Brief note on my tank:
I have a 29 Gal stuffed full of plants. 2 WPG. I wish I could take pictures of it, but they always turn out badly. I really like my tank. There is a lot of driftwood in the tank forming the basis for various structures that are covered with Java Fern (mix of varieties), Bolbitis, and various Anubias species. In the foreground where there is no driftwood, there are various crypts that do well in the 50/50 fluorite substrate. I put a few spiralis on the side for interest. The rear of the tank has lots of Cabomba, and there are other various species around, such as Pennywort, Ludwigia, and some other fast growers. The fish are a mix of tetras (Cardinals are my favorite) and pencilfish, with a few kuhlis, a pair of raucous rosy barbs, some incredibly long lived ghost shrimp, and the standard Algae cleanup crew - Otos, SAE, Algae Eating Shrimp etc. It is densely grown in at this point so I can only see about 1% of the back glass, just the way I like it.
Brief note on my health:
A week ago I slipped on my front stairs while barefooted and my big toe went straight into the step, breaking the nail in bad ways and the shreds of nail chopped up the toe in really bad ways. It is agonizing. I also have a kidney stone, so I am on Vicodin. Also it is back to school so the kids/vectors brought back a summers worth of new germs, so I got some kind of cold thing and have a sinus infection. So I have taken a little while off work while on pain meds and antibiotics, and have been sitting in a rocker in front of the tank, soaking my foot in warm water with epsom salts, watching the fish, surfing the net (notebook + wireless), or playing my Ukulele. I like Tin Pan Alley tunes (maybe I have mental health problems too).
Brief note on CO2 rig:
I have a DIY rig set up with two 3 Liter bottles (I use champagne yeast slower production, so more bottles helps, but it lasts longer so there is less maintenance) which feed into a splitter, then a checkvalve, then into lift tube (I drilled a hole in the lift tube and feed the line into it directly) that has a powerhead that pushes it through a RUGF. CO2 gets absorbed pretty well with this setup. The plastic check valve is good since sometimes the water pressure pushes back when I replace a C02 bottle. The CO2 levels stay quite high and usually it takes minimal fuss to keep this going. This is good since it is a pain to get to the lift tube in the back, as I have to take the whole top of the tank apart.
The problem:
I noticed that the plants were not pearling. Usually there are steady streams of bubbles, and I did a water change a few days ago and didn't see pearling either - weird. I took a look at the setup and noticed that the powerhead had pushed aside the rubber band where there is a hole that is used for something or other (I really don't know - it is airtube sized - maybe it is an aerator thing). The little rubber plug was blown out immediately when I first set it up so I just have a few thick rubber bands wrapped around the thing now and that has been working fine. It is a bit of a pain to get to the back of the tank where the powerhead is, but I go ahead and shut down the pumps and fix the rubber bands. Turn it all back on and go back to surfing the net. An hour later I inspect the setup. Water is pushing up the tubing toward the C02 bottles. Dang. I give the bottles a good shake and the water is pushed out, the bubbles flow again, we are good. I look up in another hour - water in the tubing. Dang. We have a leak somewhere. I set up the double rig such that I can hook it up with just one bottle leading in without too much pain. I put both bottles on top of the tank and proceed to start reworking the tubing so that just one is feeding into the tank. I am on Vicodin. I am kind of clumsy without Vicodin - with it I am pathetically lame. Somehow I manage to push one of the bottles off the top of the tank. Gaaaah! The bottle flies from the top of the tank, yanks the airline out of the bottle top, lands on its side and proceeds to go geyser on me - spraying sticky and stinky yeast+sugar+apple juice solution all over the carpet as it rolls away on its side. I charge after it, grab it, cover the hole to stop it spouting and deposit it in the kitchen. I kick a chair leg with my bad toe on the way to the kitchen and briefly go blind in pain. Luckily the kids are not there to hear what I have to say to the chair. I pull the top off of it, set it upright in the sink and then limp back to the tank. There I find a piece of airline spraying water onto the floor. But... But... The checkvalve... This shouldn't be happening... The airline spewing water on the floor has a broken piece of blue plastic where the end of the checkvalve was. I route that tube back into the tank for now, and start to pick up the pieces of my CO2 system. Dang, Dang, Dang. I am going to have to redo both tops to make sure one isn't leaking, get a new checkvalve, and clean up the awful smelling sugar water/apple juice stuff which has spread from me running back and forth so that now the tile and wood floor are both sticky.
I redo the top of on of the CO2 bottles right away since I want to get some CO2 back in the tank. I have some Silicone stuff that is supposed to set in 5 minutes, so I reseal both top with that and let them sit for an hour. I take one of them and then set it up so that there is just one line feeding from the CO2 bottle to the powerhead, set the bottle on top of the tank, and hang the airline on a screw in the wall up high so that the line is feeding a few feet above the tank. I give the bottle a good shake to get things flowing, and things look good. There are bubbles once again flowing. I go upstairs for a while. I come downstairs to find the aquarium water is dripping into my CO2 bottle. Gaaaah! Another $%#^&* leak. I check all the lines, check the few connections - they all look good. I switch to the other top and it is all working. I sit and watch it for the next hour, and watch it continue to work.
The moral of this story is that if you can afford to get a real CO2 system - do it.
