Plant Fertaliser

[Mystil]

hello Guys

Just a quick question really....

I have a lido 120 (24watt lights x2)

I Have added oxygenator plants (2 bunches), two Vallis bunches, Java fern and an anubis.(I think that is how you spell it!)...

Do I have to use a fertaliser in the tank to keep them growing okay??

I have bought Plantamin (tetra) is it any good and should I use it??

I have a sand substrate.

Thanks

 

[aaronnorth]

TPN+ is the best as it doses NPK aswell as other elements, with your levels of lighting you should be using co2 to help your plants and keep algae at bay.

 

[Luketendo]

Sorry for the hijack, I have the same tank and stuff what form of co2 should be used?

DIY (Yeast if poss).

 

[garuf]

pressurised, always.
Yeast is just too unstable.

 

[aaronnorth]

You could use a fire extinguisher

FE Guide

 

[Luketendo]

You could use a fire extinguisher

FE Guide

It'd be rather hard seeing I'm 14.

 

[Mystil]

Okayyyy

Is there a less dangerous way of adding Co2

I dont have all that much room for more equipment really.....My hubby would go bonkers!

It was a battle to get the tank in the first place!

I was also told that Plantamin would be okay....they did not mention Co2 at all.

 

[DevUK]

You could use an alternative source of carbon. Instead of injecting CO2 gas, you could use something like Seachem Flourish Excel (note "Excel", there is also a Seachem Flourish which is a different product). Excel is just a liquid that you dose daily which provide carbon into the water for the plants. It is also know to kill off some types of algae.

Be warned though, Excel might cause problems with your vallis. Some people are fine using it, some have problems.

 

[Mystil]

Brilliant

I will give it ago....My specialist LPs might have some...

 

[aaronnorth]

You could use a fire extinguisher

FE Guide

It'd be rather hard seeing I'm 14.

I am aswell, i am thinking of going down that route but i would get my dad to help, i wouldn't trust myself with those things!

i was on UKAPS and Andy posted a link to a cheap gauge for £29 so i might get that. I was talking to Sam about it and that when i read it i found it dangerous but he said as long as you are careful there is no worry, just make sure it is secured in an upright position and make sure you leave the safety pin in that way it won't go off.

When thinking about it, it isn't that more dangerous than a proper pressurized system, if you knocked that over then that could still explode if the gauge was knocked off.

 

[DevUK]

When thinking about it, it isn't that more dangerous than a proper pressurized system, if you knocked that over then that could still explode if the gauge was knocked off.

There was a bit of a debate about this when the FE guide was written (which is a fantastic guide!) A chap posted about the design of FE's over standard CO2 cylinders, stating that they were higher pressure and something about the design of them making them more dangerous for this sort of use. That being said, I'm on my second FE and had no problems as yet. Also, when my FE was delivered to work, it was stored on its side for about 4 hours in the receptionist's office before I got hold of it and stored it right side up!

Like anything with potential danger attached to it, respect and care needs to be taken.

 

[aaronnorth]

When thinking about it, it isn't that more dangerous than a proper pressurized system, if you knocked that over then that could still explode if the gauge was knocked off.

There was a bit of a debate about this when the FE guide was written (which is a fantastic guide!) A chap posted about the design of FE's over standard CO2 cylinders, stating that they were higher pressure and something about the design of them making them more dangerous for this sort of use. That being said, I'm on my second FE and had no problems as yet. Also, when my FE was delivered to work, it was stored on its side for about 4 hours in the receptionist's office before I got hold of it and stored it right side up!

Like anything with potential danger attached to it, respect and care needs to be taken.

I read that aswell, wasn't he saying it was at 500bar or something but someone else said proper aquatic ones like JBL are aswell? And that you need a licsence to mess with FE?

 

[KPD]

Carbon dioxide has a constant vapour pressure at a constant temperature. At round-about room temperature this is round-about 50 bar over a solid (as in a pressurised bottle). To achieve 500 bar you would have to put your gas bottle in a furnace. Just ask anyone with a CO2 bottle...it stays at about 50ish bar through most of its life and only starts to drop just before it is empty (this is when all the solid/liquid CO2 in side has vapourised and you are seeing the pressure drop as the high pressure vapour continues to leave the bottle)
But if you don't fancy the FE route, you could just try being patient and keeping an eye on ebay....I got a filled and sealed pub CO2 bottle of about 4ft tall for 99p.
Kev

 

[aaronnorth]

Carbon dioxide has a constant vapour pressure at a constant temperature. At round-about room temperature this is round-about 50 bar. To achieve 500 bar you would have to put your gas bottle in a furnace. Just ask anyone with a CO2 bottle...it stays at about 50ish bar through most of its life and only starts to drop just before it is empty (this is when all the solid/liquid CO2 in side has vapourised and you are seeing the pressure drop as the high pressure vapour continues to leave the bottle)
But if you don't fancy the FE route, you could just try being patient and keeping an eye on ebay....I got a filled and sealed pub CO2 bottle of about 4ft tall for 99p.
Kev

Close on the lines of 500 - just the extra nought, i knew it was something like that.

 

[KPD]

50 bar still deserves a lot of respect though...it is around 750 psi (so like asking a big fat bloke to stand on your thumb)....and over the entire surface area of a fire extinguisher (hurried rule of thumb calculation = 400 square inches x 750) is a worrying 150 tonnes of outward pressure