Newbie question thread.

[Fome]

Hi, I just started a medium planted 10g, it's doing alright. I have some brazil micro sword which I hope will fill in to make a nice carpet, 2 large hornworts (grows like crazy) some bacopa, and what looks to be a water sprite. I just have a gravel substrate (no fertilizer), a goldfish (cycling purposes), a few small snails, a 2L DIY co2 system attached to an airstone, 25 watts of fluorescant lighting and adequate heating and filtration.

not the best picture, but to give you an idea:

I'll readily admit that I don't really know what I'm doing, try to relate when you were first starting out, but I've read as much as I could to get a grasp but it seems as soon as I get a hold of a concrete piece of information, somebody else says differently. Although I'm slowly getting it, it's still rather frustrating, this hobby certainly isn't simple.

Few questions:

Do I need to use water conditioner in a planted tank? Correct me if I'm wrong but conditioners take out ammonia but plants like ammonia?

I want to make a well planted tank sometime soon, would this substrate be good? 1st layer sand. 2nd layer consists of sand, peat, plant mulm, garden loam, and a bit of laterite. 3rd layer is a fine gravel.

Where do I buy glosso? none of my LFS have any carpet plants except brazillian micro sword.

What liquid fertilizers do I need to add?

for a DIY CO2 system, I just use an airstone at the bottom of my tank but I've read this is horribly inefficient. Any ideas?

I'll probably come up with some more questions later, I get confused often. Straight answers are preferred but I realize sometimes they're impossible to give, so please make it simple for my poor brain to understand! Thanks in advance.

 

[MillsK]

for a do it ur self CO2 system, an air stone is a bit of a waste.

What you can do is fine a clear cup or container, attach it to the back of your aquarium on the glass, aquarium silicon works good for this. Attach it in a wat that the opening is facing down.

Take a 2 liter soda bottle. Make a sugar water mixture, I make my own beer so I use this for the CO2 Production. But you can try a cup of sugar mixed with a quart of water. Mix it while the water is warm, so the sugar mixes in well. Then cool.
Once the mixture is at room temp, add yeast. Any yeast will do. You'll have to make ur own set up so that the soda bottle cap is attached to a small air line. This air line should go from the soda bottle to the cup or container you have in ur tank. The CO2 released from the soda bottle should should be allowed to collect in the container. Once the container is full of CO2 either let it bubble over or remove the line and clean out the soda bottle.
The C02 in ur container will slowly mix with ur tank water and ur CO2 % will go up.
If you have Hardwater this could lead to some pretty good PH swings..use care.
It'll take the yeast mixture alittle while to get going, sometimes 24 hours, but should be around 8 hours.

 

[Fome]

ok cool, thanks. Oh, do you know much a CO2 diffuser is?

anyone know about the substrate? if that would work?

 

[Blinky]

Hi there

Hi, I just started a medium planted 10g, it's doing alright. I have some brazil micro sword which I hope will fill in to make a nice carpet, 2 large hornworts (grows like crazy) some bacopa, and what looks to be a water sprite. I just have a gravel substrate (no fertilizer), a goldfish (cycling purposes), a few small snails, a 2L DIY co2 system attached to an airstone, 25 watts of fluorescant lighting and adequate heating and filtration.
Sounds good so far
I'll readily admit that I don't really know what I'm doing, try to relate when you were first starting out, but I've read as much as I could to get a grasp but it seems as soon as I get a hold of a concrete piece of information, somebody else says differently. Although I'm slowly getting it, it's still rather frustrating, this hobby certainly isn't simple.
The understatement of the year I'm still new at this too, but I'll take a stab at some of your questions.
Few questions:

Do I need to use water conditioner in a planted tank? Correct me if I'm wrong but conditioners take out ammonia but plants like ammonia?
They're designed to remove chlorine. Yes, you still want to use conditioners when you're doing a water change. Some conditioners 'lock' ammonia into a form that's harmless to fish but is still useable by biological filter bacteria.
I want to make a well planted tank sometime soon, would this substrate be good? 1st layer sand. 2nd layer consists of sand, peat, plant mulm, garden loam, and a bit of laterite. 3rd layer is a fine gravel.
Sounds okay to me, if a bit involved
Where do I buy glosso? none of my LFS have any carpet plants except brazillian micro sword.
You can get it online - hopefully someone who's done so can post a link. I've read that it doesn't travel well and may show up at your door looking almost dead, but it recovers quickly.
What liquid fertilizers do I need to add?
That's a tough question to answer simply - I mix my own now, but I'm still learning how to do it properly. If you've just got a few plants they may get much of the N&P they need from the fish waste and food, so you'll mostly need to worry about traces - you can get mixes at the LFS. Try checking out the sticky on fertilization and then asking specific questions - there are some frighteningly knowledgeable people here who can help you out
for a DIY CO2 system, I just use an airstone at the bottom of my tank but I've read this is horribly inefficient. Any ideas?
It's not the best. I do this in my 10g, because I couldn't take the noise of the CO2 going into my HOB filter (the tank is in the bedroom). If you don't mind a little noise, feeding the tub into the filter intake is a more efficient way to diffuse it. The CO2 bell idea will work too (I just don't like the extra stuff in my tank).
I'll probably come up with some more questions later, I get confused often. Straight answers are preferred but I realize sometimes they're impossible to give, so please make it simple for my poor brain to understand! Thanks in advance.

 

[artemis]

for a DIY CO2 system, I just use an airstone at the bottom of my tank but I've read this is horribly inefficient. Any ideas?

Hagan/Nutrifin makes a very nice diffusion ladder which you could use with your DIY C02 system. You can get it online for about $10.

I'd also suggest using a 1-gallon glass or heavy plastic carboy and appropriate perforated stopper (which you can get at a home-brewing/home winemaking store) rather than a soda bottle. It's sturdier, and if the fermentation process ever gets out of hand or your tubing become blocked, the rising gas pressure will simply cause the stopper to pop out of the bottle (rather than the bottle exploding, which can happen with a thin-walled soda bottle). The hole in the stopper will be a bit bigger than the airline tubing, but I found that the airline tubing fits VERY snugly inside a short length of 1/4" OD tubing, which in turn fits in the stopper hole perfectly. I've got two of these running on my own 55-gallon tank, and they produce a nice steady flow of CO2 with no significant leakage.