Great Looking CO2 System(Inexpensive)

Hey SkittyFish. I'm glad you are getting your system together. You are going to be amazed at the growth you are going to see. You will not believe me, but my swords have grown 5 inches since last Thursday. I posted my tank pics before I got the pressurized system - the tank looks different now. :) The second sword from the left in the pictures is now at the top of the tank.
 
Unfortunately, for a teenager like me whos parents have no income and I cant get a job, a Pressurized CO2 system is a bit out of my league... :(
 
Antammike- I put my nickels dimes and quarters into a jar for almost a year before I had enough to buy it. O.k., so I don't get to buy me something new for our vacation this year, but hey, so what. I can wear plant leaves a'la Adam and Eve. (think anyone will notice:confused: )
 
Hey AntMan! Hope things are going okay with your lights.
You can do the DIY thing. It does work. I used it for a while. And I did see tremendous growth with DIY. The nice thing about the pressurized is that is gives more consistency to the dosage. But it is by no means a mandatory thing. Besides, no one sees the bottle anyway, all they see is your PLANTS! I'd spend money on plants and get your tank looking nice first. That is what I did. Check out my pics in this forum.

I'd bet 1/2 of the people here use DIY co2. (according to the recent poll)
 
I am not going to set my tank up until i have everything ready. What I need right now is Laterite (I cant use online purchasing since i am a minor, and stores around here dont have it in stock ever), more gravel, plants, a better CO2 system (i have had bad luck with DIY in the past.... shot out everywhere ), Aquarium Sealant (I can get, but i dont have a dime to my name.), and the lighting system. I am trudging between getting an AH Supply Ballast (and saving up for a year), or setting up these ballasts (though with the hood system i have planned i dunno how im gonna fit two tubes in each one.)
 
Hey, does anyone know how big a 20lb tank is?? I was casually talking to the owner of my LFS and he told me that he had a 20lb tank with no regulator that he would let me have for next to nothing.... No, I didn't ask what next to nothing actually was since I just spent all I had on lights, but now I'm wishing I had...If it's too big, I figure I might be able to trade it in at the welding store for a smaller tank, but exactly how big is a 20lb tank???
 
Wooz, I'm estimating that a 20# tube is about 4ft. high. Somewhere in that area. Get it if you can. It doesn't cost that much more to fill, and will last longer. Then all you need is the regulator and needle valve and you're set.
Antman, I don't know what your lighting situation is, but CO2 is more important than lighting, IMO. I've had more problems after getting the lighting with inadequate ferts and CO2 than I would have had if I'd gotten the CO2 first. If you have 1-2 watts per gallon you'll see an immediate improvement in your plants by adding CO2. If you up the wattage and don't take care of the ferts and CO2 you could end up with a tank full of algae.
I've been there.
Len
 
Thanks, I'm going to try to go by there asap and buy that tank if I can. That's about the size I was thinking, we used to use the same size tank to run a beer keg, which was used VERY regularly and the tank lasted for nearly a year, so that would last seemingly forever on a 29g tank, LOL....
 
Technically i have around... 2/3 Watts per Gallon. That is why I consider lighting more important. If you add extra CO2 but not Light, plants wont grow, especially in such low light conditions as me.
 
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