Graham's 5.5g planted tank

[gboduszek]

Plant Question here... so the LFS I work at got some very full pots of Monte carlo in. From what I know about it, in general, with high light and CO2 it will grow in a carpet form and under low to medium light it will grow more as a stem plant. My question is do you think it might carpet in my setup or do you think it would grow more like a stem plant. My light is the finnex ray2 w/o any CO2. My substrate is eco complete topped with aqua soil and i use flourish and occasionally some flourish potassium. How do you guys think the monte carlo would grow if I were to give it a try?

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[gboduszek]

Little update.. everything has settled in nice besides the java Moss tree.. I thought I could go cheap and try using rubber bands to tie it down but that just let to such a mess with taking it off and trimming. Not to mention debris that gets caught from not being trimmed creates unreal string algae. Gonna rip apart the tree in a couple days and do things right with some fishing line.. lesson learned lol but here are a couple pics I have in the meantime that aren't tank related

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[gboduszek]

Cool pic of some 20 fire eels I took at work a few days ago.


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[gboduszek]

And my 4 pygmy corys absolutely puttin it down


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[Nils]

Lol awesome eels! Thought those were in your 5.5 for a second!

 

[gboduszek]

Lol awesome eels! Thought those were in your 5.5 for a second!

I'm sure they would've LOVED the easy meals.. speaking of freshwater eels... I don't have picture but a guy brought in a good 2/3' tire track a couple weeks ago. He was complaining he was slowly taking out his mature school of marci rainbows. I'm a saltwater guy first but the size of the mouth on that tire track was beyond anything I've seen in a longggggg time.
After seeing that beast I guarantee I'll never question the freshy side again haha

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[fishenthusiast]

Cool pic of some 20 fire eels I took at work a few days ago.
View attachment 276794

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Cool looking fish!


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[gboduszek]

Well, decided to give a couple pots of Monte carlo a try.. I've read on other forums people claiming to get it to carpet without co2 and only low light so I figured I would try it out. Kind of skeptical of the low lighting and no co2 but we'll see. I'll keep ya guys updated on how it does

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[gboduszek]

So got the monte carlo roughly in the tank. Gonna plant it a bit better tomorrow. Really hoping it works out. In other news I took out the blyxa to mainly get a better hard scape going and allow room if the monte carlo works. Also I scrapped the moss tree it was a mess and was FULL of detritus and became a constant fight with hair algae. Gonna redo it though this time with fishing line to tie it down so it's much neater and makes trimming easier. And for the final update I noticed a bunch of baby shrimp running around. I'll get a close up here in a minute

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[Fresh2o]

That tank looks really good. The "tree" looks nicer without the moss IMO.


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[gboduszek]

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[gboduszek]

So after all the stuff I did with my tank I'm think I'm going to give a diy co2 setup a try since the tank is only 5.5g and right now most of my money goes towards my reef tanks. I just really wanna give that monte carlo it's best reasonable chance.

First what size jug would you guys suggest for a tank this size? And also I'd like to hear how much of each ingredient you guys put in. Last what would you suggest for a nano glass diffuser?

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[Atxpunx]

Are you going to make a yeast or a citric acid co2 generator? I used to do yeast but then tried citric acid and baking soda, and I'll never go back.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Fresh2o]

When I did DIY I used a 2L juice bottle filled 3/4 with water, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2" teaspoon of yeast.
I did a thread last year on this: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298168
I did not use a diffuser because I felt it was too much back pressure on a low pressure system. I let the bubbles get sucked into the HOB filter intake.


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[gboduszek]

Are you going to make a yeast or a citric acid co2 generator? I used to do yeast but then tried citric acid and baking soda, and I'll never go back.


Cha boi Jessie.

I was thinking yeast. What made you fall in love with the citric acid method? And where would I get the citric acid?

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[gboduszek]

When I did DIY I used a 2L juice bottle filled 3/4 with water, 2 cups of sugar, 1/2" teaspoon of yeast.
I did a thread last year on this: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=298168
I did not use a diffuser because I felt it was too much back pressure on a low pressure system. I let the bubbles get sucked into the HOB filter intake.


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Thanks for the post. Was the water warm when you put it in? I'll go with out a diffuser at first and hopefully my intake will suck it up. It's a small TOM internal filter that isn't very powerful because of the shrimp so hopefully it will work. Also did you add baking soda as well?

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[Fresh2o]

Water in the 2L bottle was warm. Water in the cup where I mixed in the yeast was between 105-115 F. Not baking soda.
Citric acid method is less messy IMO and more controllable.


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[Atxpunx]

I was thinking yeast. What made you fall in love with the citric acid method? And where would I get the citric acid?

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As stated. The critic acid method is more controllable, if you shut off the system, the drip of citric acid stops. Currently I have a generator that's been running on the same mix for the past 15 days and it's barely half way through. The co2 production is immediate also. Citric acid can be purchased at Walmart in the canning section but eBay has sellers offering it for $15 for 5lbs. That would be around 12 mixes. Baking soda is also needed and big boxes have it for $5 for 5 lbs.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Nils]

I use the yeast and sugar reaction. Makes tons of bubbles. I use 1 cup sugar, 3/4 tablespoon yeast, a full tablespoon of baking soda and warm water. This is in a 1 liter bottle. I just take it out at night. One thing I do recommend is cigarette filters as your diffuser. They are really cheap, I bought a 100 pack for $2.50. I have to replace them once a day. I keep my yeast warm by putting the bottle with the mixture in a vase with water, and a reptile heater pad around the vases to heat the water. Really does help IMO. I have never tried the baking soda and citric acid, doesn't mean I won't Co2 has helped a lot with my tank and is super easy. I definitely recommend that you use it.

 

[gboduszek]

As stated. The critic acid method is more controllable, if you shut off the system, the drip of citric acid stops. Currently I have a generator that's been running on the same mix for the past 15 days and it's barely half way through. The co2 production is immediate also. Citric acid can be purchased at Walmart in the canning section but eBay has sellers offering it for $15 for 5lbs. That would be around 12 mixes. Baking soda is also needed and big boxes have it for $5 for 5 lbs.


Cha boi Jessie.

Sounds promising.. I'm gonna do a little research on how to set up the citric acid method but I'm sure I'll have questions soon

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