Beginner ?s

[LeafGoblinFish]

i wasnt told anything about a wooden air stone or a reactor i went to www.thekrib.com and got i guess completely different setup instructions and i dont think it is working very well either that or its working way too well

[turtlehead]

how's it like? go to my site and view my co2 page.

[Julie]

I would start out as easy as you can. Then once you understand more about it, move up. You will understand more and get a better idea of what you like and don't like. Lighting alone is not going to be cheap usually. I would invest in a good substrate no matter what, Eco-complete, Flourite or Laterite, or the soil, kinda goes in that order to most peoples preference, but I think they all have bonuses. You can take out the gravel you currently have, put down a layer of the substrate, then put your gravel back on top or leave it off with certain substrates. You will want a plant bulb (plant spectrum of reds and blues usually 5500K-6500K)for sure. Lighting is very important, if any improvements are to be made, make it lighting. As far as CO2, you will want to have the correct wattage and spectrum of light, know how it will effect your PH and be on top of the nutrients(which can get very involved). When you add CO2, your plants will grow more, which will use up a lot more nutrients. If I was starting out, I would skip the CO2 and do low maintenance plants. High maintenance is considered to be setups with 3+wpg (maybe 2wpg) and CO2. Doesn't mean it is necessary harder to take care of, just more equipment. 2 of my planted tanks do not have CO2, one is great, the other has some more demanding plants and I need CO2. CO2 can always be added once you need it. But if you really want it that is fine too, I recommend you get a PH test kit, if you do not already own one. Here is another good guide for DIY CO2-http://www.plantedtank.net/co2.html Before anything, look at lights! It can get expensive, but well worth the cost. Just my two cents.

[MyraVan]

I just remembered one more thing about CO2. Plants that come from areas with hard water have adapted to be able to pull carbon in in the form of bicarbonate, so they don't need lots of dissolved CO2 in the water to be able to grow. Maybe that's why I have success with plants (meaning, my plants grow at a slow to moderate rate) with no CO2 additions. We have fairly hard water here in the Cambridge (300ppm GH, 240ppm KH).

[Lydia]

Originally Posted by turtlehead @ Wed Mar 16, 2005 8:52 pm

You dont need the reactor, just use a wooden airstone.

i have never heard of a wooden airstone...where could i get one? the only ones i know about are the blue ones (maybe made out of ceramic....im not sure)

[Julie]

A lot of people have had success just putting the end of the hose in the intake tube of filters, especially canister filters. Thats what I do for my 6g.

[Lydia]

i have an HOB filter.....im not sure how i could put the end of the tube in the intake tube...has anyone else heard about wooden airstones or know where to get one?

[Damon]

Doesn't work as well with a HOB. The cannister is sealed but the HOB isn't you end up outgassing the co2 before it re-enters the water. Wooden diffusers run anywhere from $1.50 to $4.00 for 2.

[LeafGoblinFish]

ive never heard of or seen a wood airstone until that comment earlier and also the DIY ingredients and setup that i got from www.thekrib.com was a little off if you reserch the ingredients from my "emergency about DIY" topic you will get a proper ingredients list the one that i read said that it used flour and it doesnt i gather the writer said that he only got about 2-4 bubbles per second and mine (which i copied from him) got about 20-40 bubbles per second ....(i almost killed my fish because i didnt know anything about co2 and the affects it has on kh and ph)

[Thunderkiss]

Potting soil is inferior to flourite/laterite. Use onlt in VERY small depths so as to avoid H2S production. It stinks a LOT if you drain you tank down (if it has been set up for more than 6 months) is very messy and needlessly rich in far too many organics for my tastes.
It can be used, and to good effect, i just like different ways now. Not as many uncertain variables.

Edit: I'm not sure what they mean by "wooden" but i am assuming they mean the cork airstones you'd use in saltwater. Olnly dilemmea is more frequent changeouts as cork is a wonderful algae grower and soon all the small interstices inside will either deteriorate and make larger chambers inside or clog with algae.

[MyraVan]

Thunderkiss wrote:

"Potting soil is inferior to flourite/laterite."

In what way? Do you think it promotes growth of plants less effectively?

"Use onlt in VERY small depths so as to avoid H2S production. "

No, this isn't a problem. Diana Walstad explains this in her book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium. If I remember right, the reason is that plant roots prevent the formation of H2S. I don't recall the exact methodology, but I'll look it up this evening if anyone is interested.

"It stinks a LOT if you drain you tank down (if it has been set up for more than 6 months) is very messy"

It may indeed be smelly if you drain it down. I don't know. I have only had a soil + gravel planted tank for one month so far. Is it very messy? Yes, when initially set up, the water gets very cloudy. But the particulates soon settle down. The water does remain kind of yellowish for awhile (the water in my month-old tank is yellowish). Evidently that will settle down also, after a few months.

From my limited experience with soil + gravel as a substrate, plus what I read from people who have experience with it, the yellow water for the first several months is the only real disadvantage of it. It supports plant growth very well, it doesn't degrade over time, and (best of all) it's exceedingly cheap.

It seems that people who are into high-tech (high-expense, high-maintanance) planted tanks prefer the expensive proprietary stuff, like Flourite, Laterite, Eco-complete, etc. They also use high lighting (3wpg) and CO2 injection. The people who prefer low-tech (low-cost, low-maintenance) generally prefer soil + gravel because it's alot cheaper and works very well. They generally use less lighting (2wpg + some natural sunlight) and no CO2 injection.