10g hood lighting and plants Q's

[fishycat]

DIY co2 is almost done. Just need to buy or make a good diffuser. (im up for recemmendations)

So hows this looking? I do have a couple things i wanna go over...

1. How long do i keep the lights on? And when i do have the co2 running, will this make any difference in length of time that they need to be on?

2. Ferts? What should i do now and what should i do when the co2 is inside?

3. I do have 3 glo-light tetras and 2 corys in there. WIll this be a problem now or even when the co2 is running? Do they need a new home? Will they be ok with the ferts?

And anything that i need to look for. What i should be checking or doing... anything

Bamboo chopstick diffuser, FTW! I break off the tip of one with pliers and insert into the airline tubing tapered end first. Did you include a gas separator bottle in your diy setup? Check out the newbie diy c02 thread for info.

1) I recommend a timer for your lights. Four hours on in the morning, then four hours on in the late afternoon/evening.

2) You can dose Flourish Comprehensive liquid ferts after every water change... I do my water changes once a week.

3) Your fish should be fine, however if they are gasping at the surface, you need to increase aeration ASAP. Not sure if this is really possible when you're just running diy co2.

 

[geewiz916]

No i havent included a gas seperator. Thats an awsome idea to prevent anything from coming into my tank accidently. I will do that before i make my first attempt. And ive never seen the bamboo stick method. Ill def give it a try. Thanks for saving me from buying a 10dollar diffuser lol.

I do have a timer in them right now. Ill decrease the lighing time. I made a guess of 5-6 hrs, and i set it at 5:30 each time.

As for everything else i will take this all into consideration. Thanks alot... will be back soon....

 

[geewiz916]

This was the plant i couldn't id that was in the back corner of my tank

 

[geewiz916]

Here is the tank so far. Ive added everything in the last couple of days. co2 will be done tomorrow. THe silicon is drying atm...

srry for the horrible pics. The phone is all i have lol

 

[geewiz916]

i made the diy co2 last night and after a couple of hours i did see some bubbles come out, but this morning nothing is happening. Ill recheck on it tonight when im off work.

I used the mixture of 2 liter bottle, 1/2tsp yeast, 2cups sugar, warmwater. Ill post pics of the diy co2 soon..

any suggestions on the mixture?

 

[fishycat]

How are you combining it? I'd go barely warm tap water + sugar + 1 tsp baking soda in your 2L bottle. Cover & shake like crazy to dissolve the sugar. Then add 1/4 tsp yeast. If the water feels pretty warm to your finger, it could be too warm for the yeast. You want just barely warm (100-110 degrees max).

 

[geewiz916]

2 cups of sugar and warm water. I mixed the two and shook the mixture well. Then i added the yeast and gave it another shake.

I will make another mixture in the morning if this doesnt work. And ill used some baking soda this time. I did use just luke warm water too. Ill make it a little "colder" next time just incase