really need help with planted aquaruim

Hello all,

Just set up a pressurised co2 system with a home made reator (PVC
tube filled with bio balls and a small airstone on the inside)that
feeds into the sump. The tank is a 75 gal overflow tank that was a
failed salt water tank. Soon to be failed planted tank as well.
Tank was doing great in the begining, plants growing. then the
plants started to die and clog the overflow. Figured time to invest in
co2. Since i had the co2 tank left over from a beer keg system, and it
was still full I used it.
I am using a small garden fountain pump in the sump to pump clean
water to the reactor where the co2 and bio balls break up and help
disolve the co2. from the reactor back to the sump where the co2
enriched water should be pumped back into the tank. Problem is the ph
in the tank has not changed since day one. the co2 test kit registers
nothing. so i take the return hose coming from the reactor and place it
directly on the intake of the sump pump. it took 3 bubbles per second,
the little fountain pump on its highest setting and my tank filled with
thousands of tiny bubbles for the ph to finally lower from its regular
7.6 to its now 7.2.
The millions of bubbles were driving me crazy so I moved the
return hose next to, instead of on top of the sump pump. so far bubbles
are gone, co2 tests are in the green zone. that is only after an hour
or so. No idea what it will look like tomorrow. I have a digital cam
and can take pics. Just would really like to know how everyone else
with an esablished planted aquaria, and a pressureised co2 system set
it up.
I failed at a reef tank and dont want to fail at this. please
help. any tips and tricks to a planted tank would be great
PS I also have substrate fertiliser and I use liquid fertiliser with
every water change, (20 gal. per week on 75 gal tank)

Thanks,
Steve the Newbie

Skip wrote:
Hello all,

Just set up a pressurised co2 system with a home made reator (PVC
tube filled with bio balls and a small airstone on the inside)that
feeds into the sump. The tank is a 75 gal overflow tank that was a
failed salt water tank. Soon to be failed planted tank as well.
Tank was doing great in the begining, plants growing. then the
plants started to die and clog the overflow. Figured time to invest in
co2. Since i had the co2 tank left over from a beer keg system, and it
was still full I used it.
I am using a small garden fountain pump in the sump to pump clean
water to the reactor where the co2 and bio balls break up and help
disolve the co2. from the reactor back to the sump where the co2
enriched water should be pumped back into the tank. Problem is the ph
in the tank has not changed since day one. the co2 test kit registers
nothing. so i take the return hose coming from the reactor and place it
directly on the intake of the sump pump. it took 3 bubbles per second,
the little fountain pump on its highest setting and my tank filled with
thousands of tiny bubbles for the ph to finally lower from its regular
7.6 to its now 7.2.
The millions of bubbles were driving me crazy so I moved the
return hose next to, instead of on top of the sump pump. so far bubbles
are gone, co2 tests are in the green zone. that is only after an hour
or so. No idea what it will look like tomorrow. I have a digital cam
and can take pics. Just would really like to know how everyone else
with an esablished planted aquaria, and a pressureised co2 system set
it up.
I failed at a reef tank and dont want to fail at this. please
help. any tips and tricks to a planted tank would be great
PS I also have substrate fertiliser and I use liquid fertiliser with
every water change, (20 gal. per week on 75 gal tank)

Thanks,
Steve the Newbie


For your best interest I suggest heading over to Plantgeek.net and
reading those forums. It sounds like you're on the right track, and
you'll need to fine tune your C02 and fertilizers to make it work the
best. I'm not sure how much of each fert component your liquid has,
and because of that I went with the dry chems from Greg Watson. Using
Chuck Gadd's fert caculator I tailored my dosing regime to fit my tank
parameters. It worked! I'm algae free for well over a month now.

pics and journal in link.
http://aquaria.info/members/ervis/
steve

In article .com, hearse71
@hotmail.com says...
I am using a small garden fountain pump in the sump to pump clean
water to the reactor where the co2 and bio balls break up and help
disolve the co2. from the reactor back to the sump where the co2
enriched water should be pumped back into the tank. Problem is the ph
in the tank has not changed since day one. the co2 test kit registers
nothing. so i take the return hose coming from the reactor and place it
directly on the intake of the sump pump. it took 3 bubbles per second,
the little fountain pump on its highest setting and my tank filled with
thousands of tiny bubbles for the ph to finally lower from its regular
7.6 to its now 7.2.

