shade of larger plants) has been of any benefit to them. Leaving them alone, in the shade of heavy light, is the best advice I could give for crypts and ferns.

Nothing I've done has really increased or altered the growth or color of any of my AR. Only the quantity of BBA on their leaves has increased... They've maintained their deep red color throughout. I'm still working out those "kinks". It would be nice if they would grow taller and I could increase the number of stems. They don't seem too fond of growing new leaves except for the very top of the stem. Trimmed leaves do not give new leaf growth or side stems whatsoever. Any AR advice is welcomed.

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Btw, putting my BML back directly over my limnophila almost immediately increased their amount of pink coloration. Even at 50%.

I'm curious to see how things go after I relocate them and my AR to give a more balanced look (both in color and density) to my tank.

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Sounds like someone will be dropping the $100 on the aquatek paintball setup on amazon soon.. hehe

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Interesting observations with the CO2 and plant growth. I did a similar thing with the temps to activate the yeast. After a while I got tired of doing the mix and got a pressurized setup.
AR mini has been challenging for me. Some stems are beautiful and others show either a fert and/or CO2 deficiency. Under a FugeRay it never became red (more like orange). It's been about 1.5 weeks under the planted plus and I think the color is improving. OS (this is where mine are from) had some helpful notes regarding AR mini. I will try to dig them up and post them.
The BBA might indicate a CO2 deficiency. How long have you had the BML? I think the CO2 might not be enough to keep up with the lighting.
 
I've had the BML for a couple months now, and have only been injecting co2 for two weeks as of today. I had also only been dosing about 6mL/day of glut. I'm up to about 20, but only recently have I started increasing that dosage (over the last week or so). Excel isn't that cheap, but my bottle of metricide should be here in the next couple days.

Brooks, maybe next paycheck. ;) Mixing once every two weeks isn't that bad, tho. Compared to the weekly changing of 15g of water, using 5g buckets. On the second floor of my house...

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Capped my skimmer today and found all of my fish sucking at the surface. Apparently it was a bit too much co2. Ended up losing one of my oldest, largest neons at the end of the day. His corpse was stuck to the intake. Sucks, but definitely learned to keep that cap off when I'm running DIY. Probably going to add a cutoff valve. Is there an electric cutoff or bypass (so it doesn't explode) that I could connect to a timer?

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