Carpeting

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Imsyu

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Mar 30, 2013
Messages
87
Hi there! i am new to the forums and had a small question, my 29g Tank is planted and doing well with a variety of mid/background plants and i recently purchased some dwarf baby tears to carpet. They are doing well with my two led lights and using flourish excel but will they do better with pressurized Co2? i have my tank/regulator and diffuser coming in on monday so i will be setting that up
 
The co2 definitely will not hurt the baby tears. If it is dosed at the proper level (30-40 ppm) the baby tears should show significant growth rates. What kind of led light do you have?
 
a 15w 10k Skkye light and a Finnex Ray 2 14k LED

how do i know its at 30-40ppm, i guess counting bubbles?
 
Nice light choice, I wish I had the money for one.
You can get a general idea of the level of co2 by using what is called a drop checker. A drop checker allows you to view the level of co2 based on the color the solution inside is.
What you do is fill the drop checker about half way with 4 dKH solution (I got mine from eBay) and a drop or two of the solution that will come with the drop checker. Then you put the drop checker in your aquarium and it will give you accurate readings of the co2 level in your aquarium.
I didn't make this picture it is from Google (hope they will forgive me) this explains it better than I can:
 

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Look around before you buy one. Some of them are ridiculously overpriced. Try ebay. A 3$ will work the same as a 40$ one.
 
will do, found one on ebay for like 10 bucks including shipping! =] much appreciated sure for the help
 
Good advice from fishfanatic. HC (dwarf baby tears), pressurized CO2 and high lighting is sort of a necessity if you want it to carpet well IMO. Oh, make sure you get the 4dKH solution with that drop checker and make sure you have some pH testing liquid (the blue in the liquid will give the solution color so you can read it properly). Other than that, it seems you have everything under control :) Oh, you got a bubble counter with the system right? You did not mention it in the OP, just making sure you didn't leave it off the list :)
 
yea the milwaukee(sp?) regulator comes with a bubble counter, needle valve and dual gages, i bought a diffuser from greenleafaquarium that has a one way valve thing so when changing out tanks water doesnt backflow =]
 
Ah, very nice regulator choice. I too have a diffuser from GLA, the 65mm atomic one and it is amazing. Good to hear you got one with a check valve, that will come in handy :)
 
Thanks! appreciate all the comments, looking forward to seeing my baby tears carpet=]
 
One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet but warrants discussion is your fertilizer situation. Since you have injected CO2 and high light, I highly recommend you look into dry ferts and a fertilizer regimen. Estimative Index (EI) and PPS are both good options, and ferts should only run you about $20 or so and last a very long time. They can also be bought at GLA.
 
i use the green pack fert from GLA but i wasnt sure how to use the PPS-Pro as i have no digital weight machine
 
actually ive been using one from aquariumfertilizer and it has Macro Micro Nutrient Mix 1 lb contains 1 equal part each of Potassium Nitrate, Potassium Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Plantex CSM+B in it, is that better then the GLA one or worst
 
i use the green pack fert from GLA but i wasnt sure how to use the PPS-Pro as i have no digital weight machine

You can get a nice digital scale at Walmart for $19 I think, that's where I got mine. This is a PPS-pro chart using GlA ferts I put together with the help of Rivercats, makes it pretty simple.
 

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I got my scale from amazon for $12 shipped overnight. Works great. That chart is really neat, but I only use two 1000mL dosing bottles- one with the CSM+B and one with the rest...I do have another bottle I use for extra phosphate though dice every tank is different, you can use PPS-Pro to fit its special needs
 
thanks for the chart it is very simple lol ill use it once im down with their green fert pack or should i switch now
 
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