erm..... newbie into planted tank....

**Chinmo** · 24th Mar 2004, 00:59

hi guys, i'm new here, i need u guys help, i,m thinking of starting a planted tank, my tank is 2.5ft by 1,5ft by 1,5 ft. using 2 x 55 watt 65k pl. can tell me what substrate best to use and where to get? which lfs best to visit for plants and product? pls help.... Thanks!

**geoffrey** · 24th Mar 2004, 09:16

Chinmo,

You will find reading the FAQ enlightening. And you may also want to check out our LFS list above before you embark on your purchase.

**juggler** · 24th Mar 2004, 10:23

[quote:6817c6fc63="Chinmo"]hi guys, i'm new here, i need u guys help, i,m thinking of starting a planted tank, my tank is 2.5ft by 1,5ft by 1,5 ft. using 2 x 55 watt 65k pl. can tell me what substrate best to use and where to get? which lfs best to visit for plants and product? pls help.... Thanks!

[/quote:6817c6fc63]

Which substrate? You mean the base fertiliser? I guess any brand will work. So it depends on your budget.

**Chinmo** · 24th Mar 2004, 13:34

hi geoffrey, i've read the faqs... it does help me understand more of planted tanks... i'm keeping marines at the moment, mainly seahorse... but would like to start a planted tank to keep dwarf puffers! which shop r more specialise in plants? rite nw i only noe of plantas at lavender st and one lfs near balestier rd...

helo juggler, i thinking of getting the ADA brand, don noe wheather correct or nt? it's the brand feature in aquajournal. do they have a website? want to under stand more of the products or substrate that i be getting....

**Aeon** · 24th Mar 2004, 14:18

Most information on ADA products are in Japanese and Korean. You can try the ADA links on my site http://www.egeis.com/aqua/index.php?c=links

Then translate the text using http://world.altavista.com/

You can also do a search on ADA products on google. Aqua Journal is the best source of info IMO.

If you need any info on ADA products, you can ask me as I've done research on them.

**vinz** · 24th Mar 2004, 15:14

ADA products are expensive. There are lots of quality alternatives.

As for basefert, a number of forumers are using normal potting soil or pond soil. Next step up in cost would be JBL Aquabasis. Furthur up the cost scale would be brands like Dennerle, ADA, etc.

**lorba** · 24th Mar 2004, 15:27

[quote:96f9f4c040="Chinmo"]hi guys, i'm new here, i need u guys help, i,m thinking of starting a planted tank, my tank is 2.5ft by 1,5ft by 1,5 ft. using 2 x 55 watt 65k pl. can tell me what substrate best to use and where to get? which lfs best to visit for plants and product? pls help.... Thanks!

[/quote:96f9f4c040]

Read up the FAQ forum or this thread, right in the forum. http://www.aquaticquotient.com/phpBB...ic.php?t=17180.

There is no best substrate around. Choose your substrate base on your plant and fish choice. For example, if you want a moss and shrimp, an entire tank filled with rocks tied with moss is good enough.

**chua** · 25th Mar 2004, 01:06

You want to keep dwarf puffers? Those that eat snails?
If it is, you have to think twice. they only consume snails. One such puffer can finish all your snails in your tank in a few days. Afterwhich, they will starve and eventually die.

It is 6500k not 65k in your first thread.

**Chinmo** · 25th Mar 2004, 02:00

i think there's only a dwarf specis of puffers avail in sing

i read up, that they take other food also....

erm.... the faq page under construction wor... so i must first lay a 'base substrate' abt 1-2 inch, then add abt 2-3 inch #2-3 gravel size..

am i rite?

another ?, when diying co2.... hw big the glass of sugar must be? those normal drinking glass size?

sorrie for all the newbie questions, did tried searching but don really have the answers that i need. pls bear with me...

**Aeon** · 25th Mar 2004, 02:20

Wanna try my recipe for DIY CO2?
Fill 1.5l bottle 1/2 with fine grain sugar, 1 tbsp of NaCO3 or CaCO3. Pour in hot water, nearly boiling (plastic will warp if too hot, use bottle for soft drinkss). close cap and shake until all sugar dissolved. Put in 2 tbsp corn starch and shake thoroughly. Wait for mixture to become cooler and then put in 1/2 tbsp pf yeast. shake thoroughly and make sure all the yeast are well suspended. connect, there will be CO2 in less than 3 hours.
Will last longer as you used half a bottle of sugar instead of 1 cup. yeast will last long as NaCO3 or CaCO3 raises the KH of the mixture to keep pH from dropping too low and kill the yeast.

More sugar = last longer
More yeast = more bubbles but last shorter

Be sure to fill the water up to 85-90% and leave very little gap for air on top. this will make the pressure higher as liquid is less compressable than air. tried and tested. This will even blow through a glass atomizer.

This is how strong the preesure is with my method.

Using DIY mix.

**Chinmo** · 25th Mar 2004, 08:11

whoa! Aeon bro, that's very helpful to me! and it looks very powerful man!

then again

whats Nac03 and cac03? issit some kind of additives?

**lorba** · 25th Mar 2004, 09:46

[quote:2d0fc2916b="Chinmo"]i think there's only a dwarf specis of puffers avail in sing

i read up, that they take other food also.... [/quote:2d0fc2916b]

Puffer fish prefers live food, things that can move attracts their attention. You can feed live blood worms or brine worms. Alternatively, hold a cube of frozen BW with a tweezer and shake it lightly near the surface. They will slowly accept them.

I used to keep about 8 dwarf puffers in a 20x10cm tank with wood and moss. Pretty low maintenance with no CO2 and low light. And the 5 tiger shrimps that I added bred and produced about 50 offsprings which i gave away most.

