FresH2O's 20g planted rescape

[Old Scales]

I like your sophisticated DIY CO2 system. Are you sure you're not an engineer? LOL. You tease me about being so 1900s with the "store-bought" comment and then you refer to Lawrence Welk. Too funny! I think we're showing our age. OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

I guess I am showing my age. No, I am not an engineer. I develop software and solutions for a healthcare Corporation. That's just fancy talk for writing programs. More geeky than glamorous. I am not ready to retire anytime soon. Got to get the kids through college first.

The DYI CO2 is working out pretty well so far. I found that a 3/16 inch drill bit makes the perfect hole when used with standard silicone airline tubing. Just cut the tubing at an angle, thread it through the hole, and use pliers to pull it through. No sealant required.

The drop checker is green to greenish – yellow. I believe I can control the CO2 by moving the diffuser mist away from the filter intake. I can also adjust the outflow of the other filter. Since I started two cultures at the same time the CO2 output might be a little higher than usual. I believe when I start alternating bottles it should stabilize.

 

[Old Scales]

Do you put some baking soda in? I read it makes the fermentation last a little longer.

 

[Fresh2o]

Do you put some baking soda in? I read it makes the fermentation last a little longer.

I have read about that but have not tried it. I believe it helps keep the pH from dropping during fermentation.

 

[Fresh2o]

Minor update:

I removed the DW at X. Tried it in a couple of spots in the tank but nothing looked right. Planted some Bacopa carolinana in its place. These shoots were cut down to substrate because it had old growth that was dropping leaves so it may be a while before it makes an appearance.
Planning on swapping two broadleaf chain swords at Y with the Rotala indica at Z. I want to propagate a nice bunch of the latter and I want it away from the side of the tank. If I leave it there and the Bacopa on the left side fills in, then there would be a "bookend" effect going on and I want to avoid any symmetry.

 

[Fresh2o]

The last 15 months of my planted tank...

I found some old photos of my planted tank and decided to put them in chronological order. Missed a few months here and there (phone crashed). It started out pretty modest and as I upgraded lighting and fertilization, I spent less time trying to grow plants and more time on getting the layout that I wanted. As always, it is a learning process and a work in progress. Milestones are the switch from dual T5 NO to LED in 4/13 and DYI CO2 in 5/13. Took a few months for those to take effect. Enjoy!
10/27/2012

11/20/2012

12/04/2012

01/09/2013

01/16/2013

02/09/2013

06/16/2013

07/07/2013

08/16/2013

09/02/2013

10/09/2013

11/29/2013

12/27/2013

01/12/2014

 

[Krissycakes]

Wow, such progression. Nice! I have had so many different takes in my tanks. I just got lazy

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[Fresh2o]

Wow, such progression. Nice! I have had so many different takes in my tanks. I just got lazy

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Tanks for the kind words!

 

[Fresh2o]

Currently NOT happy with the ceramic diffuser. Was cranking out lots of fine bubbles for a week; noticed a decline yesterday. Restarted one of the two yeast cultures. Discovered that one of the check valves is not working under higher pressure and liquid from the bubble counter started to back flow and leak from it. Decided to swap out the check valves and the back pressure from the diffuser resulted in even more bubble counter liquid spraying all over the place. My brilliant idea of putting lots of salt in the bubble counter to prevent yeast from surviving and getting into the DT backfired. I have dried salt EVERYWHERE in my cabinet; need to take everything out and clean it out.

Woke up this morning and noticed that no mist was coming out of the diffuser. I decided to switch back to the previous method. Yes, it's noisier but at least I know that the when I see bubbles in the bubble counter I also see/hear them in the HOB intake/impeller. I just did not like the time it took (hours) for proper pressure to build up to operate the diffuser using DIY CO2. The drop checker even turned blue during the CO2 outage. I would rather it to stay constant so I will stick with the low pressure method for now.

 

[Krissycakes]

On no!!!! Gosh, that would make me panic. Good composer! Lol I got to try diy co2

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[Brian_Nano12g]

Sorry to hear about your troubles / frustration. When I ran the fluval ceramic diffuser, I'd always pull it up above the water line when doing PWC's. I would then squirt some H2O2 on the disc and let it fizz on it for a good 10 to 15 minutes to help clean the pores and kill off any yeast/fungus culture that was growing on it. Worked well for me to get the bubbles adequately small again.

Having frustrations with DIY CO2 makes you want to just give in and go pressurized, doesn't it?

 

[Fresh2o]

Having frustrations with DIY CO2 makes you want to just give in and go pressurized, doesn't it?

