So I trimmed alot of the plants that had algae. There seems to be pretty good growth, I'm spotting alot of new growth among the glosso and dwarf hair grass. I also did a 40% water change. My PH is really high, 7.8. I can't seem to get the hagen system to pump out more CO2. I did a search on here and people have posted some DIY recipes for hagens, but none of them seem to give more than a bubble per 8 sec. Does anyone have any DIY recipes specifically for the hagen canister set up? Will too much yeast cause problems? I was thinking of doubling the yeast (1/4 tsp) in the canister without adding baking soda. 1 cup of sugar and 3 cups of water. Currently I have one of the packets of yeast (i think about 1/8 tsp.) 1 cup of sugar and 3 cups of water. Any thoughts?
Newly planted tanks and algae
- Thread starter johnstires
- Start date
I use two of these systems linked into a single power reactor on my 20 gal tank! I fill the containers with sugar to the "first line", then add 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp of yiest. I hear that the baking soda also adds some CO2 (that's what a few sites say!)
Each container lasts for 2 weeks easily, and I simply alternate refilling one each week. I have a normal (aged) pH of 7.8 just like you, with a 5.4 KH, and mine has dropped to 6.7 a few times, but regularly hovers around 6.9 to 7.0 pH.
Each container lasts for 2 weeks easily, and I simply alternate refilling one each week. I have a normal (aged) pH of 7.8 just like you, with a 5.4 KH, and mine has dropped to 6.7 a few times, but regularly hovers around 6.9 to 7.0 pH.
Hey Sumpin'fishy how many bubble per sec do you get? Also what does "normal (aged) pH of 7.8" mean? Is 7.8 normal?
Feel free to add yeast. I have an airstone at the end of my airline, so the bubbles going onto the ramp are smaller than usual. This is trickier cause it can clog, but if you just have the end of the airline free, you won't have any problems adding more yeast. I use 1/4 tsp with the Jell-O recipe, airstone and hagen diffuser. Without the diffuser, I used to put in 3/4 tsp yeast. My Jell-O has liquified though, so I might have to put more yeast in anyway. You should look into the Jell-O method. Much more steady and last for months. One bubble every few second is way too low. Good luck
Starry, thanks for the recipe. The jello recipe is intriguing at a glance, I'll have to look more closely into it. I can't tell if you use the canister from the hagen CO2 or if you use your own 2 liter bottle. What do you put everything in?
JohnStires:
I believe I get about 1 bubble per second, although I don't actually have it set up to count the bubbles. When I say "normal (aged) pH of 7.8", I simply mean that the pH in all my other tanks, as well as tap water that has sat in a shallow container for 24 hours has a pH of 7.8 (although mine happens to be very close to this directly from the tap, also!)
I believe I get about 1 bubble per second, although I don't actually have it set up to count the bubbles. When I say "normal (aged) pH of 7.8", I simply mean that the pH in all my other tanks, as well as tap water that has sat in a shallow container for 24 hours has a pH of 7.8 (although mine happens to be very close to this directly from the tap, also!)
I never bought the full Hagen kit. I use a 2-liter pop bottle. My dad drilled a hole into the cap and stuck the air line through it, then sealed it with the caulking you use in bathtubs and stuff. It's held for about a year now, and I use the same cap even though I change bottles. No leakage problems at all.
One place where I do have problems, is with the Jell-O. Sometimes it works like a charm. One of my batches a few months ago lasted for 3 months. But sometimes the Jell-O liquifies, and it's quite useless, acts just like water. The one I have now is all liquid. I haven't figured out why this happens. BTW, the Jell-O recipe has been around for a few years and a lot of people use it. It's not like you'd be going into unknown territory.
With the Hagen diffuser, I use about 2 cups of sugar (I think) and 1/4 tsp yeast. I also just switched to an AC Mini filter, and I think that causes quite a bit of gas-off as well. Before the diffuser, I used to put in up to 3/4 tsp to get a decent amount of CO2 to stay dissolved.
Good luck. You should definitely use the Jell-O recipe. In case you didn't see it, my recipe is at http://aquaplants.web1000.com/art1.html Let me know if you have any questions.
So just thought I'd update everyone on the status of my tank. It's been 2 weeks now since I first planted the tank. The algae is slowing dying down as the new plants take root. I started out with four plants, glosso, dwarf hair grass, Myriophyllum propinum, and rotala indica. If I had to do it again I would not plant the hair grass and the myriophyllum in a new tank. They create too much surface area for algae to grow. Plus they are both a pain to trim algae off of. In the future with a new tank I'd do the following when planting a 10G with 3.6wpg and a hagen CO2 system. Just plant glosso without any rocks. I figure this will minimize the algae infestation. Once the glosso covers the entire tank, then I'd cut out peices of the glosso for my rocks and other plants. I might also plant the rotala because that seems to have done fine during the algae outbreak.
Also I switched to Sumpin's recipe for the hagen system. I also used plumbers tape to seal my canister and this has helped too I think. I'm highlighting the plumbers tape in another thread, because I've never come across it anywhere. This is much better CO2 output about 1 bubble every 1-2 sec. My pH has dropped drastically to 7.2-7.4, and that's just in 4 days.
I have also done 2 40% water changes in the last week and plan to do this the next two weeks. Anyways, i'll keep you all posted on my progess and once it is photographable, i'll post a couple pics.
Also I switched to Sumpin's recipe for the hagen system. I also used plumbers tape to seal my canister and this has helped too I think. I'm highlighting the plumbers tape in another thread, because I've never come across it anywhere. This is much better CO2 output about 1 bubble every 1-2 sec. My pH has dropped drastically to 7.2-7.4, and that's just in 4 days.
I have also done 2 40% water changes in the last week and plan to do this the next two weeks. Anyways, i'll keep you all posted on my progess and once it is photographable, i'll post a couple pics.
Thought another update might be good. I figure it would be good to record my progress. It's been another 2 weeks since my last post and I still am battling the algae. Things do seem to be improving. For one, the plants are all growing nicely. I started out with a few types of algae, and all of them seem to be under control except for some really long green hair or thread algae. This stuff grows like crazy. Anyone have experience ridding thier tank of this? I added some red cherry shrimp and amano shrimp, but I doubt that will help out. My CO2 is still around 1 bubble per 1-2 seconds. My PH is 7.0. I was also considering adding Flourish Excel to the tank. Would that help or hinder algae growth?
