ubr0ke

what is it planted in?..do you spray with water/ferts? Two different dry's. One is just mineralized dirt. The other is fine gravel with a cm of dirt underneath. I don't spray water or ferts.Thought all the dew hanging out did it for water and the dirt for ferts. I'll try it though. See what happens. -- I had ferts in a spray bottle last year. But some biofilm goo collected in the bottom and the nossil clogged. Whats up with that? Your mineralized soil might be low in one of the nutrients needed. phosphates perhaps. Its really just a simple process of elimination. Plants need the following to grow. Light. which you have..not sure of how much but ill guess its adequate since hc is not a light sensitive plant. carbon. its a dry start so carbon is non limiting. nutrients..unknown...so adding ferts has to be the solution... Add excel to your spray bottle. That will keep it from growing any mold. Keep one bottle for macro's and one for micro's, or use the water from a tank you dose both micro's and macro's. add excel either way. 5ml will do.

Ya I have never liked the dwarf grass we get in Canada. Eleocharis Belem is a better choice but very tough to find.. I think you could get away with any small leafed stem plant where you have the hairgrass. didiplis diandra etc.

very nice...my only suggestion would be to remove those rocks and replace with rocks matching the color of your substrate.

Using ada works best for dry starts, It should hold. It's looking good and I can't wait to see it flooded. keep us posted.

what is it planted in?..do you spray with water/ferts?

ei dosing doesnt require 50% water changes. You can adjust your dosing according to what your goals are. The idea of ei is to supply ferts at a level higher then the plants intake. You can use ei with or without co2. weekly water changes to never changing water. I can walk you through whatever you decide. Just pick up the following fertilizer. kno3, kh2po4, and a trace mix. All can be purchased at a local hydroponic store. Some one in Calgary can point you to a place where these can be purchased.

that tank is dosed with ei..so no testing needed. That tank is also dosed with 3 different chelates of iron and extra magnesium.

why do you want to run high lighting?..typically higher lighting has more to do with growth rates then plant selection.. ideally you want spread rather then intensity. This is an example of med light with a good spread..around 60umol..(not my tank) the key here is to have good spread, non limiting nutrients and tons of co2...tank has about 50ppm of co2. You could run similar light levels with 4 t8 bulbs right on top of your tank. My suggestion is before you start getting into higher light, play with co2 and see what that can do for you first. Its far more important imo.

update..more charts

you need a regulator, needle valve and a cylinder... A cylinder can be purchased at Oxy Pro....The rest I would order online...I know a guy in the states that will sell you a full setup minus the cylinder....It takes about 8 days to ship...pm me if you want his info.

purigen removes organics and tannins...Its basically a better alternative to carbon...It also can be recharged...Its available at aquarium central, big als, etc..run it in your filter until it turns dark brown then recharge it with bleach..

The same problem can occur when excessive pipe compound over-runs the leading threads of a fitting. If it does, simply wipe the ends before making the connection. uber-importantWhat for a bottle do you plan to use? I'll run a 5lb bottle. I have an empty one laying around. Ideally I would go with something bigger but I live in a condo and the tank Im using this regulator on is in the living room..

So I finally got around to picking up some of the fittings I needed. Im still looking for some co2 resistant tubing but everything else is ready to assemble. First fitting is a 1/4" hex nipple. I used teflon tape but you can also use a pipe compound containing teflon. With teflon tape you need to make sure not to get close to the start of the threads where the connection is being made. If you do little pieces might fall inside clogging up your solenoid or needle valve. The hex nipple will be fitted to the regulator on the out flow side. Most regulator's use 1/4" but not all so if your planning on building one of these make sure you find out what size fitting your going to need. Use a wrench and make sure fitting is nice and snug. Next you will want to remove the low pressure gauge to make room for the next fit. Next fitting is a 1/4" female to 1/8" male reducing elbow. Co2 equipment appropriate for use in our hobby is 1/8". The reducing elbow male side will be attached to the solenoid. I fit this before fitting to the regulator due to a lack of room. If using a Berkert solenoid make sure you attach so flow is in the right direction...Flow is in P...out A...If using a different solenoid contact manufacturer for correct flow direction. Next you can fit reducing elbow to 1/4" nipple. Next fitting to add is 1/8" male elbow.. Make sure when fitting this together you have an idea of where you want the fittings to sit. With small fittings you will run out of thread before you can make it around again. If this happens stop, remove and re-tape with teflon. Do not just back the fitting off or you will have leaks. Next is the Ideal needle valve. Fit this to the 1/8" elbow. Next fitting I will get into more detail when I track down some co2 resistant tubing. Its an instrumentation fitting that goes from 1/8" npt to 1/4" tubing. And here is the co2 rig all setup except for the tubing. I will finish the rest after christmas. I also have a check valve I need to add but I had to order and it should be here early January.. any questions?...comments?..

nice...glad things worked out for you.

take that fluval reg to a machine shop and get them to run a die to match the threads to a paintball co2 tank...fluval used an odd size to prevent people from not buying there cartridges...

ask about delivery pressure...

purigen is worth every penny. I do know that.

buy this http://www.prevailpa....php?subid=1021 either the nitroduck or guerrilla air...its $39 bucks...or search edmonton paintball sites for a used regulator if thats out of your price range...you have everything else you need so you may as well just find a regulator.. if you decide on buying a paintball regulator ask if output or delivery pressure can be adjusted before buying...Im not really up to date on paintball regs but I think some may not be adjustable...you want one that can be adjusted or atleast know the delivery pressure ...or simply explain to paintball guys what you want to do with it and they may help you out better then I can

Im a little worried about the regulator's max pressure and it being designed for air.

Understandable...Congratulations on becoming a father... stick with the first idea and just use hose barbs for the connection rather then the compression fit...that way if anything plugs then the line will pop off..

I received my order in the mail today so hopefully this weekend if I have some time I can pick up the remaining parts. Heres a few pics of what I have so far. Dual stage Prostar Platinum Stainless Steel Regulator Stainless Steel Berkert 6011 Solenoid with Buna seals 2506 Din with led Stainless Steel Ideal needle valve V54-1-12...This was fairly expensive but the precision is well worth it...The vernier metering handle is awesome. I still need to grab some fittings...Ill continue when I pick up the rest

co2 tanks are 900-1200 psi... honestly not to kill your momentum but I could help you piece together a 2 stage high purity gas regulator, solenoid, and decent needle valve. for 120 bucks...thats a lab quality setup with no worries..

no problem...check on ebay...they're cheap...under $20

I would honestly suggest putting a regulator on that. If your needle valve or something else clogs for any reason you have a bomb under your tank.. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/155384-my-co2-line-exploded.html exact same setup as you have.

started a new dry start. Its a 5 gallon...hc at the front...glosso in the middle, some moss in the holes of the rock you cant really see yet and deciding what stems for the back..pic is not the best due to humidity and a cell phone but Ill post it anyways... tank 5 gallon. fluval plant substrate with added ferts. sprayed with tank water from ei dosed tank. 2 18 watt t8 lights.