Don't you know it! My next post is going to be about recommended regulators and tanks. I know the Queen of Glut held off for so long and gave in as well as Old Scales recently. OS got one of the nicer GLA regulators. Might be a little too costly for me.
I do have some Christmas cash laying around...hmmmm

 

[Fresh2o]

On no!!!! Gosh, that would make me panic. Good composer! Lol I got to try diy co2

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DIY CO2 can be pretty simple and effective. It made a big difference in my tank. When dealing with back pressure from using the diffuser, however, new challenges are introduced such as leaks, check valve failures, and latency (the time it takes for for the pressure to build up).
If you can route the CO2 into a filter or power head, then you should get good distribution of CO2. This is a low pressure approach and you avoid the issues mentioned above.

 

[Krissycakes]

Sounds challenging. I just want to offer more for my plants. Thanks for the heads up

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[Fresh2o]

Drop checker changed from blue to lime green after running the DIY CO2 low pressure thru the HOB. I'm happy with it now.
Cleaned out the dried salt from inside the cabinet.

 

[Fresh2o]

Gave the mini AR and Staurogynes repens a long overdue trim. Especially the latter; I want a nice carpet out of it but I keep forgetting to trim the taller growth. I removed all but 2-4 leaves on each SR trimming and replanted those on the outskirts of the group. Also trying to prune it away from the front glass so that it will be easier to clean off the algae.
Here is an updated FTS:

Uh oh, OCD kicked in...

. Cut some PVC pipes and labeled them for each pipette for dispensing the PPS pro.

 

[Old Scales]

Nice David,
The tank is coming along great. It looks like you have the identical stand I do. The AR mini is coloring up well. Have you got any new little plantlets off of them yet? OS.

 

[Fresh2o]

Nice David,
The tank is coming along great. It looks like you have the identical stand I do. The AR mini is coloring up well. Have you got any new little plantlets off of them yet? OS.

Thanks! I got the stand from petco during one of the $/gallon sales. Has the sliding doors; it offers a smaller footprint (no swinging doors) but I do like to add things to doors like hooks, clip boards, and mini shelves. Can't do this to the sliding doors. It's fine though.
A few weeks ago I topped off some of the mini AR and new growth appeared about a week later. Last night I topped off several of the remaining mini AR last night (especially at the front) and replanted those to round out the grouping. I also trimmed off the older, algae covered leaves.
I trimmed the A bonsai and replanted as well. I did not remove the primary stems; hoping that they will produce a decent secondary shoot. The newer leaves appear fuller and have a slightly reddish tinge to then.
I got around to adding root pellets. According to my notes, I skipped December. I think with all of the plant movement, I did not want to add pellets until things settled down. Running low on the Total pellets; need to order more.

 

[Old Scales]

David,
Petco is where I got my stand also so I'm pretty sure they're identical. So far it's been a good solid stand. To make it more so I added some one by three boards onto the back panel. Then they gave me extra places to put hooks and hangers.
As far as the AR mini, it is such a stable little plant that the lower leaves never fall off like many Ludwigia's. They stay on so long old leaf algae appears. To me this is a good thing. Just give them some extra phosphorus and a root tab and then the intensity of the light will determine the redness. I grew it for many months on just glut and when I went to CO2 it didn't make that much of a difference. That tells me the plant was performing close to all its potential even with just glut. I'm working up all my information on it I will soon do an information thread of the AR mini in the profiles section. Also, thanks for putting me onto your root tabs. I really like them.
Take care, again the tank looks great. Brian.

 

[Fresh2o]

Just an update...not much different from the last post 3 weeks ago. Trimmed the tank for a plant shipment. Have been using PPS Pro and Glut for several weeks. Really cannot say if there is a difference in plant growth (yet). Trimming and replanting the star repens in an effort to make a carpet. Looks nicer if kept short. Discovered a few Crypt wendtii red growing near the back of the tank. Probably sprouted from leftover roots when I cleared the tank of the crypts a few months back.

I did notice reddish algae or cyano growing on the manzanita DW and back wall. Not sure if this is a coincidence with the new ferts. Spot treated with H2O2. Branches fizzed like alka seltzer and later the tank become cloudy for a few hours.

There was pearling from all of the plants after the H2O2 treatment. I believe that the peroxide released a good deal of oxygen. The water was so saturated that the O2 released by the plants immediately pearled into bubbles (the water could no longer absorb any dissolved O2). That's just my theory on it.
Here's a pic: