Confused about co2

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Alicia

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Nov 15, 2003
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Thank you all. I have never felt so stupid. I am still kicking myself.
I should also have everything ready for pretty good plant growth within the next week or two. I found a petshop that sells t5ho for $50.00 and I am going to get my Flourite tomorrow. The canister filter is gong to take me a little bit longer, but I am getting there.
 

mott

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Apr 7, 2008
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Don't run your new lights until you get Co2, you will be asking for Algae...
 

Alicia

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Don't run your new lights until you get Co2, you will be asking for Algae...
Well, sence reading this I have decided to wait to get the lights and I am now going to do things in this order:
1. Flourite (tomorrow)
2. Canister Filter
3. Co2
4. Lights
5. Fish
Hopefully everything will flow smothly from now on. I am looking into finding a used canister filter right now.
 

Slappy*McFish

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Feb 18, 2002
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Sounds like a plan. Don't forget ferts. ;)
 

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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Very sound advice. I think the lights and the ferts are the most important things. However, CO2 at some point ends up being required if the plants cannot get enough from the water itself. Before going the CO2 route, I would switch to canister filters, or some other type of filtration that prevents the agitation of the surface water and the resultant gas off of CO2 that is naturally found in the water. Lastly, I would go with pressurized CO2. Nowadays, whenever I set up a new tank I just immediately go with a canister filter and pressurized CO2 since I have plenty of ferts on hand. Lighting depends on the depth of the tank, but I would use some serious light on anything 24 inches or deeper. Large planted tanks are expensive to setup correctly, but well worth it in the long run.
Co2 and ferts aren't really needed in a low light tank(well I should say you need a little bit of trace here and there) I got a little 5 gallon with some camboa, moss and some fissedens that is just beautiful, I dose maybe once every two to three weeks and do a WC every three weeks. My friend has a tank that I set up for him with sunset hygro, camboa and anubias, he never doses and the tank looks awesome!
I also have a high light pressurized tank. My high tech needs a lot of attention with weekly trimmings, EI dosing every day 60% WC every week, I guess what I'm getting at is it all depends on what type of plants you want to keep.
You CAN keep a really nice planted tank with what you have already
BUT if you must have a high light tank do it right.

I would do in this order:
1. Change your substrate to Eco, ADA AS, Flourite, mineralized top soil, whatever nutrient rich substrate you want.

2.Get a canister filter, look for one that will turn your tank volume at least 5 times over per hour, you can find good deals on craigslist or go with that sun sun Chinese knockoff for the cheap route.

3.Get the Co2 regulator,tank,diffuser/reactor. Milwaukee makes a decent all in one (Regulator/solenoid/bubble counter) for around 80 bucks, Azoo makes one as well in this price range.
If you can afford it go with a high quality reg from Sumo, GLA, Rex Grigg, they are worth every pennie.
Get a 10 pound tank at least for the 72.

4.lastly lights, with your deep tank go with T5HO, 2X54 should be plenty, you can even retro fit your lights with your existing enclosure.
Oh and yull need dry ferts, Macros shouldn't cost more than ten bucks, I dunno how much Tdurden bought with 75 dollars LOL he should never have to buy ferts for the rest of his life for paying that much :)

Hope this'll help ya!

the above tank is a 36" x 18" plant with water in it.
it is aerated HEAVILY!
ferts are a necessity since my water is soft... but not much. i will say that dosing just trace would be a killer on this tank. it has a high stocking level but still needs kh2po4, k2so4 and plantex (just under a 1/4tsp collectively) once or twice a week. it also gets barr's gh booster in the w/c water 80% of the time.
i have terrestrial plants growing out the top also.
lighting is with cfl's although my taller tank (also without co2) is using t5ho.
if you are buying a fish tank fixture it will not be cheap no matter what kind of bulbs you put in it. t5ho can be found for very comparable prices to any other lighting. www.fishneedit.com and the nova extreme t5ho fixtures are prime examples of lower priced t5ho... competitive to most other lighting except diy cfl's.
the filter on that tank barely moves water... aeration does a better job in this tank... it also supplies enough co2 (since it's abundant in the atmosphere) to keep the tank a green wall of water... lots of plants growing.
right now it's growing rotala rotundifolia, rotala nanjensen, hemianthus micranthemoides, riccia (floating so far [it's new and experimental as of yet]), java moss, java ferns, red tiger lotus, riccardia chamedryfolia, ambulia, lucky bamboo, pothos and monoslenium tenerum. hopefully that's everything, lol.
the pic above was after tossing about 1/3 of the plant mass in it...

