thefishmanlives

Im kinda confused as to why you dont replace the 50/50 bulbs with some good plant bulbs?? btw your tank looks good, but the 10k/act. light is why it looks a bit washed out. Some advice, can the 10k and 50/50 and go with some 9325s. Youll love the look and they arent expensive. If your going to have a nice sized setup like that why cheap out on the last 30-50 bucks for some good bulbs??

davemonkey

First of all, thanks V.PooH for the advice. I'll look at doing some rearranging and what-not.

Fishman, I totally agree about getting better bulbs. The reason I got the 50/50 is because that's what came with the PC hood. Originally this was going to be a fish-only tank with a few ferns and moss and I wasn't pleased with the 30 watt hood it came with (too yellow). So I bought a PC hood without any concern about color temp (because anything was better than what I had.)

But then I found this web-site and, you know the rest. I've been looking at getting the 9325's, but I've only found straight pin arrangement for them and my hood is square pin. Are there adapters for this? If not, I'm looking at getting a 10000K/6700K mix.

Thanks guys for the critique and advice.

-Dave

curt_914

Dave PM Me I have the bulbs for you!! 2 square pin current dual day light bulbs. 6700/10000k bulbs. I got them for my hood/fixture thinking it would be easy to go from straight pin to square, but I decided on going with t5's. I will give them to you for $20 each +shipping. Let me know,

Curt

xpistalpetex

thanks for response, a wooden airstone does decent, currently im using a nano diffuser which does get more slots for micro bubbles compare to the wood lime stone. but i think the best way to get more diffusion is using a reactor n powerhead with diy co2 as well pressurized not using a canister..and now more pictures please -.-b

davemonkey

Okay, this should probably go under the DIY forum, but since xpistalpetex asked, here is my version of DIY CO2:

Two 1-gallon bottles* (Tropicana OJ) that I alternate. Each has 4-weeks of CO2 production (1/4 tsp yeast, 6 cups water, 2 cups sugar).
(*if you have the output end in a proper diffuser, use a 2-liter bottle to reduce the air space "void")
I have a T valve connecting the two containers and run only one line as output.


The 'make' was simple. I punched a nail through the cap, cut the tip of the tubing to a point, and pulled it through about 1-2 inches with pliers. (The dark color of the contents of this bottle is because I'm trying a cheap/no chemical wine-recipe.)



Check Valve between the T Valve and the output end


The "correct way"* to run the output directly to a powerhead. The CO2 bubbles get sucked into the intake and this provides a fine bubble spray with your waterflow. (*I took the picture this way to show what is recommended, but I actually have mine hooked up to the air suction intake and get a vacuum effect. I can only get away with this because I have so much air space in the 1 gallon jugs.)


Also, I don't use a bubble counter because the amount of CO2 I'm getting isn't near enough to over-dose my tank, but I recommend one for safety (muck guard) for anyone doing DIY and for smaller tanks.

-Dave

krisha

Hello Dave - first what a great lookong tank, you've got talent I was wondering if you could tell me what a check valve is? I'm setting up a 120 l tank and love the DIY idea for CO2 produktion - gotta build one. Allso a "cup" is how meny grams/decilitres ? if you know.

davemonkey

Thanks for the compliment.

A check vavle is a small plastic or brass valve that allows air to flow in only one direction, and prevents anything from flowing backwards through it.

A cup is 240 ml (not sure how many grams).

I have since changed my recipe a bit. I now measure 3-4 cups of sugar per bottle and just fill up with warm water until the water is about 1-2 inches from the top of the 1-gallon jug. I no longer hook up the tubing to my powerhead suction, but now I let the bubbles flow natually up to the powerhead intake.
I put 1.5 full tsp of yeast. I do both bottles together and clean/redo both every week. This gives me very good CO2 production, between 4-8 bubbles per second. (I'm hoping to get pressurized in a couple months. )

Hope that helps.

-Dave

krisha

Thaks - great info, very helpfull.

xpistalpetex

thanks for posting pics and new updates on the tank?

davemonkey

No real updates. It'll be at least two or three weeks before I have any plant growth to speak of. I did, however, wind up releasing my SAE's back in the tank. The guy that was going to pick them up backed out. So, I have 5 SAE's and a Pictus Cat I no longer want, but I suppose I can wait until my next trip to Abilene to the LFS (50 miles away is local?! ) and trade them in. I'll probably do that next month.

I thought about selling them here, but the cost of shipping is too much and it's so hot here that they'd likely be too stressed, even with next-day. Besides, it will be fun to bargain with pet store people. They seem very nice.