40g planted

[greenmaji]

I prefere to dose with Ps. demasoni but I've heard that L. caeruleus and Ps. acei also work quite well. YMMV

ROFL!

 

[greenmaji]

are you sure your plants are aquatic?

 

[Toirtis]

Yo yo loaches stay small enough for a 30 gallon. They prefer to be in groups of at least 3.

But at an eventual 6½" each, a school of 3 may take up 2/3 of your available bioload when mature.

 

[severum mama]

Really? 8O I was under the impression that they grew to about 4 inches max.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1109
I know they don't always have the best information out there, but I thought they were usually pretty reliable.

 

[Toirtis]

Really? 8O I was under the impression that they grew to about 4 inches max.

Nope....I have seen plenty at 6"-6½"...in fact, my one friend just had a trio of 6½" yoyos dropped at his shop last Monday. They grow quickly, too....the five 1" yoyos that I brought home about 5 weeks ago are all now a full 2"-2½".

 

[severum mama]

Well crap. Good to know. I guess mine will be moving into my 55 gallon cichlid tank instead of my 30 gallon parrot tank. I had noticed that mine were growing quickly- I just assumed it was all the snails!

 

[Stuquarium]

thanks brain, i'll write down those plant names, and give it a try.

 

[hashbaz]

co2 bells

I am on a limited budget and need a co2 diffusor. A co2 bell will be the cheapest rout (free ). Does anyone here use a co2 bell? Or know how big it should be? I have a 29gal, with about 2wpg (ODNO). I dose flourish excel so I am only shooting for 15-20 ppm co2. Thanks.

 

[czcz]

I've used a bell but stopped. Bigger the bell the less often it need to be filled. Wider the opening the better the diffusion. Current under the opening will also help diffusion. I think you'll reach your target with a little experimentation.

 

[mr funktastic]

i am a big fan of giant hygro.it is one of the least expensive plants in my local fish store at only 6.99 cdn and you get about 5 or 6 stems. they seem to grow fine in all my tanks and i am not running that much light. i have a 20 gallon with only a 15 watt aqua glow bulb in it and it seems to grow fine. it is a great background plant as it grows fairly tall. it reached the top of my 20 gal no problem. i will iclude a pic of what it look like to help u out

 

[hashbaz]

Bigger the bell the less often it need to be filled.

I will be feeding the bell the output of a DIY CO2 so it will a always be filled. (hopefully)

Wider the opening the better the diffusion. Current under the opening will also help diffusion. I think you'll reach your target with a little experimentation.

There won't be any current under the opening, and I worry that with a little experimentation, I might find that the opening needs to be bigger than is practical - I don't have enough plants to hide a huge diffusor.

I see three advantages to a bell diffusor:

1. Dirt cheep.

2. Simple, and low risk. I read on the krib about powered diffusors sometimes sucking some of the yeast water into the aquarium.

3. A more constant CO2 level. CO2 absorbtion is dependant on speed and area of interface, temperature, and CO2 concentration already in the water (did I forget anything?). Temperature should remain constant. With a bell, speed and area of interface are also constant. So the only variable is CO2 concentration. During maximum photosynthesis, the CO2 level may drop slightly increasing the rate of absorption. The opposite will happen at night. I am making the assumption that I will always have an excess of CO2 that will simply escape the bell and dissipate at the top of the aquarium.

I have never heard people talk about #3 before. I am pretty sure my chemistry is correct - that CO2 concentration will change absorption rates. But I don't know if it will change absorption rates enough to make a noticeable difference. What do you guys think?

 

[azn_fishy55]

Using Aquatic Soil

I bought Shult's Aquatic Soil for my 30 gallon planted.Any tips on using this stuff,BTW the tank isn't set-up yet.I intend to put 1.5 layer of soil then a 1 in. layer of sand,is this okay?Also is it true that aquatic soil will release small amounts of CO2 in the water,I read this in "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" byeter Hiscock.Thanks!

 

[Toirtis]

Re: Using Aquatic Soil

I bought Shult's Aquatic Soil for my 30 gallon planted.Any tips on using this stuff,BTW the tank isn't set-up yet.I intend to put 1.5 layer of soil then a 1 in. layer of sand,is this okay?

Yes...my tanks with soil have soil under sand or gravel, although I usually aim for 2" of soil.

Also is it true that aquatic soil will release small amounts of CO2 in the water,I read this in "Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants" byeter Hiscock.Thanks!

I believe so, yes....byproduct of decomposition of organic matters or some such.

 

[An t-iasg]

Congrats on the compliment from your guru

Thanks! I was rather proud of myself, lol! He said that sunset hygro is not really that easy to grow.

Fortunately, the inability of the first diffuser to pass gas was not a problem as far as the pressure building up. The Hagen system description says it has a safety cover that prevents the internal pressure from exceeding safe limits. I wondered about that - I thought that if that feature was activated then the reactor would be no longer usable - the lid would maybe bulge out. That didn't happen, but I guess it worked somehow!

The website I got the Red Sea diffuser from is out of stock of the Red Sea and also the Eheim. Maybe it was a bad batch of Red Sea diffusers - I wondered that when I sent the first one back! But that replacement is bubbling along very nicely! I'm not sure about the glass diffuser either. I also have the same concerns you do, Purrbox, about the glass diffuser in the glass tank! A larger tank would be a different story, but there's not a lot of room to work in a 5 gallon, and the chances of bumping it would probably be greater.

The Azoo diffuser discription said the small one is good for 5-20 gallons, and the medium one is good for up to 90 gallons. When I went to click on the small one, I noticed that only the medium one was available. So, it looks like I'm out of luck for a replacement diffuser for about a week.

 

[malkore]

Know what I've started using as a diffuser in both my 20 gallons? The HOB filter...AC Mini and an AC 150 to be precise. Both are working perfectly, and keeping the same bubble rate as when I was using the Hagen 'ladder' diffuser my ppm has gone up about 10.

I do use pressurized, but it should work fine with DIY too. I used an airline reducer to create a smaller bubble, and for something to jam into the intake grate. Then I zip-tied it.

 

[malkore]

Use your HOB filter as a CO2 diffuser Cheap enough to be free!

 

[malkore]

I did save all my old bulbs, except the one that lost a pin-lead during the unplugging, as emergency back-up bulbs.

 

[malkore]

Ok, glad to hear you knew pH down didn't really change CO2 levels. Honestly though, i'd stay far, far away from those types of products. pH down is basically phosphoric acid...yep...acid. Acid's don't buffer, so Acid Buffer is a misnomer...but I digress.

If you need to lower pH from hard tap water parameters, mix it with RO water. PH altering products just never work well for long term situations, nor are they remotely cost effective, even on a 20gal tank.

 

[RubixCube]

OK, here they are. I have two, Bacopa australis and two Echinodorus Bleheri. The tank is 48gal and ph is about ph7.6.

 

[huggermugger]

live plants? (Moved to Planted Tank Forum)

right now I have some live plants. They are all dying. I don't know why. It happened after I cleaned out my tank. I tested my water and all is fine. So why are they dying? I don't have very many at all. I want a really AWESOME looking tank but...I can't even keep these alive!