newly planted today - quick c02 question

[themox]

hey guys,

just finished setting up my newly planted c02 tank today, as in, 5 mins ago.

set up is:

8 gallon (30 litre)
3 x t5 8 watt lighting
small aqua-one internal filter - DIY c02 will be rigged up the output of this
two pieces of driftwood
assorted small rocks
aqua-soil amazonia black substrate

plants are:

java moss - mesh wall and wrapped around driftwood
java fern - wedged into driftwood
amazon frogbit - free floating
a mish mash of hornwort attached to the driftwood currentky - which is looking a bit sick
carpet i'm attempting is made of hemianthus micranthemoides

so, i've literally just set it up; light is on, water is about to be conditioned, heater on. when do i add the c02?

i have shrimp and snails and guppies and a bristlenose...when could they be added? pics attached - still cloudy, i'll have updates later this afternoon.

thanks!

 

[Coursair]

hey guys,

just finished setting up my newly planted c02 tank today, as in, 5 mins ago.

set up is:

8 gallon (30 litre)
3 x t5 8 watt lighting
small aqua-one internal filter - DIY c02 will be rigged up the output of this
two pieces of driftwood
assorted small rocks
aqua-soil amazonia black substrate

plants are:

java moss - mesh wall and wrapped around driftwood
java fern - wedged into driftwood
amazon frogbit - free floating
a mish mash of hornwort attached to the driftwood currentky - which is looking a bit sick
carpet i'm attempting is made of hemianthus micranthemoides

so, i've literally just set it up; light is on, water is about to be conditioned, heater on. when do i add the c02?

i have shrimp and snails and guppies and a bristlenose...when could they be added? pics attached - still cloudy, i'll have updates later this afternoon.

thanks!

DO NOT ADD FISH !!!
Aqua Soil takes at least 4-6 weeks to stop leaching Ammonia ( or Ammonium I forget which ). It's GREAT for plants But still has to cycle.

A Bristlenose Pleco is to big for an 8g IMHO Find a Pitbull Pleco or just do Shrimp and Snails.

AS is a pain to plant in but my plants look great and the PH is very low as expected. Mine will be my CRS tank. Going to drip acclimate some this week.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Coursair is right on! Aqua soil can also make your PH drop like crazy for the first few weeks before it starts to stabilize. Monitor your ammonia and PH while it cycles. If you have another tank, you can test the PH in both tanks and compare how much the Aqua Soil really does drop the PH of your tap water. It shouldn't last longer than the normal cycle time though. Some people mix in a little crushed coral or put a bag of it in their filter to help buffer against the ph drop from the Aqua Soil. probably not an option with an internal filter. Just wait it out and once your ammonia and nitrate are both 0 you can add your fish.

I know a guy who breeds bushynose plecos. He keeps the babies in a 10 gallon to grow them out a bit before selling them or adding them to a bigger tank. (that's where I got mine) One small one will do fine in an 8 gallon with driftwood for a long time. You just might need to give him a bigger home or trade him for something different later.

About co2, you can start it now. The plants should love it. If you find some of your plants melting it won't be from the co2. Aqua Soil sometimes causes that. Just do some big water changes if you see crazy ammonia levels. Melted plants often come back with AS.

 

[aqua_chem]

How much you tap drops will be mainly dependent on your tap's carbonate content. High KH and you won't see much of a change at all.

The pH shouldn't be low enough to cause an issue. If you think it is, just do a water change (not an issue on a tank that size).

There really aren't any vertebrate algae eaters that are great in tanks less than 10g. Otos can work, but they really want a group, which is problematic in 8g. No plecos will work in a tank that size long term.

 

[themox]

thanks guys for your comments and help. I didn't mention, but should have, that the aquasoil is 6 months old. it is second hand from a friend; will the PH still drop even though it's already been used in a tank?

the pleco I've had in that tank before, and is still quite small - only about 3cm (1ish inches) and for the time being I'd like to keep him but understand he'll probably eventually have to go.

with the new plants just starting out though; will he and the snail knock them out of the substrate? he skims along the ground super fast, and my snail usually sludges over everything and is quite clumsy; i'm concerned that when i do add them, they'll start knocking things down - mainly just the planted HM.

they're all still in their small tank. I'll wait to hear back about when to put them in. am happy to wait if you think I should.

