help with co2

Krilorn

AC Members
May 11, 2009
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Ok so i just picked up some flourish/excel, and iron. Ive heard that when you start dosing ferts you should really have a co2 system going. So i guess its time to start a Diy co2.:idea: Anyone have a link to a good build with lots of pictures on the setup for a idiot like me? Alot of the diy's ive found dont give very good instructions for the setup just a layout of their setup after the build.:wall: Thanks in advance for any help
 
dosing ferts does not mean you need co2.

BTW, Flourish/Excel (as you stated you have) is a liquid co2 source. it sounds like you need to do much more research

there are many factors that go into a planted tank. First, lets start with some initial questions.
What size tank do you have?
FIltratation?
Plant Stock?
Fish Stock?
Substrate?
etc?
 
dosing ferts does not mean you need co2.

Yup, depends on your setup. I have a 36 gallon with 2.4 WPG, and dose Flourish, Flourish Iron and Flourish Excel, and don't use co2, and everything I've put in the tankhas done well.
 
dosing ferts does not mean you need co2.

BTW, Flourish/Excel (as you stated you have) is a liquid co2 source. it sounds like you need to do much more research

there are many factors that go into a planted tank. First, lets start with some initial questions.
What size tank do you have?
FIltratation?
Plant Stock?
Fish Stock?
Substrate?
etc?


20 long tank
Ac 200 hob and whisper jr hob
plants atm are...3 java fern <1med 2small> 5-6stems of ludwiga repens 5-6plants of dwarf sag 2 undetermined crypts/anubias java moss and some ancharis
fish are 5tiger barbs 2 odessa barbs 5corys and a mystery snail
for substrate im using a small pea gravel
lighting atm is 34w over 20 gallons....soon to be 40 wats tomar when i buy new bulbs.

im looking to grow more plants then what i have now as the tank looks rather barren to me atm so i figured starting now with ferts and co2 would make it easier on me when i decide to ramp up the planting. Also in looking around for a diy i think im starting to get it somewhat...........

2liter with airline in cap....air line run to 2nd bottle to trap any "gunk"...airline from there to a airstone or diffuser....is this right? was i just sikeing myself out thinking it was more of a process? thanks again for the help

i have both flourish and flourish excel along with a flourish iron
 
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i dose ferts in one tank with no co2. the other tank has diy (kinda) co2 and gets ferts. at the end of the day both tanks are about the same parameters. there's lots of ins and outs. i'm gonna have to agree with coach also.
 
20 long tank
Ac 200 hob and whisper jr hob
plants atm are...3 java fern <1med 2small> 5-6stems of ludwiga repens 5-6plants of dwarf sag 2 undetermined crypts/anubias java moss and some ancharis
fish are 5tiger barbs 2 odessa barbs 5corys and a mystery snail
for substrate im using a small pea gravel
lighting atm is 34w over 20 gallons....soon to be 40 wats tomar when i buy new bulbs.

im looking to grow more plants then what i have now as the tank looks rather barren to me atm so i figured starting now with ferts and co2 would make it easier on me when i decide to ramp up the planting. Also in looking around for a diy i think im starting to get it somewhat...........

2liter with airline in cap....air line run to 2nd bottle to trap any "gunk"...airline from there to a airstone or diffuser....is this right? was i just sikeing myself out thinking it was more of a process? thanks again for the help

i have both flourish and flourish excel along with a flourish iron

Yep, in short that is pretty much it! GL:)
 
me and my friend (smartdog126) tried this DIY C02 system, x2 2 liter bottles, with check valves so it doesn't back syphon, going to a gas chamber in the middle, also for any gunk, then to a diffuser, we just had an air-stone so it wasted a lot of C02,

the mix we used was 1 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon yeast, and 6 cups warm water

heres a diagram that someone on this site sent me and we use for building and mixing, this mix with the 2 liter bottles is for 29-55 gallon tanks, so you should be fine with one one liter bottle

diy-co2-system.jpg
 
The reason im looking at co2 <other then wanting a lusher <?> looking tank is i started my plants about 2months ago. Everything looking good for about the first 2 weeks, then the ancharis started turning brown/yellow and not sprouting new stems. Found out this was because it like cooler temps so dropped the tank from about 81 to 76-78 and this seemed to help with it not reproducing but was still turning yellow/brown. My ludwiga lost 75% of its leaves and most of the redish coloring. The dwarf sags looked fantastic for about a month and were puttin out little runners, then the same thing happened to them as the ancharis, turned yellow/brown and quit producing runners. 90% of the java moss turned brown and died, and the two mystery crypts/anubias are slowly turning brown, although they do put out a new leaf about once every two weeks. From what i gathered looking into this it was a lack of co2...i had a bubbler running for the first month but removed it when i found out it is aiding in the co2 escaping. While this seemed to help a lil bit im still noticing a downward slope of my plants. Thought this might help a lil with any advice
 
The excel *might* cause problems with your anacharis. I do believe that the purpose of excel is to introduce carbon without a pressurized or yeast co2 setup.

Do you know the spectrum or k-rating of your lighting? What kind of bulbs?
 
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