I have a 29 Gal stuffed full of plants. 2 WPG. I wish I could take pictures of it, but they always turn out badly. I really like my tank. There is a lot of driftwood in the tank forming the basis for various structures that are covered with Java Fern (mix of varieties), Bolbitis, and various Anubias species. In the foreground where there is no driftwood, there are various crypts that do well in the 50/50 fluorite substrate. I put a few spiralis on the side for interest. The rear of the tank has lots of Cabomba, and there are other various species around, such as Pennywort, Ludwigia, and some other fast growers. The fish are a mix of tetras (Cardinals are my favorite) and pencilfish, with a few kuhlis, a pair of raucous rosy barbs, some incredibly long lived ghost shrimp, and the standard Algae cleanup crew - Otos, SAE, Algae Eating Shrimp etc. It is densely grown in at this point so I can only see about 1% of the back glass, just the way I like it.
Brief note on my health:
A week ago I slipped on my front stairs while barefooted and my big toe went straight into the step, breaking the nail in bad ways and the shreds of nail chopped up the toe in really bad ways. It is agonizing. I also have a kidney stone, so I am on Vicodin. Also it is back to school so the kids/vectors brought back a summers worth of new germs, so I got some kind of cold thing and have a sinus infection. So I have taken a little while off work while on pain meds and antibiotics, and have been sitting in a rocker in front of the tank, soaking my foot in warm water with epsom salts, watching the fish, surfing the net (notebook + wireless), or playing my Ukulele. I like Tin Pan Alley tunes (maybe I have mental health problems too).
Brief note on CO2 rig:
I have a DIY rig set up with two 3 Liter bottles (I use champagne yeast slower production, so more bottles helps, but it lasts longer so there is less maintenance) which feed into a splitter, then a checkvalve, then into lift tube (I drilled a hole in the lift tube and feed the line into it directly) that has a powerhead that pushes it through a RUGF. CO2 gets absorbed pretty well with this setup. The plastic check valve is good since sometimes the water pressure pushes back when I replace a C02 bottle. The CO2 levels stay quite high and usually it takes minimal fuss to keep this going. This is good since it is a pain to get to the lift tube in the back, as I have to take the whole top of the tank apart.
The problem:
I noticed that the plants were not pearling. Usually there are steady streams of bubbles, and I did a water change a few days ago and didn't see pearling either - weird. I took a look at the setup and noticed that the powerhead had pushed aside the rubber band where there is a hole that is used for something or other (I really don't know - it is airtube sized - maybe it is an aerator thing). The little rubber plug was blown out immediately when I first set it up so I just have a few thick rubber bands wrapped around the thing now and that has been working fine. It is a bit of a pain to get to the back of the tank where the powerhead is, but I go ahead and shut down the pumps and fix the rubber bands. Turn it all back on and go back to surfing the net. An hour later I inspect the setup. Water is pushing up the tubing toward the C02 bottles. Dang. I give the bottles a good shake and the water is pushed out, the bubbles flow again, we are good. I look up in another hour - water in the tubing. Dang. We have a leak somewhere. I set up the double rig such that I can hook it up with just one bottle leading in without too much pain. I put both bottles on top of the tank and proceed to start reworking the tubing so that just one is feeding into the tank. I am on Vicodin. I am kind of clumsy without Vicodin - with it I am pathetically lame. Somehow I manage to push one of the bottles off the top of the tank. Gaaaah! The bottle flies from the top of the tank, yanks the airline out of the bottle top, lands on its side and proceeds to go geyser on me - spraying sticky and stinky yeast+sugar+apple juice solution all over the carpet as it rolls away on its side. I charge after it, grab it, cover the hole to stop it spouting and deposit it in the kitchen. I kick a chair leg with my bad toe on the way to the kitchen and briefly go blind in pain. Luckily the kids are not there to hear what I have to say to the chair. I pull the top off of it, set it upright in the sink and then limp back to the tank. There I find a piece of airline spraying water onto the floor. But... But... The checkvalve... This shouldn't be happening... The airline spewing water on the floor has a broken piece of blue plastic where the end of the checkvalve was. I route that tube back into the tank for now, and start to pick up the pieces of my CO2 system. Dang, Dang, Dang. I am going to have to redo both tops to make sure one isn't leaking, get a new checkvalve, and clean up the awful smelling sugar water/apple juice stuff which has spread from me running back and forth so that now the tile and wood floor are both sticky.
I redo the top of on of the CO2 bottles right away since I want to get some CO2 back in the tank. I have some Silicone stuff that is supposed to set in 5 minutes, so I reseal both top with that and let them sit for an hour. I take one of them and then set it up so that there is just one line feeding from the CO2 bottle to the powerhead, set the bottle on top of the tank, and hang the airline on a screw in the wall up high so that the line is feeding a few feet above the tank. I give the bottle a good shake to get things flowing, and things look good. There are bubbles once again flowing. I go upstairs for a while. I come downstairs to find the aquarium water is dripping into my CO2 bottle. Gaaaah! Another $%#^&* leak. I check all the lines, check the few connections - they all look good. I switch to the other top and it is all working. I sit and watch it for the next hour, and watch it continue to work.
The moral of this story is that if you can afford to get a real CO2 system - do it.
