Galen's 20 Long tank
- Thread starter galen
- Start date
well, this update is a long time coming. i tested the ph and kh today, and using the chart on http://www.gpodio.com/diy_co2.asp, i found that dosing excel every 2 days or so has been totally ineffective. kh was 3, but ph was 7.6, yielding 2.2ppm. that's pitiful i thought, so i plan on going diy very soon.
delivery system is still up in the air though, but that is not a major issue. its more or less a tossup between ceramic air stones in the filter or buying a powerhead and putting the stone beneath it.
anyway, i read that if i dose co2, it could be dangerous due to the low kh readings, which may cause mass ph swings when using diy co2, if i recall right. so, to raise the kh i plan on buying some limestone slabs to cause the kh to rise. after that, i would like to put peat in bags in the filters to soften the water and hence hopefully offset the rise of ph in the tank due to limestone. if u follow me so far, then i will put the co2 system in, with like ceramic air stones inside the filter boxes. after all is set and done, the diy system would be online with the kh higher than 3 but the ph lower than 7.6 causing what i think to be more stability. i gathered all that from reading the site i put a link to, among a few others who did not lay themselves out so plainly as the first.
well, is that a good plan? its ideas that i came up with from what i have read, but am not totally sure of the limestone and peat since i have not heard of anyone doing something like it before online. any thoughts would be appreciated
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delivery system is still up in the air though, but that is not a major issue. its more or less a tossup between ceramic air stones in the filter or buying a powerhead and putting the stone beneath it.
anyway, i read that if i dose co2, it could be dangerous due to the low kh readings, which may cause mass ph swings when using diy co2, if i recall right. so, to raise the kh i plan on buying some limestone slabs to cause the kh to rise. after that, i would like to put peat in bags in the filters to soften the water and hence hopefully offset the rise of ph in the tank due to limestone. if u follow me so far, then i will put the co2 system in, with like ceramic air stones inside the filter boxes. after all is set and done, the diy system would be online with the kh higher than 3 but the ph lower than 7.6 causing what i think to be more stability. i gathered all that from reading the site i put a link to, among a few others who did not lay themselves out so plainly as the first.
well, is that a good plan? its ideas that i came up with from what i have read, but am not totally sure of the limestone and peat since i have not heard of anyone doing something like it before online. any thoughts would be appreciated
...I love the color of your gravel. Looking good now!
thank you
! i have some tweaking to do and hopefully soon i can post new pics of the total layout.
Excel is a source of organic carbon, but it's not CO2, so it has no effect on pH, so it won't show up comparing pH and KH.
On the topic of CO2 generated pH swings, both Rex Grigg and Tom Barr have made pretty clear arguments that pH swings caused by CO2 don't affect fish in any way. If you are worried about it you can always add some regular Baking Soda to increase the KH/pH, but personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
I just added a Hagen CO2 ladder today for my DIY CO2 on my 10 gallon, so I'll let you know what my CO2 calculations are as soon as it has had some time to work into the water.
On the topic of CO2 generated pH swings, both Rex Grigg and Tom Barr have made pretty clear arguments that pH swings caused by CO2 don't affect fish in any way. If you are worried about it you can always add some regular Baking Soda to increase the KH/pH, but personally, I wouldn't worry about it.
I just added a Hagen CO2 ladder today for my DIY CO2 on my 10 gallon, so I'll let you know what my CO2 calculations are as soon as it has had some time to work into the water.
well, i come home from work today and am pretty happy. weekend free, chance to catch up on some stuff and then i come to my room and look at the fish tank. dunno what happened, but the air pump decided to bite the dust and one hydor filter will not run anymore. impeller is fine but its the motor. weird- thats what i get for buying used equipment i guess. so back to the drawing boards on filtration- ONCE AGAIN. this subject is really starting to **** me off (pardon my french). this is the fourth filter in 8 months that has died on me- one whisper, one old cascade, 1 sand shark, and now 1 hydor filter. i dunno at times, seems like i cant win.:wall:
well, i went to the local pet supplies plus and saw they had a 20% sale running for ALL items in their store! i was thrilled and plan on going back soon to pillage the fish aisle!!! anyway, i bought a millennium 2000 filter for my tank. its great and works very, very well.
i put together a diy co2 system with an empty wegmans apple juice bottle, some airline tubing, and a kordon coarse bubble air stone. its nice but is sitting idle now as i am holding off putting it together until i build a new stand for the aquarium. i hope to build the stand this weekend. galen-built, so itll be riddled with issues, but using this blueprint given on this website, maybe itll turn out fine:
http://www.fishandtips.com/index.php
ill post pics of me building the stand!
below are pics of the tank setup now and the co2 system!
thanks!
i put together a diy co2 system with an empty wegmans apple juice bottle, some airline tubing, and a kordon coarse bubble air stone. its nice but is sitting idle now as i am holding off putting it together until i build a new stand for the aquarium. i hope to build the stand this weekend. galen-built, so itll be riddled with issues, but using this blueprint given on this website, maybe itll turn out fine:
http://www.fishandtips.com/index.php
ill post pics of me building the stand!
below are pics of the tank setup now and the co2 system!
thanks!
