thedarkstar

Yup thats it.. Kayen PMed me back and told me about it. So My hubby started last night but we are going to make a twist to it. We have a extra 10 gallon bulb top that isn't needed so we are going to add it to the 20 gal and get the extra two lights.. I'm going to take pictures tonight.

Sounds like my 20 gal, has a light from a 10G on it lol and only a 10G light

The problem dosing is that in a 10 G its hard to see the ml "measurements" in the cap lol

so i put just a little bit in and it melted lol

From the parts I listen to, it sounded like the airstone was used to make the bacteria aerobic instead of anaerobic. Not sure how that would be better. Doesn't the yeast fermentation process work better if its anaerobic?

If anything that would make the process last a little longer and probably more stable, but without it being anaerobic I don't think you get CO2 from the process? lol

Should be plenty of that, for some reason my Vals. Spiralis seem to be disintegrating. I may have dosed too much excel early on at some point.

Excuses , excuses

A slight update on the tank atleast... nitrates ~10

Ammonia, off the charts, seems unusual for a planted tank to me lol

He's talking about adding a line into the yeast mixture itself with an air stone to bubble and mix the mixture.

And I'm just not sure I can see how this can benefit anything. He talked about it being used to stop the alcohol from flowing through the tube into the tank, but that can be eliminated via the second bottle used in the example that Kayen (i think) posted somewhere.

White spray paint in to paint the wood or cover that you're going to put the light fixture inside, if I'm not mistaken.

Its used as a "reflector".

PICTURE!!!!! I wanna see some pictures... LOL its driving me nutty!!! Keep up the great work.

This week... (excuses excuses lol)

After my Behavioural Psychology presentation (15%of my mark)

A Swedish essay (5%)

And a German essay (5%)

LOL

after the initial stage they get past that.

Mainly because most otto's are wild caught ...

Its not directly due to being wild caught...

As a by-product of being Wild-caught and being vegetarians, they don't get enough food between catching and arrival in the stores (as a means of reducing Ammonia in the travel process) and then arriving at stores with bare tanks gives them little to no algae to eat either, so we get fairly starved fish.

I know NC usually has the BN Plecs, not sure about SAEs though. Everyone "has" those lol.

Personally no experience with either so I can't help ya, BN aren't my favorite to look at lol

Blasted Calgary and its large supply of Fishbabes

Most Ottos don't fare to well regardless of where you got them.

Arghh update:

-Added 9 White Cloud Mountain Minnows

I don't mean to be a wet blanket on your GREAT planted tank project, but I have read that White Cloud Mountain Minnows prefer a cooler water temperature, maybe something around 68-70F, yet your angelfish needs warmer temps. Just something to consider as you continue with your project. Great looking tank, though! :thumbs:

I've read of WCMMs living in temperatures up into the 90s, sure it lowers their life expectancy but they'll survive. Mine are currently in a tank that ranges between 82-84 in temperature and I've had 0 problems

I agree with everything jvision said, the only other thing I can add is that I've seen posts looking for HC on the forum a few times (including my own) and it seems like its a fairly popular plant that 'might' be hard to come by?

Substrate should probably be something like a layer of sand (optional), followed by a nutrient-rich soil/gravel, with a layer of sand on top. As for anchor, unless they need to be tied to a rock, they should root just fine in most sand/gravel.

Low light plants: Crypts, Anubias, Java moss/fern, some Echinodorus sp. can do well in low light, some Vallisneria, Hygrophila sp. can do well, as can quite a few others.

The Issue here is that most are swords or stem plants which tend to grow large, for your aquascape project I'd go to that tropica site and then try to find... Hemianthus callitrichoides, Marsilea hirsuta, Riccardia graeffei, Monosolenium tenerum, Utricularia graminifolia, etc...

All of those seem to be low light/small, my favorite two are the HC and the Marsilea hirsuta.

Thanks and Jason with the Excel could i use The organic carbon one and not the one with everything else or is there a difference. I'll have to check out some landscaping places then. When you say deeper tank does that refer to the standard 15 gallon or not.

Is there another type of plant that is would have a similar effect but won't melt with Excel?

Thanks

L

OH and about the air regulator what is it and where can i get it and how much does it cost and could i buy it second hand. Would it allow the excess produced to accumulate and then be reused or discarded?

the regulator thing will be one of those air hose connectors, not the 'T' but the one that you can adjust for airflow.

