Nils 2.5G upgrade to 5.5G DP Build!

[TheresaM]

It's a 5.5 gallon, but that's ok, the title is confusing lol.

The project is seeing if Co2 and fertilizers and light really do help in growing plants. I have 8 mason jars, one stem per jar, 4 getting Co2, some getting no light, some getting fertilizers and some all elements combined. I'm going to measure them to get accurate results. I'm using anacharis because it's a really fast growing plant. What was the project that your child did?

Oops, sorry I just went by the thread title. Tank looks good either way though!

I actually found pics...this was actually elementary school so rather simple: does light effect aquarium plant growth. I really miss that house, had around 15 tanks running in what was supposed to be the dining room

 

[Nils]

I'm actually doing something like that! Just with more variables than just light. Lol I did that exact same thing with the scissors and the ruler, measured out each piece to 4".

 

[TheresaM]

I'm actually doing something like that! Just with more variables than just light. Lol I did that exact same thing with the scissors and the ruler, measured out each piece to 4".

That's cool! She was 11 at that time, 20 now. Hope it works out for, definitely a good plant to experiment with

 

[Nils]

So some bad news One of the amano's decided to go explore.....outside the tank. Came home and found it under my bed. Crawled all the way across the room. It happens I guess.
Nothing new other than that. Getting some more downoi in a couple weeks, for a better price lol. Only new plant additions for a while are going to be the downoi and either some glosso or monte carlo to cover the front.

 

[TheresaM]

So some bad news One of the amano's decided to go explore.....outside the tank. Came home and found it under my bed. Crawled all the way across the room. It happens I guess.
Nothing new other than that. Getting some more downoi in a couple weeks, for a better price lol. Only new plant additions for a while are going to be the downoi and either some glosso or monte carlo to cover the front.

Sorry to hear about the amano

 

[Nils]

Sorry to hear about the amano

Thanks, it happens.

Redid the Co2 mixture yesterday, bubbling like mad this morning! I didn't have any Co2 in the tank from Friday till yesterday because it wasn't working. Now I see why all you gurus like pressurized Co2 so much more Definitely another thing I need to invest in in the future.
Puffs and shrimp still doing great. I love it when right after I feed them they look like floating bowling balls, just gliding around the tank lol. They remind me of miniature submarines. Not that much aggression anymore, I think he's finally learned to stay away from "her" side.
Getting some nice growth out of the foxtail (Myriophyllum pinnatum) after I trimmed it and replanted. It's weird because I've had it since the tank has been set up and it never grew that as much as it has now after a small trim off the top. Going to let the plants all grow for a while still until a trim, I have somebody who's going to take the blyxa and I'll probably throw in a couple extra stems of other stuff with it. Might do an RAOK with the extra plants, so keep an eye out for that

 

[Nils]

So another reason I want to switch to pressurized Co2:

Last night at 9:00 I was sitting in bed and I hear a really loud sound from behind the tank, I look over and there's a fountain of yeast/sugar/baking soda coming out of the bottle. I had put a valve on earlier yesterday to control how much was going in the tank, and I guess it wasn't open enough. It got all over the wall, in the tank and on the carpet. Cleaned it up the best I could with paper towels. I did a 50% WC to get some of it out of the tank because it was super cloudy. Even though baking soda, yeast or sugar is poisonous to fish I did it just to be on the safe side. Tank is cleared up this morning and everyone is still happy. I won't be running Co2 for a little while until I get this figured out. Will the plants be highly affected?

 

[Fishperson]

So another reason I want to switch to pressurized Co2:

Last night at 9:00 I was sitting in bed and I hear a really loud sound from behind the tank, I look over and there's a fountain of yeast/sugar/baking soda coming out of the bottle. I had put a valve on earlier yesterday to control how much was going in the tank, and I guess it wasn't open enough. It got all over the wall, in the tank and on the carpet. Cleaned it up the best I could with paper towels. I did a 50% WC to get some of it out of the tank because it was super cloudy. Even though baking soda, yeast or sugar is poisonous to fish I did it just to be on the safe side. Tank is cleared up this morning and everyone is still happy. I won't be running Co2 for a little while until I get this figured out. Will the plants be highly affected?