EDIT: i might get flamed for this but... nutrient rich substrates are not a necessity either... nutrients at the base of rooted plants might be but there's always root tabs. if you can't afford it don't through your money away making your tank harder to keep up with. enjoy it either way... and do it how you'd enjoy it. if your goal is to relax looking at it, go that route (low light, no co2). if your goal is to relax with your hands in it trimming every week and you can justify the prices of going completely high tech... by all means do it. with low tech you don't have to change your filter also... just an fyi.
 

pam916

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Oct 19, 2008
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I just heard about the SICCE CO2 Life system on my local fish forum. Does anyone have any experience with it or heard anything about it? A member on my local forum has been trying it on some of his tanks in his lfs with positive results. It would not be cheaper than pressurized CO2 in the long run but it would be a lot simpler to use if it is effective.
 

Alicia

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Nov 15, 2003
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the above tank is a 36" x 18" plant with water in it.
it is aerated HEAVILY!
ferts are a necessity since my water is soft... but not much. i will say that dosing just trace would be a killer on this tank. it has a high stocking level but still needs kh2po4, k2so4 and plantex (just under a 1/4tsp collectively) once or twice a week. it also gets barr's gh booster in the w/c water 80% of the time.
i have terrestrial plants growing out the top also.
lighting is with cfl's although my taller tank (also without co2) is using t5ho.
if you are buying a fish tank fixture it will not be cheap no matter what kind of bulbs you put in it. t5ho can be found for very comparable prices to any other lighting. www.fishneedit.com and the nova extreme t5ho fixtures are prime examples of lower priced t5ho... competitive to most other lighting except diy cfl's.
the filter on that tank barely moves water... aeration does a better job in this tank... it also supplies enough co2 (since it's abundant in the atmosphere) to keep the tank a green wall of water... lots of plants growing.
right now it's growing rotala rotundifolia, rotala nanjensen, hemianthus micranthemoides, riccia (floating so far [it's new and experimental as of yet]), java moss, java ferns, red tiger lotus, riccardia chamedryfolia, ambulia, lucky bamboo, pothos and monoslenium tenerum. hopefully that's everything, lol.
the pic above was after tossing about 1/3 of the plant mass in it...

EDIT: i might get flamed for this but... nutrient rich substrates are not a necessity either... nutrients at the base of rooted plants might be but there's always root tabs. if you can't afford it don't through your money away making your tank harder to keep up with. enjoy it either way... and do it how you'd enjoy it. if your goal is to relax looking at it, go that route (low light, no co2). if your goal is to relax with your hands in it trimming every week and you can justify the prices of going completely high tech... by all means do it. with low tech you don't have to change your filter also... just an fyi.
I really need to change the rocks in my tank because Ican't get them clean because they are too big, but other then that, I do like my tank the way it is and I can't really afford to change everything. The onlything I was going to chang right away was the gravel and I was going to get flourite. But apparently I don't even need to get that now. Maybe I will just get all of thost ferts that you suggested and try those first. Are they fish safe? I would rather spend my money on lighting and fish.

Also, what is kh2po4, and k2so4? Wanna make sure I get the right stuff. I am getting it this morning.
 
Last edited:

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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www.aquariumfertilizer.com

if your water is really soft pick up barr's gh booster... other gh boosters have good reviews also... seachem equilibrium, grumpy's gh booster, etc..
your common list would be...
kh2po4 - potassium phosphate
kno3 - potassium nitrate
k2so4 - potassium sulfate
plantex csm+b - micros (contains some iron too)

possibly for extra iron... fe - chelated iron

if you don't know what to get you might consider picking them up from mgamer20o0... www.bobstropicalplants.com... you can pm him right on this forum or contact him through his site. he'll make sure you get the right stuff for your particular tank parameters.

you might also want to think about picking up some epsom salts and indian/mexican red clay to make root tabs via riiz's recipe in the sticky here. they are phenomenal, economical and once they're made it takes forever to use them all. much better than paying for a 10 pack over and over again.

the price of the ferts plus a little for shipping might be astonishing once you put it in your cart... maybe close to $50 for everything... but when compared to liquid ferts it's a drop in the bucket since they'll seem to last forever. basically, one shot and done for the year... or more.

yes, they are fish safe... much safer than co2... invert safe also.
 

Alicia

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Well, I don't need the gh booster because I have hard water... but I should probably get everything else.
I think that I am going to see if I can get the stuff locally first. If I can't then I will make sure to order it from him :) Thank you :)
 

dundadundun

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Jan 21, 2009
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you will not find this stuff in a lfs or aquarium shop.

these would be your local substitutes...
For Nitrate (N) - use "Spectracide Stump Remover" (KNO3) - 100% Potassium Nitrate
For Phosphate (P) - use "Fleet Enema" (replaces KH2PO4) - 65% Monobasic Sodium Phosphate & 35% Dibasic Sodium Phosphate
For Potassium (K) - use "Nu-Salt" (replaces K2SO4) - 100% Potassium Chloride

micros would still be a necessity. also it'd probably just be easier to order your first batch and keep an eye out for everything at first. it might cost you more in gas to find them than shipping would cost.
 
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