CO2 in a 55 gallon

[Faramir]

OK - the story so far.

We've moved house recently and are rationalising our fishkeeping. Mrs Faramir has pointed out that we don't really look at an aquarium much unless its in the lounge, and the dining room is a bit small (there is also a little Faramir on the way ) and so the Dining Room Aquarum Must Go.

I've managed to work a compromise issue. The 55 gal in the Dining Room moves to the lounge, and we flog the 35 gal that's currently in there (with all parts and cabinet) on Ebay. (I know these tanks seem small to you US guys, but houses over here don't seem to be as big as yours). The 55 is currently Mbuna, and a local shop is willing to buy (Yes! Buy! Total Kudos to Wharfe Aquatics!) the Mbuna off me.

All this is totally irrelevant, of course, except as an intro to the real question, which is - how do I get enough CO2 in a 55? Is DIY just going to be a complete pain in the arse? How much can I get a pressurised kit for (sensibly, in the UK, where most aquarists consider plants to be made of plastic, or alternatively "those green things wot die after a couple of months*")?

*Mostly because, in complete defiance of the Trade Descriptions Act, and because most LFSs can't tell a spider plant from a Vallis, many of the "aquarium plants" on sale would last rather longer in the flower bed. Or is this deplorable state of affairs because most of us think plants don't live long anyway? Who knows? But I digress.

 

[djlen]

You can keep a fair amount of CO2 in a 55 with 2 2liter bottles, provided you use a filter that will not disturb the surface of the water, and a decent reactor.
If you use an external cannister you can inject through that, keeping the spray bar(s) low within the tank itself.
Link up your 2 bottles and change one after a week to ten days. Then alternate changing bottles every week or so and, with good yeast, you should have a nice even flow of CO2.
I ran approx. 20-25ppm with 2 bottles for quite some time before going over to pressurized.

Len

 

[anonapersona]

Nitrates in water?

I ask about the nitrates becasue so many European water systems have both nitrates and phosphates in the water. Tthe frequent water changes that a CO2 enriched tank requires become problematic in this case.

You might have better success with a soil based tank. In this case the soil itself is the source of CO2. Water changes are limited to whenever the nitrates run out. Finding the right soil is important, and I cannot help much there.

Search for Diana Walstad and the Ecology of the Planted Tank which is the best source of that info. There is also a section at Aquabotanic devoted to the Natural Aquarium.

 

[Faramir]

Our water here is very low in nitrate and phosphate. Straight off of the Derbyshire moors.