20g, Rena xp3 & co2?

[fishorama]

Oh, yes! 4+ years matured Eco...might need a major vacuuming, 5 junior L144 BN plecos (+ their crap) & 2 or 3 rosy loaches to rehome. & I do have homes/tanks for them. & some rooted plants I'd rather not move, melt-prone crypts, marislea (finally! happy?)...& other treasures? IDK, I'll see what's there, soon-...ish...but no "soil" issues sounds great...co2 is scary enough for now!

OK, is it too cruel to keep 1 BN as a co2 indicator? I'm feeling torn...it's life may be at stake during my learning curve...but it could also be in algae heaven & grow well...moral dilemma? Opinions?

dougall, I'd really like to know your Osmocote issues before I ask my club friend for some in "trade" for the loaches. He's welcome to them for free, awesome tank & best care, that's my main objective but still...why not?

 

[myswtsins]

I would 100% remove all the critters, at least at first. You've never used this setup before so even putting aside the fact that this is your first time using CO2 the setup itself could be faulty and even if you do everything exactly right it could go all wrong. A drop checker is a much better CO2 indicator than a BN. For the first couple weeks you will probably be adjusting the CO2 as well, better to not have any lives on the line so you are comfortable.

 

[dougall]

the problem with osmocote is that it is very nitrogen heavy, and wants to float... not to mention that it is normally put in the gelatin OO capsules which will try to float before they dissolve too.

The excess nitrogen will cause heavy ammonia/nitrate spikes if not careful enough and they get into the water column, and the little spheres will take a lot to dissolve fully leaving them littered over your substrate and potentially harming your fish first. The general consensus is that they are OK short term if used sparingly, long term they are an accident waiting to happen, especially if you want to plant more, or move stuff around.

the capsules can cause problems with protein buildup.

as for a CO2 checker, sleep easy and invest in a drop checker, they are generally quicker to react than a fish is.

 

[dougall]

for better root tabs, you can mix dry ferts and red clay (dry from a pottery supply place or moist from michaels or somewhere) and maybe a bit of water. shape to discs or little balls and allow to dry.

voila, little DIY root tabs, without the urea basis, and with a healthy bit of iron for your plants.. and no floating.

I can try to find my favorite recipe, but google around it isn't uncommon.

 

[myswtsins]

the problem with osmocote is that it is very nitrogen heavy, and wants to float... not to mention that it is normally put in the gelatin OO capsules which will try to float before they dissolve too.

The excess nitrogen will cause heavy ammonia/nitrate spikes if not careful enough and they get into the water column, and the little spheres will take a lot to dissolve fully leaving them littered over your substrate and potentially harming your fish first. The general consensus is that they are OK short term if used sparingly, long term they are an accident waiting to happen, especially if you want to plant more, or move stuff around.

the capsules can cause problems with protein buildup.

as for a CO2 checker, sleep easy and invest in a drop checker, they are generally quicker to react than a fish is.

for better root tabs, you can mix dry ferts and red clay (dry from a pottery supply place or moist from michaels or somewhere) and maybe a bit of water. shape to discs or little balls and allow to dry.

voila, little DIY root tabs, without the urea basis, and with a healthy bit of iron for your plants.. and no floating.

I can try to find my favorite recipe, but google around it isn't uncommon.

Interesting! I've used DIY osmocote tabs for years now. The tabs do try to float but not hard to handle that. I make sure I do not move plants or plant new plants within 4-6 months of my most recent tab addition to ensure no active pellets get disturbed. The shells do last forever though, I just suck em up when I vacuum. I get a protein skim on all my tanks regardless of feeding, substrate, stock or root tabs used so I can't say yay or nay on that one.

I'm certainly interested is trying out your clay based tabs though, I do like the idea better. I need to order some more red clay anyways. How long would you say they last (active)? Have you used them long enough that you've changed out substrate? If so what kind of leftovers were there? I like the ocmocote tabs cause only the shells are left behind and when I rinse the substrate the shells go out with the dirty water very easily allowing my to reuse the substrate over and over. I would imagine the clay would build up after awhile. But considering I have about 400 DIY osmocote tabs still on hand though, I need to use them first. Although I could just use them in my pond's lily pots instead.

Sorry for the tiny thread takeover.

 

[dougall]

Start another thread.

I was gonna do more Osmocote tabs, but after reading up on them a little, I decided agasinst it. I've uised them in the past when starting a new tank below the substrate without issues, but always hated the shells when they appeared and really don't want to take any risks with fish.

I think the length of time is comparable, personally I'd be adding more after 3-6 months, depending on stocking. I have never used the clay based at this point, had some time out of the hobby for various reasons, and not really been bothered for now.. But as they are claym, and not kiln dried or anything, I would think they would settle out at th ebottom, whatever didn't dissolve into the water anyways.

 

[fishorama]

Several years ago I bought clay to roll my root tabs. But like many things, I didn't get around to it. Clay is likely a brick by now, lol. I'm sure root feeders would love them, not so sure stems or ground covers would...at least until cuttings had enough roots. Then in a short 20g, it'd be time to trim again.

I hadn't heard of fish death by Osmocote before or protein build up from gel caps, interesting! I've also read of doing osmocote instead or dry ferts in clay.

 

[dougall]

Osmocote is cheaper and less work. But that's really the only benefit.

You may have no issues at all... but then again you might.

The fish death would be due to increased ammonia/nitrite/nitrate.

If you have clay, you can break some off and add a bit of water, it should still be good

 

[FreshyFresh]

[QUOTE="fishorama, post: 2942809, member: 48815] I'll probably use the T-5 NOs I have. Maybe T-5 HOs but they're only 24 inch. I didn't like them before in my no tech, 20g are so shallow. I should get new bulbs but no rush. [/QUOTE]

I believe ~24" tube length would be the max for a fixture that would fit a ~30" 20L tank anyway. The next size up for T5 would be ~36" (actually 34"). The fixture would hang over the sides if that's an issue for ya. Sounds like a great project though.

 

[fishorama]

I was reading (different forum) about how clay can be quite messy when plants with large roots are moved. It sounds easy to vacuum if a water change is done very soon after. & maybe that poster is more meticulous than I am. My Eco has lots of "stuff" in it after a few years so I might not notice clay dust, lol.