C02 I'll start today then! excellent

 

[Coursair]

thanks guys for your comments and help. I didn't mention, but should have, that the aquasoil is 6 months old. it is second hand from a friend; will the PH still drop even though it's already been used in a tank?

the pleco I've had in that tank before, and is still quite small - only about 3cm (1ish inches) and for the time being I'd like to keep him but understand he'll probably eventually have to go.

with the new plants just starting out though; will he and the snail knock them out of the substrate? he skims along the ground super fast, and my snail usually sludges over everything and is quite clumsy; i'm concerned that when i do add them, they'll start knocking things down - mainly just the planted HM.

they're all still in their small tank. I'll wait to hear back about when to put them in. am happy to wait if you think I should.

C02 I'll start today then! excellent

AS is so light, plants dont stay planted until they get some long roots YMMV. I keep uprooting mine everytime I try to do something in the tank.
Mine is a 5.5g.

My PH is low, but I wanted it low for my CRS.
I bought Amazonia for that purpose

 

[themox]

AS is so light, plants dont stay planted until they get some long roots YMMV. I keep uprooting mine everytime I try to do something in the tank.
Mine is a 5.5g.

My PH is low, but I wanted it low for my CRS.
I bought Amazonia for that purpose

do you think it would still effect my PH given its 6 months old? by that I mean, it has been used in a tank for 6 moths prior to now

 

[themox]

just checked my PH as well as the others. readings were

PH - 6.8-7.0
Amm - 0-0.25
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 0

Ammonia looks to be dropping off, but i'm still doing quite large water changes daily. At least 50%.

I added some carbon to the filter to remove a lot of the cloudiness the aquasoil caused in the tank. The stuff has left a soot-like covering on top of the plants. It was very cloudy but since adding a small amount of carbon it has seemed to slow...does that adversely affect the plant growth however, or not much that it's a concern?

HM isn't growing yet but i'm assuming it takes a while to kick off. I would have loved to have planted much more but it's so hard in such a small tank and i like my driftwood.

How long does it take to root and begin to start growing? I'm hoping to add guppies and potentially a shrimp later in the week if readings hit 0. I'm convinced that the aquasoil has not changed the PH considering it's 6 months old and has been used before. If it has by any stretch, then as aquachem has stated, it appears very minimal.

 

[Coursair]

Old AS does break down. Be gentle when you move it. I'm new to it, but if Google it you'll get a ton of people posting about it.

 

[themox]

Old AS does break down. Be gentle when you move it. I'm new to it, but if Google it you'll get a ton of people posting about it.

i've read it can actually absorb nutrients from fertilizers from the water column and provide it more easily to the roots of plants. people seem to have different experiences with its lifetime though from what i see.

i'm so impatient, i want to add my fish

cours...do you grow hemianthus micra? any tips?

 

[Coursair]

i've read it can actually absorb nutrients from fertilizers from the water column and provide it more easily to the roots of plants. people seem to have different experiences with its lifetime though from what i see.

i'm so impatient, i want to add my fish

cours...do you grow hemianthus micra? any tips?

I'm new to HM. Mine is floating and doing well LOL. I have a really hard time working in my 5.5g. I have a branch of Manzi in there. Everytime I do something I uproot something else. :/

The AS is great in some ways, but PITA in other ways. I Like sand, plants stay rooted

I don't do much ground cover, I try to keep an open area for Shrimpz.

 

[themox]

I'm new to HM. Mine is floating and doing well LOL. I have a really hard time working in my 5.5g. I have a branch of Manzi in there. Everytime I do something I uproot something else. :/

The AS is great in some ways, but PITA in other ways. I Like sand, plants stay rooted

I don't do much ground cover, I try to keep an open area for Shrimpz.

ah ok cool.

yeah i had to save my HM with floating it. still didn't look perfect but had to plant it soon because i got too impatient haha

i like the AS so far, even apart from the cloudiness it caused, because the cloudiness is starting to go away finally. i'm pretty sure it'll last a long time. i just wish i was able to plant more. hopefully when i add c02 this week it will start to flourish more.

when should i start adding fertilizers?