planted tank from 10g to 40g -- questions on bigger tank (and pics!)

[biggie357]

i just spent the better part of 5 hours swapping all my plants and filter from my 10g into my 40g. the 10g was so overgrown i dont know how the fish had room to swim.

Now im going from 26watts over 10g to 72watts over 40g. i had DIY c02 before. ive always dosed excel but thinking of skipping that now with 3x the dosage.

my questions are:

1. Can i still run diy C02 on a 40g? will i need to use the 2 bottle method? Will stopping the c02 for a week or so cause some sort of CRAZY algae bloom? i removed all of my staghorn and clado (both of which were just starting) before i transferred the plants.
2. Is my lighting still sufficient or will losing the 0.5ish WPG be bad for my plants?
3. Anything particularly different about having a larger planted tank vs a tiny one?

Heres some pics of the transformation once again its hard to believe ALL of these plants (did not remove any except 5-10 algae ridden leaves) were once in my 10g

EDIT: the FROM pictures are not from today, just showing what they were like.


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[timwag2001]

from and to are both beautiful tanks. good job!
i run 5 diy 2 liter bottles on my 55. 2 might not be enough.
i think that 1.8 wpg shouldn't be too bad. i dont see anything that requires more light than what you have. you might lose a little bit of red on your cabomba.

 

[NeonFlux]

i just spent the better part of 5 hours swapping all my plants and filter from my 10g into my 40g. the 10g was so overgrown i dont know how the fish had room to swim.

Now im going from 26watts over 10g to 72watts over 40g. i had DIY c02 before. ive always dosed excel but thinking of skipping that now with 3x the dosage.

my questions are:

1. Can i still run diy C02 on a 40g? will i need to use the 2 bottle method? Will stopping the c02 for a week or so cause some sort of CRAZY algae bloom? i removed all of my staghorn and clado (both of which were just starting) before i transferred the plants.

Yes, you can still run DIY co2 as long as it can maintain itself. One week will probably get you some algae, but not a invasion.
2. Is my lighting still sufficient or will losing the 0.5ish WPG be bad for my plants?
It's okay. You could try a longer photo period.
3. Anything particularly different about having a larger planted tank vs a tiny one?
Of course, you get more room. You can keep many different types and kinds of aquatic plants.
Heres some pics of the transformation once again its hard to believe ALL of these plants (did not remove any except 5-10 algae ridden leaves) were once in my 10g

EDIT: the FROM pictures are not from today, just showing what they were like.


FROM:



TO:

Good luck.

 

[DSR]

Tim, what are you using to monitor your co2 levels? Just curious. I have a 29 gallon with one DIY co2 and my levels are inline. I would be afraid of using 5 even on a 40 gallon. But if the levels are inline then obviously it works, was just curious. Maybe i am not setting my drop checker up correctly or something.

 

[Dopehand]

Running DIY CO2's works just fine on lower tanks. I only run a couple of them on my 55, so it doesn't make too much of a difference, but I have PH sensitive fish in there, so not much of a choice really.

When I switched over to my 20 from my 55 (which I've also since replanted ) I just let the plants grow really long so that they would be suitably close to the lights in such a deep tank with lower wattage.

P.S., Your tanks are hawt

 

[KarlTh]

Dopehand - what fish have you got? They're generally nothing like as pH sensitive as people think.

 

[timwag2001]

Tim, what are you using to monitor your co2 levels? Just curious. I have a 29 gallon with one DIY co2 and my levels are inline. I would be afraid of using 5 even on a 40 gallon. But if the levels are inline then obviously it works, was just curious. Maybe i am not setting my drop checker up correctly or something.

i use the kh ph reference chart. i have a prety low kh. i change out 2 bottles every week to make sure that my co2 stays as constant as possible. i would think that 2 bottles would be good for a 29. what kind of solution are you using? is it 4 dkh? i dont have a drop checker yet but i think i've read its the only one thats accurate.