That's too bad.

If you up your excel dosing they may be fine but you probably will see a difference if they go more than a week or two without it.

 

[Atxpunx]

Make a citric acid co2 generator!


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Fresh2o]

Make a citric acid co2 generator!


Cha boi Jessie.

Excellent suggestion!


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Nils]

Make a citric acid co2 generator!


Cha boi Jessie.

Sounds like a good idea to me. How do I go about making a citric acid Co2 generator? I've seen those things on Ebay that you put on the top of 2 two liter bottles and just add the baking soda and citric acid. Could someone give me a step by step process on how to do it? Thanks!

 

[TMRC Exotics]

I understand making the switch to citric acid, its got a few pros but in the meantime a little tweaking could get you back up and running. A pressure release valve can prevent that. I made a homemade one a while back from a stopper stuck in some tubing on a t valve. I fiddled until it stuck in pretty solid but if for some reason pressure really built it would blow out before the bottle gave. I tested it by sticking it straight on an empty two liter and compressing the bottle until the stopper blew out. It was simple but worked. What is your setup like?

 

[Atxpunx]

The top says needle valve. The better the needle valve, the less fooling with it. A needle valve from Home Depot will suffice though. All these things can be found at Walmart and Home Depot.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Nils]

Thanks for the drawing! Helped clear up my confusion. Still got one question: How do you start the flow of citric acid going into the baking soda bottle? And what exactly does the needle valve do?

 

[Atxpunx]

All I do is drill or melt the holes in the soda bottle cap a little smaller than the tubing. That way when you insert the tubing it stays very tight against the manufactured hole. I cut the tubing ends at an angle and pull them through with needle nose pliers. The citric acid end of the tubing has to touch the bottom of the bottle in order to use all the citric acid by the end of the batch. The baking soda end of the bottle should be low enough to drip citric acid, but not so low as to allow baking soda mix to back flow into the citric acid bottle. Factor in how high the baking soda solution will be at the end of the batch. The needle valve is to reduce the bubbles per second, otherwise the batch will mix within minutes and co2 will rush the tank. The tubing that goes into the tank is put under the filter intake or however you'd like to diffuse it.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Atxpunx]

You squeeze the citric acid bottle to allow citric acid to drip into the baking soda side while having the needle valve shut off, this creates the co2/pressure which then wants to fill both bottles equally. After pressure is built, you slowly start the needle valve to leak into the tank and infuse co2. Sometimes it takes one or two tries to keep it going but the pressure wants to be equal in the bottles which creates the drip into the baking soda side which makes this whole thang work.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Atxpunx]

Man! That's a lot of typing on an iPhone!!! ?


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Nils]

Nice! Thanks for the explanation! So it seems like the only real problem is building up the same amount of pressure in the bottles. Probably going to get one of these (D501 Aquarium Plant Tank DIY CO2 System Generator Kit Random Delivery | eBay) for the bottles. It has everything included. Makes it easier for me too, and not as much fiddling with it. I'll order it maybe Monday or Tuesday.

 

[Atxpunx]

Nice! Thanks for the explanation! So it seems like the only real problem is building up the same amount of pressure in the bottles. Probably going to get one of these (D501 Aquarium Plant Tank DIY CO2 System Generator Kit Random Delivery | eBay) for the bottles. It has everything included. Makes it easier for me too, and not as much fiddling with it. I'll order it maybe Monday or Tuesday.

That is a really nice set up. Plug and play. I tried using 20 ounce bottles for a nano and it wouldn't keep pressure, seems like the bigger size bottles are a necessity.


Cha boi Jessie.

 

[Nils]

That is a really nice set up. Plug and play. I tried using 20 ounce bottles for a nano and it wouldn't keep pressure, seems like the bigger size bottles are a necessity.


Cha boi Jessie.

Sounds good. I'll keep an eye out for those 32 oz bottles, they can't be that hard to find. I'll put up some pics of the tank tomorrow finally, I really haven't gotten around to it yet.