Plant growing systems

Adding co2 to a tank does not cause algae!
You have a 10-gallon tank with low light. You might want to try Flourish Excel, which is a liquid carbon supplement. It will be much less hassle for you, in your small tank, and you can evaluate the addition of carbon over the next few weeks and then decide on a CO2 “System” if you want.
 
Paccula said:
my tank was all gravel but as I add plants I put them in flourite, so I'm removeing 2 handfuls of gravel and adding about 4 of flourite, done this twice so far. the water clears up very quickly, the first time I hardly noticed any dust and the second (just a few hours ago), well it only took about 2 hours for the water to be totaly clear, and it never got too cloudy to begin with. the fish seem fine and I gave them a snack and they had a big apetite. but I can keep you posted (as long as I remember which thread this is)
Click to expand...

yep fish still fine
 
Sorry for bringing up an old thread, but when I make the yeast solution, does the water have to be treated for chlorine/chloramine and other stuff? Or can tap water work?

thanks.
 
This CO2 system that Karnaag linked to....

http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xml?product_id=19237;category_id=2873;pcid1=3349;pcid2=

Does anyone here have any experience using it...and how well did it work for your plants ?

I have been considering a CO2 at some point...but all the technical stuff that goes along with those systems....intimidates me to no end...lol...I just look at one of those DIY diagrams on those things and I get dizzy. I'm just a low-tech kinda fish addict....the less I have to tinker with the better.....

So far none of my tanks has more than 2 watts per gallon...and the tanks with the Echo-Complete substrate for planted tanks are doing quite well, even the 2 gallon with only a small 7 watt incandescent bulb is doing fine...in fact, that one seems to be doing the best ! Very little algae and the plants are growing like crazy ! There is one crypt plant, one of those lily bubls from Walmart, and a small amazon sword and moneywort.
 
The tank will do much better with CO2 or excel added.

It is quite the myth that low light tanks do not gain a lot from CO2 additions.
They do and the plants grow well, but _slower_.

Light is the main throttle for growth rates.

If you want to increase growth rates, adding CO2 will maiximize the "light use efficency". This means the plants will be able to utilize every photon produce by the light bulbs.

It also means that with lower light, the dosing routine will have more wiggle room.

Light is sort of the gas pedal on a car, going 20mph is fair safe should anything go wrong, doing 80 mph is going to be a big crash.


More light is not better.
You can grow most things at 1.5 w/gal, 2 w/gal + CO2 will allow any plant to be grown.


Having said all this about CO2, you can do well with non CO2 methods also.
They do well but the growth rate is slower.

Excel is a good option considered your skill level, tank size and goal.
You can use the entire SeaChem line, it works quite well and is easy for new folks.

Regards,
Tom Barr
 
I have used two of those "Nutrafin" (Hagen) Natural plant system CO2 systems. They worked great on my 10 gallon, and decent on my 20 gallon, but I had 2 of them running on this tank! Since my constant struggles with keeping CO2 constant in my tanks, I've upgraded to pressurized (over a year ago) with much better results, and less hassle! To tell you the truth, the only people I've seen argue against pressurized systems is those who haven't tried them. Everyone I've know who has gone to a pressurized system has thoroughly enjoyed the results. But in a tank as small as yours it simply isn't necessary.....but you will do maintenance on your CO2 system every 2 or 3 weeks if you go DIY CO2. It should work fine for your situation, though, and is a good learning experience for most planted folk! I'd suggest trying DIY first, then go pressurized once you outgrow the DIY.....which most people get tired of dealing with!
 
I made the CO2 mixture last night, let it sit for 12 hours, then hooked it up to the aquarium. However, there is no bubbles at all, and the mixture didn't even rise or anything yet. How long does it take to activate?
 
You may have a leak somewhere. Cap up your bottle and give it a shake. You should see bubbles like in a soda bottle. If you do, your mix is ok.

Try up-ending your co2 bottle with the cap and siliconed connector into a container of water and squeeze it. If it bubbles arond the seal, it means its leaking around the siliconed part. If its firm and the plastic doesn't compress, and feels like a full unopened 2 litre pop bottle, its fine.

In that case you might have too much back pressure in your co2 line, try raising the 2 litre bottle up above the tank, :rolleyes: and see if this helps. If not, you might need more yeast in your mix to give a harder push of co2.

Sigh...that's why I gave up and went to flourish excel!
 
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