jinsei888's 40G Planted Tank Journal - Pressurized CO2!!! (Page 4)!

[jinsei888]

Page 4 Update!

As I'm sure it will be apparent from these photos, I am new to the planted tank hobby and have found a wealth of information through these forums--thanks in advance!

Getting Started


07.20.2009


08.13.2009


08.15.2009


09.06.2009


10.12.2009


10.26.2009



HC Carpet growth

07.20.2009


08.13.2009


09.06.2009


10.12.2009



Fish
- Bloodfin Tetra Aphyocharax alburnus (1)
- Ember Tetra Hyphessobrycon amandae (6)
- Neon Tetra Paracheirodon innesi (10)
- Rummy Nose Tetra Hemigrammus rhodostomus (6)
- Peppered Cory Corydoras paleatus (2)
- Zebra Otocinclus Otocinclus Cocama (1)
- Otocinclus Otocinclus Vittatus (2)

Invertebrates
- Red Cherry Shrimp Neocaridina Heteropoda var. Red
- Crystal Red Shrimp Caridina cantonensis sp. "Red" (C Grade)
- Amano Shrimp Caridina multidentata
- Assassin Snail Anentome helena
- Pond Snails (ugh...)

Plants
- Hemianthus callatrichoides (HC)
- Blyxa japonica
- Vallisneria nana
- Hygrophila corymbosa
- Java Moss Vesicularia dubyana
- Rotala rotundifolia 'Green'
- Alternanthera reineckii 'Rosaefolia'

Fertilizers
- Seachem Flourish, Excel, Iron, Trace, Potassium (Seachem Dosage Chart)

Substrate
- Sand (Mystery?)

Lighting
- Hagen 36" GLO Dual-T5 Lighting System (ON: 8 hours)
- Giesenmann Aquaflora
- Giesenmann Midday

Filter
- Eheim 2217

Heater
- Hydor ETH200 1/2"


I'm currently dosing with Seachem liquid fertilizers and going by the Seachem dosage guide, until I find something better. I am still learning and should be going with pressurized CO2 from GLA.

Please chime in on suggestions and advice as I am hungry to learn more and don't know as much as I know I should know...

Thanks for looking!


Extra

08.13.2009
For fun, right angle


...and the left angle


10.12.2009
Lower Right Angle

[JSmith]

Nice tank man , I have the Hagen Light aswell and I can say you may want to tinker with the idea of going pressurized to combat algea and ofcourse the wide opportunity of plant species you could accomodate. Your pretty much there with using the ferts. When you run out of ferts you could just go dry and run the EI dosing. Oh and hey what is the substrate?

[legomaniac89]

Is this your first planted tank? If it is, great job! I love the sloping look you have going, and once that HC fills in on the right, it'll look stellar!

I don't see anywhere if you mentioned your substrate. Is it just sand all the way through?

Seachem's Flourish line is great for an easy to use fertilizer system, and Excel is good for carbon, but I'm sure you'll soon realize out that Excel will get very expensive very quickly. Pressurized CO2 is a big up-front cost, but it's well worth it in the long run.

Oh, and welcome to TPT!

[oldpunk78]

wow man! great 1st scape. i love these sloping 'all on one side' tanks. cant't wait to see where this goes six months from now. (oh, t5ho usually = the need for pressurized co2)

[pandapr]

you have talent !!

...try to hide the heather and be patient !!

[jinsei888]

Thanks for the great suggestions.

Yah, it's my first planted tank and I've learned a wealth of knowledge on these forums before making decisions/purchases with this setup. In that past, I've only had fish and pieces of wood. I walked discovered a LFS by the name of Aqua Forest Aquarium (San Francisco, CA) and completely fell in love with this style of fish-keeping. Naturally I went online and started to troll the forums a bit to gain knowledge and this is where all of you guys/gals have got me. Thanks!

As for the substrate, it's just sand... I'm not sure if that's good or bad, but as I was building the tank I tried to work with what I already had in the tank--the wood and plants are definitely new...and so are the shrimp, as I am also a first-time shrimp keeper now!

I didn't have much faith at first with the shrimp, but it turns out my RCS are breeding and I have shrimp fry all around the Java Moss!

And I know it's inevitable, I am already surfing/shopping around for a good pressurized CO2 setup for my tank. I admit, that's a whole new world for me and I still have lots and lots to learn! I'll keep pictures updated as I progress! Thanks a bunch!

pandapr - Definitely will be taking my time on this one. I hope to go with the Hydor ETH200 when I swap out into a new Eheim canister.


What do you guys think about the Eheim 2224 for my 40gal? I know it's rated a bit higher (65gal spec?) but I was hoping it'll help with larger volume water circulation.

[trustbran]

nice for a first tank!

[JSmith]

Do you already have an Eheim 2224? If not take a look at the Rena XP3s....Cheaper and more gph, I am using on my tank with just the sponges, biomedia, purigen and micro pads and the flow is nice. Tho I have never own an Eheim...BTW what are the dimensions on the tank? Is that a 40G Tall?

