Bimmer

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This is the genesis of my 72-gallon bowfront that has been cycling for about 2 months to which I've just added a few plants a couple of days ago. The Discus will come later.

In this first phase. it's all about the plants. Even before filling the tank I prepped it for plants by using Flourite substrate. To keep the cost down I did not cover the entire area of the tank with substrate. I only layed it down where the planting would occur. I put 4" of substrate in the back 1/2 of the tank only. I figured why put substrate if it's only going to be covered with rock or wood? Let's hope this isn't going to bite me in the butt later.

Next, I went a got a Coralife light since the tank didn't come with one when I bought it (USED). Then I fitted the fixture with two 10,0000K
bulbs. The fixture does accept four bulbs but with the Discus preferring light on the low end I opted for just the two. That's still going to give me plenty of light for the plants.

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I've worked with the DIY CO2 reactor using two 2-liter coke bottles on a 55-gallon but I decided to kick it up a notch on this one. I went and for about $9 at Lowe's I bought this lawn and garden sprayer. It should provide all the tight seal I need to prevent leakage. But I had to modify it to accept a 1/4" air hose.

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I didn't realize at the time that I was in the store that the black adapter that comes with the sprayer was removable simply by unscrewing it. I would have found a single fitting to go on the end of the black adapter and then have the 1/4" Barb adapter on the end. But nevertheless I found the pipe reducer and the hose barb adapter
brass fittings also at Lowe's. I then sealed the coupler to the black fitting that normally would accept the sprayer wand attachment with aquarium grade silicone. Waited 24 hours for the silicone to set and VOILA'!

As far as introducing the CO2 to the tank, the tank features two 400 series Biowheel filters and I will simply tee out two air lines from the CO2 reactor into each of the filter strainers and let the filters do the work of dispensing the CO2 back into the tank.

So far I've added some Flourish to help get the plants adjusted. As you can see we've decided on plants that will tolerate the warmer water necessary for the discus as well as the Ph needs. The amazons in the back. An anubias and java moss for the wood features and later we'll add some smaller red melon swords that will go just behind the log on the bottom and put a nice colored contract to the amazons. When all that gets going we'll add perhaps a little ground cover to the foregroung of the log.

The mixture is going to take some adapting I'm sure since it's not the standard 2-liter bottle type. Last night I used 3 quarts of 100 degree water, 1 entire package of DRY yeast which is about 1 1/2 teaspoons and 2 cups of sugar.

I got up today and found I'm still not getting the desired delivery from my current mixture of yeast cocktail. Keeping in mind that I'm using a ONE gallon lawn and garden sprayer bottle and 3 quarts of water to 2 cups of sugar. The water I WAS using was 100 degrees with ONE teaspoon of dry yeast. Well today I found a bread baker who has agreed to sell me one pound of live yeast for $3.00. This is about the size of a pound of butter. I'm still using ONE teaspoon but just under room temperature water so as not to kill the live yeast. We'll see how it performs over the next day or so but does anyone see a problem with the ratio of my ingredients?

Before I forget, I'm running the CO2 line into the suction strainer of one of my Emperor 400 Biowheel filters. I'm running two of them in this tank. If it works like I'm hoping it will then I will tee another 1/4" line and run it to the other filter.

If ANYONE has comments or suggestions about this setup particularly the CO2, please feel free to chime in!!!

Thanks!

onemyndseye

sounds like you have it under control


I agree that the water was abit on the hot side... something "luke warm" is probably best. (say 80-85F)

with the larger size of this container I think you could be best served using "water changes" to replenish your CO2 generator... by that I mean keep premixed suger-water on hand... when production starts to fall do about a 50% water change of your bottle using the premixed sugar-water.... this will greatly decrease the amount of yeast you use over time... and make sure that your CO2 generator bounces back very quickly from a refill... probably in an hour of less.

Thats a great idea for a container BTW... the one thing that you might watch our for is acids in the yeasts/CO2 affecting the rubber seals of the sprayer over time.


Take care,
-Justin
One Mynds Eye

Bimmer

Thanks Justin! Well it's been overnight now using the live yeast as opposed to dry and I'm still not sure I'm getting efficient results. Tell me what you think. It's is producing a bubble at the rate of one every 8 seconds. Is this sufficient do you think?

As far as the canister goes. The fittings are all hard plastic. The only exception I could imagine would be that the cylinder that houses the plunger must have a rubber seal I'm sure.

Thanks!!

~David

Bimmer

I got a little ahead of myself and forgot that the lights are (2) 65W CF bulb which is close to 2W per gallon.

Philosophos

First off, I swear I'm not stalking you, I just post in a few places.

I didn't notice the biowheel over on thebarreport.com. Usually you want high diffusion and dwell time, with small bubble to offer just enough mass to rapidly break the dead water barrier around the leaves. Pumping the CO2 through an intake that operates on pouring the water over a wheel then splashing/laying it out over the surface of the water is a little detrimental to the process.

Want a cheap fix? Get a small submersible pump like the Rio series (I use a Rio 180 in a 20g). This should cost maybe $12-$40 depending on the size you choose. It'll run along side your HOB.

Pull out the impeller, cut each fin in half horizontally then bend the top fins in one direction and the bottom in another. I prefer a hobby knife for this; even good tissue or fly tying micro tip scisors won't do the job.

From there, drill a hole in the intake cover the same size as the CO2 line. Push the CO2 line in, face the cover downwards. There should be no need for adhesive to keep the line in place. From there, work at getting the distribution right; look for low horizontal or downwards angled flow. It might take a little tweaking.

This works for DIY or compressed, and I prefer it over diffusers by far. This system is easier to maintain, way better efficiency and distribution of CO2.

Good luck with the system.

-Philosophos

davemonkey

On my 55 I used 2 x 1-gallon OJ jugs with 1/2 tsp yeast and 6 cups sugar and filled them up until there was only about 1" of space. I ran both into a "filter jug" to catch DIY gunk/snot and had only 1 final tube going into my powerhead for diffusion. I was getting about 4 bps for up to 2 weeks and I changed out my mixtures every 2 weeks.

The only problem using the Hang on Back filters for CO2 dispesement is the water surface agitation they provide. A good deal of your CO2 will be gassed out before it even makes it into your water column. HOWEVER, that could also be your safety net if your DIY starts producing several B'sPS...it will prevent CO2 overdosing.

Good luck finding your perfect mix, and don't be afraid to play around with different ratios.

-Dave

ghengis

Sorry to go a little off topic, but I am curious as to your cycling method... You say it has been going for about two months, but have not added fish. Does this mean you have gone the fishless cycle by adding ammonia, or some other method?

Bimmer

I didn't go totally fishless but what I did have was extremely negligible. I traded a few aquarium equipment items for 10 baby convicts. They were in the tank about 7 weeks. I then rehomed them because I know getting them out once the tank was planted would be hard enough. I added nothing to the water other than replacing evaporated water and getting the natural to water-log.