Scottyhorse's 25 Gallon Community Build

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Plants come yet?

[CorallineAlgae]

Can't wait for tomorrows pics! Nothing beats seeing new plants... except seeing before and after pictures a few months later.

[Scottyhorse]

Yep plants got here around 4 my time. A few hours ealier than expected!

5 hours later, here are the results! Still not where I would want it to look like, but considering shipping in this weather, me messing with them, untangling them, planting them, re-planting them, and re-planting some of them again, I think in a couple weeks of not being touched, having ferts dosed, hight lights, and co2, they will look better. It will also look nice when they start filling in!






I really like this piece of DW I found



I also bought this piece of lava rock, because it looks really cool, but I can't figure out where I want it.... I am thinking I will wait a couple of weeks until the plants have recovered, and go from there. But I would love to hear your guys' input

I want to start the co2, but I need the 'recipe' for the co2. I am going to be running both 2 liter bottles at the same time.

So what do you guys think?

[CharlieKlein]

Jealous of your plants! Looks great! What I did with my lava rocks is I picked up two and made a little arch, I'll post a pic tommorrow. It's coming along!

[Scottyhorse]

Originally Posted by CharlieKlein

Jealous of your plants! Looks great! What I did with my lava rocks is I picked up two and made a little arch, I'll post a pic tommorrow. It's coming along!

Thanks! Yes, please post pictures, I would love to see it! The pictures actually look better than in person, but like I said, we will have to wait and see what it looks like in a couple of weeks, then a couple of months! I added quite a but of fish food, so I will test the water in the morning and see what it looks like. Hopefully I have enough plants in there I can do a silent cycle, which would be nice!

[mwampoki]

The recipe that I use for CO2 per 2 L bottle:

2 cups white sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp regular bakers yeast (not quick rise)
Dissolve the sugar, baking soda in 1 - 1.5 L of warm ~ 100 °F water (warm tap water is fine) dissolve the yeast in about a cup of warm water (same temp) mix all together and fill the bottles to the shoulder. You should have 3-5 " of space to keep foam from coming out of the bottle.

That is pretty much the standard recipe you will find in most of the threads that discuss DIY CO2. Start both of your bottles at the same time, and then start changing one a week to make sure that you always have a new one, and one that is still producing. That way it will keep the CO2 levels more even and you won't have the down time of starting a new bottle.

[bud29]

Originally Posted by Scottyhorse

Yep plants got here around 4 my time. A few hours ealier than expected!

5 hours later, here are the results! Still not where I would want it to look like, but considering shipping in this weather, me messing with them, untangling them, planting them, re-planting them, and re-planting some of them again, I think in a couple weeks of not being touched, having ferts dosed, hight lights, and co2, they will look better. It will also look nice when they start filling in!






I really like this piece of DW I found



I also bought this piece of lava rock, because it looks really cool, but I can't figure out where I want it.... I am thinking I will wait a couple of weeks until the plants have recovered, and go from there. But I would love to hear your guys' input

I want to start the co2, but I need the 'recipe' for the co2. I am going to be running both 2 liter bottles at the same time.

So what do you guys think?

Looks great! And you're right, with a bit of growing it'll look even better!

[CorallineAlgae]

Nice start. The wood looks terrific. You won't believe the change the plants will undergo after a week or two.

[Scottyhorse]

Yeah I can't wait to see it in a couple weeks.

Last night I added a butt load of food, and I tested the water this morning.

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrtites: 2 ppm
Nitrates: 10 ppm it looks like.

So could it really have skipped the Ammonia spike with all the plants?

[Scottyhorse]

Also started the co2. Not sure if I did it right so I will give it a couple hours and see if it is bubbling.

[CharlieKlein]

Here ya go!

[Scottyhorse]

Hey, that looks pretty cool. I don't think I could do that in my tank, DW takes too much room, lol.

[CharlieKlein]

Well Mabye you could put it in the front right corner?

[Scottyhorse]

LOL that is what I was thinking, but I need to make it a bit smaller.

[Scottyhorse]

2nd Test Results!

Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrites: .25 ppm
Nitrates: 10 ppm

I also put some silicone around the tubing on the co2 reactors and gas seperators.

[Scottyhorse]

3rd Test Results!

Low PH: 7.6
High PH: 7.4
Ammonia: .50ppm
Nitrites: 2ppm
Nitrates: 5ppm

So I am a bit confused, what does this mean?

There is also some stuff on the driftwood. The best way I can describe it is it is kind of gelatinis, like a sea anenome.
Any idea what it is?

Co2 is still not producing yet, but there is a bunch of condensation on the bottles.

[CorallineAlgae]

You may have a leak in the co2 system. You can mix a bit of dish liquid and water and put it on the bottle caps to cheek for leaks. It'll bubble if gas is escaping. I suspect that's the issue here.

Your levels are normal for a cycle. First ammonia builds and then bacteria convert it to nitrite and that lasts a while before it gets converted by different bacteria into nitrate. Plants then use the nitrate as a plant "food".

[Scottyhorse]

Originally Posted by CorallineAlgae

You may have a leak in the co2 system. You can mix a bit of dish liquid and water and put it on the bottle caps to cheek for leaks. It'll bubble if gas is escaping. I suspect that's the issue here.

Your levels are normal for a cycle. First ammonia builds and then bacteria convert it to nitrite and that lasts a while before it gets converted by different bacteria into nitrate. Plants then use the nitrate as a plant "food".

The silicon isn't dry yet, so before I do that test I am going to wait for it to dry.

Thanks for clearing up the test results, I was a bit confused since there is a reading for all three already. The plants must be doing that, right?

Also any idea what is on the DW?

[CorallineAlgae]

I don't know what the goo is but I do know that it's harmless and very common. You can just rinse it off as it appears or leave it be. It won't stay around forever. No way to tell how long it'll take. Sometimes it goes away in a week or over a couple months. Either way it's not harmful at all, just unsightly.

[Scottyhorse]

Alright, if it will just go away on its own, I will leave it be. Will it come back after it has gone away?