to get hooked on plants or not?

[OneSickPuppy]

Ive got too many irons in the fire ... no question there. In december the wife realllllly wanted to set up a dwarf seahorse tank so we picked up a 14 biocube and sat back for research before setting it up and going all out. In the meantime we figured out that seahorse care is worthwhile if you dont have a job or other responsibilities. If im going to get fully hooked on plants theres no way im going to add an extra saltwater tank to the house. I already have over 100 pets and probably dont need to add one more fish tank to take care of. Problem is ... I know nothing about CO2. Where the heck do I start??????? Ive been just fine for over 20 years with easy to grow plastic.

[algarciajr]

You don't need to do co2, if you go with a low tech setup.

[eklikewhoa]

Even when you get into the more demanding plants you have the option of excel.

[OneSickPuppy]

What kind of low tech can I use with a 75 gallon?

[eklikewhoa]

Some crypts, Ferns, Anubias, Vals, Most mosses, Dwarf sag, etc.

[Totenkampf]

warning: once you start you will think that every tank MUST have plants. i am starting to believe that CO2 supplimentation is really important for stabilizing the water parameters. my system went down and i havent had the time to get it rebuilt again and so my 75g has went to heck in the meantime. its been a nice study of algae types tho.

[nightster]

Just a warning it will get away from you, if you let it. My high tech 30L started as a 10g ramshorn snail hatchery with one plant.

[OneSickPuppy]

Ive got rotalla, an anubia plantation, 2 swords, java moss, java fern, anacharis, hair grass and a few that I cant remember that some jerk I know gave me to try and get me addicted to plants when I was visiting in austin. Its just sad to see them grow so slow ... well other than the anacharis which grows about 3-6 inches a week depending on its last haircut. Now that im interested in breaking into a CO2 setup its as if theres no 'easy' info on getting started with it. Kinda started with my friend who does turtle rescue asking me if I grew anacharis as she wanted some to feed her turtles before release to get them used to native plats. I bought a few bunches at thatfishplace or whatever on beechnut I think to grow some for her. After that it went nutty and now I have a huge plastic tub full of dead plastic plants.

[Tetranerd]

Try the 2 liter pop bottle And yeast. 100 diff ways to do it. But it should give some easy co2 addition.

[Totenkampf]

one note, anacharis is a nutrient hog and will outcompete the other plants. i would move it to its own grow out tub for your friend.

the DIY section has a newer thread on DIY CO2 and another on pressurized. DIY can be okay if you go all out and have more time than free cash (grrrrrrr) but I suggest pressurized if you can. All you need is a CO2 gas cylinder, a pressure regulator, and a good quality needle or metering valve (important). A bubble counter is nice to have for on the fly but you can count bubbles from the airline and once its set the flowrate shouldnt move around much. I prefer having a solenoid operated valve inline so that i can set the CO2 to be blocked when the lights go out. I have found that the ones that come with the plant tank setups to be garbage, you can get an ASCO continuous duty explosion proof one on ebay and it will last forever. you will also need some way to diffuse the CO2 into the water column. This can be an inline reactor on the output of a canister filter, a ceramic diffuser disc in the aquarium, or even into the intake side of a powerhead so that the impellor chpps up the bubbles. the latter idea works best when used with a down pipe and prefilter on the output of the powerhead so that any small bubblers are trapped into they absorb into the water.

[wesleydnunder]

ADG sells a superior regulator/solenoid/needle valve set-up made by Teledyne (or they used to). I bought mine from them and it worked flawlessly for many years. I sold it to a fellow boxer when I got tired of gardening and to my knowledge it's still in use.

Mark

[Totenkampf]

mark is right about teledyne, we use their stuff on our chemical analyzers. you can find robust stuff at welding supply too but make sure its for CO2. cylinders can be found for paintball and also softdrinks / kegs

[digitallinh]

I find non c02 injected tanks to be more fun. Less trimming, less water changes, easier to balance, the aquascape sticks longer.

If you happen to go that route visit this link, approved by Mr Barr himself - http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lo...ech-start.html

I've been using this approach ever since I started in the hobby. You will find that even in a medium light /excel (metricide) or low light no-supplementation setup you can grow many different types of plants, albeit at a slower rate. Obviously there are many plants that simply won't grow well without high light, but I'm pretty sure these days you will never run out of new plants.

[digitallinh]

sorry, by more fun I really meant 'less work'

[Totenkampf]

no Co2 linh? you darn nonco2 scaper snobs are all alike lol