[legomaniac89]

The Rena XP3 or Marineland C-220 would both be good for your tank. A lot of people like Eheims, but honestly, I've had nothing but problems with mine. IMO, they're not worth the trouble they give you.

Anyway, if you're looking for CO2, check out http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/. They are a sponsor of TPT, and Orlando (their member here on the forum) was a huge help for me when I set my first pressurized system up.

[CAM6467]

Very sharp tank. I can't believe that this is your first venture into the planted aquarium side of things. I've always been more of a "U" aquascape kind of guy (Taller plants on either side of the lowered middle), but your setup is very inspirational. Perhaps I'll give this a try once I get another tank.

I like the idea of an inline heater, and I love the idea of the Eheim. I'm not sure what the 2224 is like due to the fact that I haven't owned one, but my 2213 has served me quite well since this past January.

I put together a DIY pressurized CO2 system at home for way less than the traditional setup you'll find at popular planted aquaria shops. I just bought a 5lb CO2 cylinder off of ebay as well as a standard CO2 regulator. I picked up the rest of the essential parts from Home Depot for less than $20. Once I got the cylinder filled, the glass check valve and bubble counter in, and put together my DIY inline CO2 reactor/diffuser, I had spent somewhere around $120. It's not as pretty as the fancier types, but it works just the same.

Check out my "10 gallon project" thread in my signature and you can get a pretty good look at my setup, if you're interested.

Great 1st scape! Keep up the great work!

Charlie Mims

[jinsei888]

Originally Posted by legomaniac89

The Rena XP3 or Marineland C-220 would both be good for your tank. A lot of people like Eheims, but honestly, I've had nothing but problems with mine. IMO, they're not worth the trouble they give you.

Anyway, if you're looking for CO2, check out http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/. They are a sponsor of TPT, and Orlando (their member here on the forum) was a huge help for me when I set my first pressurized system up.

Hrm, you guys have really got me thinking now. I better check out the Rena canisters now!

[brohawk]

The other side of the coin; some complain that the Renas are noisy, at least compared to the virtually silent Eheims. I absolutely love my 2215 and can barely hear it even when my head's inside the stand.

If you decide to go Eheim, I'd buy the next step up above the 2224 whatever that is(sorry, I'm only familiar w/ the classics line). Eheims, and all other filters for that matter, are rated in regards to how much water they can keep clean. But in a planted tank, really good flow is another concern (especially once you start adding CO2) which the filter companies don't take into consideration when rating their models' capacities. FYG, most here will agree that an XP3 is more flow than a 2215, but a bit under a 2217.

[jinsei888]

Originally Posted by brohawk

The other side of the coin; some complain that the Renas are noisy, at least compared to the virtually silent Eheims. I absolutely love my 2215 and can barely hear it even when my head's inside the stand.

If you decide to go Eheim, I'd buy the next step up above the 2224 whatever that is(sorry, I'm only familiar w/ the classics line). Eheims, and all other filters for that matter, are rated in regards to how much water they can keep clean. But in a planted tank, really good flow is another concern (especially once you start adding CO2) which the filter companies don't take into consideration when rating their models' capacities. FYG, most here will agree that an XP3 is more flow than a 2215, but a bit under a 2217.

Interesting counter-consideration.

So here's one of my concerns regarding GPH considerations for canisters. Is there a point where TOO MUCH GPH flow might be overkill within the tank? I am definitely going to swap to ADA Lily Pipes for intake/outlet and I'm afraid of going to the point where I have too much flow and the plants start blowing all over the place...or then again, I might be naively overinflating this possibility in my head.

Simply put, is a canister filter doing optimized for 175G tanks too much for use within a 40G aquarium...or is that pretty much irrelevant?

[brohawk]

Nice thing about having an overpowered/rated Eheim, is that you can slow the flow down by semi-closing the quick disconnects on the output side. Doesn't work in reverse though, of course.

And nothing wrong w/ cleaner water. But what GPH would be best for your tank? I don't know the stats off the top of my head. Have just gotten my tanks' flow right by expensive trial and error. Try searching the forum for flow rates, as I have read some good posts on the subject before.

[jinsei888]

Originally Posted by brohawk

Nice thing about having an overpowered/rated Eheim, is that you can slow the flow down by semi-closing the quick disconnects on the output side. Doesn't work in reverse though, of course.

And nothing wrong w/ cleaner water. But what GPH would be best for your tank? I don't know the stats off the top of my head. Have just gotten my tanks' flow right by expensive trial and error. Try searching the forum for flow rates, as I have read some good posts on the subject before.

Oh man, I've been doing searches all this morning and I'm starting to hear some really good things regarding both the Eheim 2217 and Rena XP3...but I'm getting influenced by the bias towards Eheim, and the prices are really close like everyone is suggesting. Time to shop and coupon-hunt!