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The 1/4" line in that center picture is my venturi loop, venting co2 out of the reactor and back upstream to go back into the fractioning impeller.

Well, I finally did some real actual work on this thing. We've got a club auction coming up on March 7th, so I'm trying desperately to have it cycled by then. When I was growing up, I was the youngest of 3 boys, and we ALL played with Legos. By the time I came along, we had multiple big...

Two things: First, that reviewer is wrong...well, mostly wrong. The baked clay substrates are practically permanent. Meaning, they last 20 years or more in an aquarium. I've got some Flourite down in my basement that I've had for 3 years, and I bought it used from a guy that'd had for 6 years...

I don't see a comparison, except for this statement: Eco-Complete, Flourite, SMS, and Turface are all baked-clay substrates with high Cation Exchange Coefficients (CECs). A high CEC reflects the substrate's ability to absorb nutrients, thus "replenish" itself. These also do not break down. I...

I wasn't sure of the best way to say that, but I agree with that 100%. I paid $9 for a 50 lbs bag of Soilmaster Select, which 50 lbs was enough to do a 45g with 3" of substrate, a 46" bowfront with 3" of substrate, and have a little left over. SMS isn't as widely distributed as it used to be...

Well, this is the plumbing I've finally landed on. It gives me two circulation loops, a co2 reactor with venturi loop and fractioning impeller. I plan on making the spray bar not really a spray bar, but just a dispersion bar....letting the filter water just kind of seep out. The 700 gph pump is...

Aquariumplants.com's substrate is just Soilmaster Select. It's lighter than Flourite and I found it to be too light to be used by itself. I mixed it with original Flourite 50/50 and it worked great. Mixing it with the Eco will probably accomplish the same thing and be fine, as long as it's at...

I got to thinking about the energy cost of a tank like this. This is my estimated cost: I forgot to note my summer rate above, @ $.0787/kwh.

Yes, MD is Mag Drive. The entire thing is made out of 1" PVC, so there should be plenty of water supply. However, that's a good comment and something I will definitely have to monitor. If that's the case, a Mag 500 would definitely even it out.

Yeah, good idea. That'll probably help.

Ok, here we go. Here's my first pass at a plumbing design.....ok, not my first pass, but my first "final draft". Image first" To fill in some holes: T M means Top Macros, B m means Bottom Micros, T R is Top Refill, B CO2 is, well, you get the idea Spray bar is substrate level, and points...

So, redesigned, it'll be like this:

I was thinking that between gravity and siphon effects, it would at least get decent flow from B. However, my wife(the actual chemical engineer....I'm just a lowly chemist) came up with a better solution to help equalize flow. I'll be moving strainer A to the left(in the diagram). The hole...

That sounds pretty decent to me. I'm trying to improve total flow in the tank(it's 120g), so even getting, say, 30% out of B would be beneficial and worth it to me. I suppose when it comes down to it, the question really is, will any come out of B? Because, my alternatives are either just A, or...

Sanity check. Look at my drawing. Will I get flow through both strainers? The part of me that has engineering experience can't reconcile the part of me that's like everybody else. On the one hand, path of less resistance and all that, it seems like I'd get more flow through Strainer A. But...

That depends on the plants. Some plants will melt if directly exposed to a strong excel solution. Stems and vals specifically. A strong excel solution is the quickest way. However, simply doubling up on your excel dose will take care of it in time. The only other suggestion is just to pull off...

Not much else to say. Frogbit, enough to cover 1/2-3/4 of a 10g Narrow Leaf Java Fern, you won't be disappointed 1 Green lily that I've never cared to figure out what it is. $10/shipped Paypal

when I've treated bba with excel, I made a 3:1 dilution of excel in a spray bottle, and then sprayed it directly on the bba and let it sit for 5 minutes. Kills it. Turns white in about 30 minutes.

If there's a rule book for planted tanks, I'd love to get a copy.

I still insist that algae free, high light tanks, with no added carbon (co2 or excel) are the exception. I welcome anybody to try it, cause if it works w/o co2, great, but 99% of the time if you run a high light tank with no co2, you'll have algae issues. I'm not contesting y'alls success, but...