And as far as it looks to me, as long as everything is air-tight there will be no leaking so you'll use the CO2 until the reaction is complete.

Similar effect... try mosses?

And deeper would be like a standard 20 gal vs a 20 gal long. Longer + Wider = less height, meaning you can use less light to achieve higher lighting within the tank.

DIY CO2

Okay it seems like the CO2 system is easily made and cheaply too so I might give that a shot. The problem is the maintenance involved. I know i can leave my tanks for a couple of weeks without water changes if i get really really busy but it seems like i can't do that with the Yeast. Also what about that plant in the number one. Can i get away with no CO2. Is there a similar plant that i can get away with if i need CO2 for the other one. Also most of the questions in my first post still need answers. I've been researching but so far i've had no luck so Please help.

Thanks

L

P.S. The DIY CO2 site you gave me is Wonderfull but i'm weary because it says it's enough CO2 for a 30 gallon and i'm useing it on a tank half that size so should i not adjust things or should i and how.

I'd just go to this site... here and look up the scientific names in the side bar. Tropica has pretty good advice concerning light levels, etc. For you to not use CO2, I wouldn't go much higher than 2 WPG, or so I've read, anything more needs quite a bit of CO2.

If maintenance is an issue, try to avoid using Riccia in your tank. Its easy enough to grow, but if it isn't trimmed and you intend on keeping it near the bottom, you'll have trouble.

Also, for the CO2... if it says its for a 30 gallon, you can always throw an air regulator thing on the tube to modify how much CO2 enters the tank.

Some of the plants listed seem as though they'd be fine in low light. I would research each of the plants lighting before anything. Cause essentially... Low light = no CO2, high light = CO2. Once you hit a certain WPG CO2 almost becomes mandatory.

As for light, as long as its daylight bulbs, I don't think you'll have any problems finding something cheap that will work.

I guarantee you'll need some decent scissors though, cause you'll be pruning quite a bit to keep it looking that nice.

Also need a crew of algae eaters in there as quite a bit varied algae is forming + i like otos / plecos ( i've yet to own one >_> ).

SAE do get to be pretty large, and if true SAE (which work the best) I do believe they're a very aggressive fish, from what I've read.

Otos are quite odd for me, I like them, have perfect parameters in the tank, have algae/zucchini and they still die. 4/5

Which is why my next experience will be with Pitbull "Plecos". They stay small, as was said in the small pleco thread, 2", and their scientific name gives me hope Parotocinclus jumbo :shifty:

Another option, depending on tank size is using spare desk lamps with daylight CFL bulbs

The skills are lacking, too many plants for such little space... It's just a cluster of Vals right now lol

I really wasn't pleased with the quality of my Hygrophila rosanervig, but if it grows out it might still be alright

If I'm not mistaken those bath sponges are just made of plastic?

Can anyone tell me the name of the natural "sponge" that looks a lot like lotus root used in Japanese cooking?

I think women use it in the shower to ex-foliate.

Is there any reason I couldn't use it in a fresh water tank?

I'd like to use it for hiding places for small fish in a big tank with Barbs.

Rick

Loofa or whatever it is?

If the only animal inhabitants of your tank will be white clouds and shrimp (cherry?), then you don't really need a heater; plus, most plants do great at temps in the lower 70s.

That was my plan originally, and with the lights on it heats the water a good 2 degrees through the day.

My only issue is that my room gets obscenely cold at night lol

Also, they'll be the green and red cherry shrimps

Hey Jason, how do I mix the ferts? (i thought you told me already but either i am being impatient or I am hulusinating). the guy from all seasons said i should pre-mix a bottle and then does...is that what you do? oh, and he said i should 'inject' it into the substrate...

I'm sure injecting it would do as the tabs you put in the substrate would do.

Essentially delivering the nutrients to the root system.

Not until at least tomorrow, homework + mom's birthday got in the way.

Currently have my lighting, filter, heater, substrate, and a handful of plants planted while quite a few plants are floating in the tank waiting for their time to shine. (May need to sell a few from my 20 in order to house all these plants.) I also decided that there will be no wood or rock yet, and that hopefully once I drink down some Fanta I'll have CO2 setup. Still messing with the heater to get the right temperature (hopefully ~78) at which point I'll be moving my white clouds and shrimp to this tank.