My 20G Long Planted Tank

[Craigthor]

As someone who went the DIY route for over a year I think Excel or pressurized are really the only 2 good options.

The time aspect has to be seriously considered when mentioning DIY. To attempt stable CO2 levels you need to have your bottles incubated at a constant temperature so plan on a container with an aquarium heater (a few degree rise/drop can drastically affect CO2 production of the yeast which can wreck havoc from an algae standpoint, say hello BBA). You should sanitize/sterilize your bottles after each use with some boiling water to prevent bacterial contamination. It's really also not that cheap when compared to Excel (for a 20 gallon mind you). Larger tanks benefit from CO2 but smaller tanks can actually be cheaper when using Excel (when you factor in sugar/yeast costs). Buy the bulk large container of Excel (2L/4L? can't remember) for under $50 and it will last forever. I normally get the 750ml bottle and use it sparingly for my puffer tank, but you can calculate how long it would last for your tank (probably a month or two).

Just my 2 cents.

I totally agree that Pressurized is the only way to go IMO but not everyone is ready or willing to put up the up front costs of going pressurized. I did DIY on a tank for 2 weeks only because I was awaiting a custom built regulator and that was the last I did DIY CO2. Some use it with great success and consistency for me I like the ease of my pressurized setup.

Criag

 

[AdamHorton]

So as far as ferts go, I would actually say I'm comfortable at this point: something I was not even close to saying when I started this thread, so thanks everyone for your help. I'll order some dry ferts today and we'll see how that goes.

Hmmm, so you guys have answered quite a few questions about CO2 and made me think of a few more:

When reading about the pH/KH method of testing CO2, it seemed a little fishy (ha ha, fishy) to me but I wanted to ask and see if other people had managed to get useful results with it. I've never heard of a drop checker before, and in 60 seconds of googling they seem plausible. What do people around here think of drop checkers? It's important to me if I'm going to putting something into a tank that I have a way to test for it. The fact that I can't do this easily with Postassium worries me but hopefully I can get by on that...

So I'll definitely be using Excel. After reading about DIY CO2 and your opinions on it, I don't think that's something I want to do. I'd probably screw it up and I don't want to put my fish in any danger because of that. The question I have now is: will the Excel be enough, or am I going to need a pressurized setup? Or maybe, I have to wait and see if my plants do OK?

So what's the best option here: order a pressurized setup today, wait and see, or not order one?

 

[7Enigma]

At your light level Excel should be fine. Pressurized is fantastic but it is not cheap ($100-200). The way I would look at it is do you plan on being in the hobby for a long time or do you tend to pick up hobbies for a year or two and then move onto something else. Pressurized over many years becomes very cheap...

As mentioned before the pH/KH method using tank water just doesn't work. Dissolved solids in the water help to buffer the pH and can give false readings. Drop checkers are the ONLY way to get a semi-accurate CO2 level. The reason they work is that they are isolated from the tank water so the only thing in them is a known KH solution (just baking soda in water with some pH drops to show color change). So the only thing that is changing the pH is the CO2, and since there's no additives in the drop checker liquid you can be confident a change is real.

You're going to have to forget about testing for ferts accurately. That is why many people (myself included) adopt a kitchen sink approach with planted tanks. That is we add a bunch of ferts for our sized tank (and light level) and then do large water changes to remove excess nutrients. That way we know we're never deficient in a nutrient even if we can't tell exactly how much we have in the tank. It's tough to accept, I know (I'm a scientist by trade).

So IMO, stick with the Excel, get some dry ferts (you can always use these later even if you go pressurized), and try it out. If you like what you see but want more go pressurized. If you're happy (and many people are) stick with what you have and buy the Excel in bulk (just looked at BigAlsOnline and a 2L is $31, 4L is $56, check expiration periods before going crazy though as you don't want 2 years of Excel to go to waste!) so it's not as expensive.

HTH

 

[AdamHorton]

I ordered dry ferts and Excel today. I'll post pictures when the plants arrive and I get everything set up.