7 Gallon Planted Tank Journal

[Discus-Tang]

Hey everyone, this is going to be where I post on my new planted tank. I'm already on my way to completing it but I'll give you all an in-depth guide to it.

Specs

- 7 gallon glass tank
- Generic LED light (8w)
- 155 gph power filter equipped with a spray bar
- 25w Aqua One heater

Ferts/CO2

- Osmocote aquatic garden tabs
- DIY CO2 using yeast and sugar

Plants (so far)

- Ambulia
- Rotala

Plants (later)

- Dwarf hairgrass
- Christmas Moss (maybe)

Fish/inverts (later - not cycled yet)

- 3x orange lyretail killifish
- Maybe some shrimp or snails


The photos are apparently 'too large' so I can't post them. They work on other forums though

Thanks for reading!

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Hairgrass does not do well underwater.

If you are adding CO2, don't have too much surface turbulence from the spray bar or it will drive out the CO2 and the plants won't get as much.

Carbon Dioxide is highly acidic and will drop the pH if there is nothing to buffer it. Make sure you have a reasonable amount of carbonate hardness (KH) in the water to counter the CO2's ability to drop the pH.

If you set the camera resolution to 2-4MB, the images will be smaller and should fit.

 

[NickAu]

Hi

Create a free account at imgur.com upload the photos then copy and paste the BBCode (message boards & forums)

 

[Discus-Tang]

Hi and welcome to the forum

Hairgrass does not do well underwater.

Really? I know people grow it using the dry start method, but is it best as an emersed plant? If so, what other carpeting plants would you recommend?

If you are adding CO2, don't have too much surface turbulence from the spray bar or it will drive out the CO2 and the plants won't get as much.

Good to know, I will try to direct the flow away from the diffuser

Carbon Dioxide is highly acidic and will drop the pH if there is nothing to buffer it. Make sure you have a reasonable amount of carbonate hardness (KH) in the water to counter the CO2's ability to drop the pH.

Yes, it has had an effect on my pH/KH. my pH dropped .3 overnight and my KH dropped 3 degrees. I'm buffering it with baking soda for now but probably will switch to crushed coral/seashells. My KH is 7 from the tap.

If you set the camera resolution to 2-4MB, the images will be smaller and should fit.

Thanks

 

[NickAu]

what other carpeting plants would you recommend?

Monte Carlo and Rotala

My carpet is going on 3 weeks old now.

 

[Colin_T]

Hair grass does best when it has dry leaves. Pygmy chain swords do well.

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You want water movement in the tank, especially around the CO2 diffuser so the water movement spreads the CO2 around the tank. But you also want to minimise the ripples on the surface because this is where the CO2 and oxygen exchange occurs. However, having said that, you need to either turn off the CO2 when the lights are out, or increase surface turbulence at night so the fish don't suffocate.

During the day when the plants get light, they use the CO2 and release oxygen (O2). At night or when the tank is dark, the plants use oxygen and release CO2. So when the plants are not getting light, there is nothing to use the extra CO2 being put into the tank, and you need to compensate for this by either turning the CO2 off at night, or increasing surface turbulence at night.

Some people have an air pump on a timer and that comes on at night and pumps air into the tank and bubbles out the excess CO2. Others just turn the CO2 off an hour before lights out.

 

[Discus-Tang]

Hair grass does best when it has dry leaves. Pygmy chain swords do well.

---------------------
You want water movement in the tank, especially around the CO2 diffuser so the water movement spreads the CO2 around the tank. But you also want to minimise the ripples on the surface because this is where the CO2 and oxygen exchange occurs. However, having said that, you need to either turn off the CO2 when the lights are out, or increase surface turbulence at night so the fish don't suffocate.

During the day when the plants get light, they use the CO2 and release oxygen (O2). At night or when the tank is dark, the plants use oxygen and release CO2. So when the plants are not getting light, there is nothing to use the extra CO2 being put into the tank, and you need to compensate for this by either turning the CO2 off at night, or increasing surface turbulence at night.

Some people have an air pump on a timer and that comes on at night and pumps air into the tank and bubbles out the excess CO2. Others just turn the CO2 off an hour before lights out.

How should I turn off the co2 without the bottle exploding?

 

[NickAu]

You cant. The best you can do is divert the CO2 out of the water at night.

 

[Discus-Tang]

You cant. The best you can do is divert the CO2 out of the water at night.

What if I removed the airline tubing from the tap each night?

 

[NickAu]

That would work.

If you are going to use CO2 I suggest you get a proper system they are much safer and reliable