Plant

[carsona246]

I've always liked plants, but never had the desire to put much effort into them other than to buy a grow bulb on my tank, and throw some low light plants like water wisteria in. I just saw Mdk500's setup, and i guess you could say i was inspired to start growing some dwarf hairgrass in my tank. I've been planning on redoing a lot of things in my tank this summer when i should hopefully have some more cashflow including building a sump. If i replaced my gravel with sand, and figured out how to make a co2 canister, how difficult would it be to have a nice layer of dwarf hairgrass, with some water wisteria, and java fern? I have a low budget, so i'm hoping the most expensive thing i'm gonna be buying is a bright light. All thats in my ten gallon is a dwarf puffer, and i plan on getting some shrimp. sound like a possibility?
O and can anyone point me to where i can find a good diy co2 thread? i'm having some trouble finding them for some reason, i know they're on here somewhere

 

[carsona246]

O, and is there another substrate that might work better than sand if its not too expensive? I've never really done the plant thing, and the majority of the lingo in the stickies confuse me a bit

 

[MadRussian79]

If you are doing this with that 10 gallon then everything becomes much easier. Even if you upgrade to a 30 the cost isn't that bad. For substrate you can go with 1-2 bags of Seachem's substrate, the color is more of a personal preference. Foster smith has for $22 per bag and shiping for $8.99 regardless of weight so order everything together. You don't need to go with CO2 unless you are going hard core. DIY CO2 can get very messy and buying one is expensive. Just get the substrate and the light and see how the plants do then look at up grade the system with CO2, fertilizer, minerals etc.

 

[FLESHY]

I am thinking about doing a thread on my DIY co2...just getting other peoples on here too. Its interesting to see different diffuser designs...ect. Mine works really well, isnt messy, and is very well contained. I am using it in a 10g, and I think that it has had a good effect. They are something to look into.

I will warn you on the side though that its not going to be long before that ten gallon just isnt enough!

 

[MadRussian79]

I will warn you on the side though that its not going to be long before that ten gallon just isnt enough!

Yup the bug gets bad fast.

The messiness of the DIY system is related to your DIY skills. If you have 2 left hands it will get messy.

 

[carsona246]

Just thought i'd ask a few more questions to verify some things, i ended up on the planted tank forum, which has a lot of helpful information. I plan on getting some of seachem flourite black sand, I have 1.5 wpg of a t8 bulb, and i just made my diy co2, which surprisingly works. I'm thinking I need a higher wattage for my tank, and i'm a little confused on fertalizing. One last question, the ph swings induced by co2 wont hurt my dwarf puffer right?

 

[MadRussian79]

I'm thinking I need a higher wattage for my tank, and i'm a little confused on fertalizing. One last question, the ph swings induced by co2 wont hurt my dwarf puffer right?

You may need the new lights with the black sand as it's not as reflective as normal gravel. I'd wait to see how the plants do before getting the new light. Same with fertilizer, before adding it see how the plants do first.

Ferts come in two basic forms. Organic and Inorganic. Organics are typically nitrogen compounds that can be produced by fish as waste. In a stable well planted tank you will have zero nitrates as the plants will use it all up. The main inorganic fertilizers is carbonate and iron but you may also add magnesium, calcium, potassium. A lot of the inorganics will be provided by the fluorite sand.

There is a danger of fatal pH swing with CO2. These is dependent on the hardness of your tank/tap water. Softwater KH <3 has a greater risk of pH swing than harder water.

 

[J-P]

there is the phosphate portion of the equation ...
PH / KH and phosphates have a delicate relationship ... if one goes off it throws the others off.

There are many more Q to be answered: Tap water vs tank water. What is in the tank (rocks etc)? What type of plants, what type of fish ... the list is HUGE!!