DIY CO2 and Excel

barbuto

barbuto

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Nov 28, 2008
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Fort Lee, NJ
I am planning on making a DIY 2L CO2 bottle for my 10gal tank tonight.

Will I still need to does Excel? Flourish? any other seachem ferts?

Will I have to watch the ppm of the CO2? how do I do that? Can this harm my betta/shrimp if too much CO2 is added?
 
barbuto said:
I am planning on making a DIY 2L CO2 bottle for my 10gal tank tonight.

Will I still need to does Excel? No, it is just another source of carbon. Flourish? Yes, this provides other nutrients. any other seachem ferts? Any you currently use would probably be good (except excel)

Will I have to watch the ppm of the CO2? Yes. how do I do that? Drop Checker. Can this harm my betta/shrimp if too much CO2 is added? YES!
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See the answers in This annoying Green.
 
I currently have only excel, no ferts or anything.

Would it be worth the switch over to a DIY C02?

would ferts be a good idea in either case?
 
Most say you will have better results with co2. Both have their dangers. Ferts depend on your water chemistry, bioload, and planting. They generally help.

*I'm no expert. I've just started using flourish and excel a week ago. I am basing all this on research I've done.
 
DIY will save you money in the long run, so it can be worth it once you have everything setup.

Opinions on dosing both generally depends on who you ask. I personally would save the money and just go with DIY, however there is no harm done and most likely your plants will still benefit from excel.

It's much more difficult to overdose on DIY compared to pressurized CO2 but it can definitely happen. A drop checker with a 4dkh solution is generally the best way to monitor. I do not trust any pH/KH charts.

As for other ferts, you still want to have all your macros and trace elements covered. Purchasing dry ferts in bulk is another money saver, but a lot of people like to start off with seachems other products because its a simple step forward.
 
Yea, I want to take one step at a time. I think I am going to go ahead and get myself some Seachem ferts to start out with. Ill stick to my Excel bottle for a while and see how I like it. Maybe i'll switch over to CO2 in a month or two.
 
the need for ferts, CO2 etc is dependent on a few things.
lighting is one major issue as well as plant stock.

if you are running high light you will probably need to consider ferts and CO2.
however, you can just as easily set up a lower light, low maintenance planted tank.

I try to keep light at or below the 2 wpg threshold. in this instance you can grow quite a few plants and not worry about CO2. you dose ferts as needed.

or simply follow the charts and do your weekly large water change.

I only experience a little hair algae which is remedied by using Flourish excel.

I do have dry ferts also .
 
I've been wondering if the that works... the guy has a video on instructables.com. Along with the DIY filter.
 
well right now I have 2 23 watt CFLs over my 10gal. So I am probably in the high-light area. I am using Excel atm, do you think I should move over to C02?

I have java fern, anubias nana, ludwigia rotola, wisteria, camboda, and anotehr foreground plant that I have no idea what it is.
 
i like to use excel with diy. diy co2 can fluctuate and dropping co2 levels (ie. when your mix gets old) can cause algae growth. excel is a carbon suppliment and it helps keep algae at bay. i use both in one of my tanks and its the cleanest looking tank i have.
 
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