Aquatic Plant Central - View Single Post

Bimmer · 06-25-2009, 03:48 PM

[IMG]

[/IMG]
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.

[IMG]

[/IMG]
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.

[IMG]

[/IMG]
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!

06-25-2009, 03:48 PM	#1 (permalink)
Bimmer Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Springfield, Missouri Posts: 8 iTrader Ratings: 0 Plant Points: 900	Any Tips On My Mixture? [IMG][/IMG] 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. [IMG][/IMG] 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. [IMG][/IMG] 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! Last edited by Bimmer : 06-25-2009 at 04:48 PM.