It's hard to say how effective your system is at dissolving the CO2 in the water.
If bubbles are coming out, then it is not completely dissolving the gas that goes
into it. Perhaps the bubbles are floating up a side wall and not really mixing as
you expect. I think that some commercial designs make the bubbles float up into a
downward water current in order to maximize contact time.

I find the little Hagen bubble ladder to be easy to use, although a 75g tank would
be at the limit of what it could carbonate. I base that on experience with a 37G
tank with light-moderate surface turbulence, in which a high bubble rate can drive
the CO2 higher than I prefer. A convenient feature of this unit is that you can
see the bubbles entering the ladder at the bottom so you have your built-in bubble
counter. Then you can see the bubbles getting smaller as they rise up the ladder.
You can be certain that you have a certain number of bubbles dissolving into the
water column. You might wish to try one for comparison. They are about $10.

Two other things come to mind. First, the CO2 will take a while to come into
equilibrium. If you make a change it will take hours to see the result. For a
small adjustment, it might take a day before you can tell the final value. Second,
the CO2 is always leaving the aquarium at the surface. If you have a lot of
surface rippling and not much of a cover, then you could be losing a lot of the
CO2 that you put in.

Skip wrote:
Hello all,

Just set up a pressurised co2 system with a home made reator (PVC
tube filled with bio balls and a small airstone on the inside)that
feeds into the sump. The tank is a 75 gal overflow tank that was a
failed salt water tank. Soon to be failed planted tank as well.
Tank was doing great in the begining, plants growing. then the
plants started to die and clog the overflow. Figured time to invest in
co2. Since i had the co2 tank left over from a beer keg system, and it
was still full I used it.
I am using a small garden fountain pump in the sump to pump clean
water to the reactor where the co2 and bio balls break up and help
disolve the co2. from the reactor back to the sump where the co2
enriched water should be pumped back into the tank. Problem is the ph
in the tank has not changed since day one. the co2 test kit registers
nothing. so i take the return hose coming from the reactor and place it
directly on the intake of the sump pump. it took 3 bubbles per second,
the little fountain pump on its highest setting and my tank filled with
thousands of tiny bubbles for the ph to finally lower from its regular
7.6 to its now 7.2.
The millions of bubbles were driving me crazy so I moved the
return hose next to, instead of on top of the sump pump. so far bubbles
are gone, co2 tests are in the green zone. that is only after an hour
or so. No idea what it will look like tomorrow. I have a digital cam
and can take pics. Just would really like to know how everyone else
with an esablished planted aquaria, and a pressureised co2 system set
it up.
I failed at a reef tank and dont want to fail at this. please
help. any tips and tricks to a planted tank would be great
PS I also have substrate fertiliser and I use liquid fertiliser with
every water change, (20 gal. per week on 75 gal tank)

Thanks,
Steve the Newbie

Hi,
With aquariums simpler is often better. It's quite possible to have a
healthy planted aquarium without CO2 or special fertilizers. All you
need is a reasonable substrate, reasonable water quality for fish,
enough fish to generate some "plant food", and adequate light.
Undemanding, "lower-light" plants are also essential.

- substrate: commercial "eco-complete" is great, and apparently so is
"flourite". A mix of natural sand and gravel from a gravel pit works for
me, too.
- water quality: most tap water is fine. Perhaps check the pH
occasionally to ensure it doesn't drop (acidify) too much. In my current
situation (soft tapwater) I run some crushed coral in the filters to
control and raise pH and hardness.
- light: 1.5 or 2 watts FLUORESCENT light per gallon should be fine, at
12 hours per day. Get a timer. Some indirect daylight can help greatly
in growing plants but watch out for too much algae.
- plants: Vallisneria, Rotala, crypts, Anubias, java moss and water
sprite work for me. I tried quite a few types of plants in the early
years, and these are the successful survivors!

Every time I fool around with too many nutrient additions I get algae
problems, including blue-green algae. When I tried a composite substrate
between 3 and 1 year ago I had a lot of particulates - probably used too
much peat! I did have luck with a composite substrate earlier, using
very little peat. I've never used CO2, although may try it one day.

Right now my main plant aquarium (90 gal) is doing well, with almost no
algae! I am using one pondtabb (R) in the substrate about every 3 weeks.

Good luck! Plant aquariums are probably much easier than reef tanks;
certainly less costly!
Steve