Who says you cant keep shrimps with puffer?

[quote:2d0fc2916b="Chinmo"]erm.... the faq page under construction wor... so i must first lay a 'base substrate' abt 1-2 inch, then add abt 2-3 inch #2-3 gravel size..

am i rite? [/quote:2d0fc2916b]

The FAQ under construction is not meant for hobbyist guide. Please refer to the FAQ forum instead.

[quote:2d0fc2916b="Chinmo"]another ?, when diying co2.... hw big the glass of sugar must be? those normal drinking glass size? [/quote:2d0fc2916b]

There are some articles on DIY CO2, please find them in our article section.

[quote:2d0fc2916b="Chinmo"]sorrie for all the newbie questions, did tried searching but don really have the answers that i need. pls bear with me...

[/quote:2d0fc2916b]

Feel free to ask question. But before that, do surf around AQ more. The article section, FAQ forum and this Planted Tanks forum itself have more information then you imagine.

Enjoy.

**lorba** · 25th Mar 2004, 09:51

Pufferfish should be kept in bigger group, as like cichlids, there will be deadly fights when you have a pair or two.

Other than the dwarf indian puffer, there are several other nice ones too. I've seen the red eye puffer around sometime, very beautiful fish.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/aq_ga...ish&page=3

**vinz** · 25th Mar 2004, 09:57

[quote:f36436892f="Aeon"]Wanna try my recipe for DIY CO2?
Fill 1.5l bottle 1/2 with fine grain sugar, 1 tbsp of NaCO3 or CaCO3. Pour in hot water, nearly boiling. ...[/quote:f36436892f]

Just a note to people who want to try this. Test the bottle with nearly boiling water before you put in anything else. Some plastic bottles will melt or warp under boiling water. This will save you from a big mess and possible scalding. If nothing else, at least you will known if your "nearly boiling" water is too hot.

Aeon, you might want to put that in if you are writing/wrote an article on your recipe. Anyway, looks like I've been picking on a few of your posts. No offence meant, just dishing out pointers to the forumers where I see need.

**budak** · 25th Mar 2004, 10:03

Not all plastic bottles/containers are the same. Some are designed to hold water to near boiling point (70-80C), while others can only take up to 40-50C before their structure starts to break down. Even if the bottle doesn't warp, there may be infusion of minute plastic polymers and coatings into the water. Usually, those used for carbonated drinks can take heat well, but those used for juices, green tea and drinks like Qoo may not.

**Chinmo** · 26th Mar 2004, 00:50

hee hee, found the faq froum oredi... read up a bit,

Lorba, other than the red eye and the dwarf puffers, any other specis u encounter?

can i use those black peat for house plant as the base layer, then top with gravel?

where do i get the fert to mix with the base layer?

any1 knows what time plantas close during weekdaes?

**Aeon** · 26th Mar 2004, 04:55

[quote:79527b20b8="vinz"][quote:79527b20b8="Aeon"]Wanna try my recipe for DIY CO2?
Fill 1.5l bottle 1/2 with fine grain sugar, 1 tbsp of NaCO3 or CaCO3. Pour in hot water, nearly boiling. ...[/quote:79527b20b8]

Just a note to people who want to try this. Test the bottle with nearly boiling water before you put in anything else. Some plastic bottles will melt or warp under boiling water. This will save you from a big mess and possible scalding. If nothing else, at least you will known if your "nearly boiling" water is too hot.

Aeon, you might want to put that in if you are writing/wrote an article on your recipe. Anyway, looks like I've been picking on a few of your posts. No offence meant, just dishing out pointers to the forumers where I see need.[/quote:79527b20b8]

Thanks vinz! actually the normal 1.5l bottle will shrink a little with near-boiling water. That actually makes the bottle less fexible but ugly...
try to use the hottest but not warp the plastic... have to mixed with cold water if too hot.

NaCO3 = Baking soda. CaCO3 = calcium carbonate
Same thing some use to raise tank KH.

**voided** · 29th Jul 2004, 22:02

Aeon,

You wrote:

Will last longer as you used half a bottle of sugar instead of 1 cup.

How much longer will the DIY CO2 last? Foreign sites says that it will last up to a month but the room temp is much lower than Singapore. Therefore, their DIY CO2 maybe able to last longer... Personally, my DIY CO2 only lasted about 2 weeks...

tried and tested. This will even blow through a glass atomizer.

I have purchased a CO2 atomizer and just realised that it will need alot of pressure to send the gas through it.(I can't get any bubble even if I blow really hard into it...

) Will the bottle burst before it reaches the required pressure that will push the gas through the CO2 Atomiser?

Plants uses O2 and gives off CO2 when there is not enough light. In a heavily planted tank, if the CO2 supply is not cut off at night won't the fishes be poisoned by the Co2? I'm thinking of trying to add a balloon to the DYI setup so that I can cut off the CO2 supply to my tank in the night. The gas produced in the night will be stored in the balloon. When the lights are back, I can turn on the setup again and the CO2 produced can be channel back into the tank. Just wondering if anyone have tried this? I'm thinking of trying this the next time when i need to change the sugar mixture in my setup.
Thanks.

**overtime_e** · 6th Aug 2004, 23:49

Hi Voided,

i have the same problem now. My atomizer doesnt release any bubble. Usually how long do you have to wait for the DIY mixture to release its bubbles into the tank?

If you have solved your problem, hope you can advise me a little here..

**sonique** · 7th Aug 2004, 09:34

[quote="Aeon"]Wanna try my recipe for DIY CO2?
Fill 1.5l bottle 1/2 with fine grain sugar, 1 tbsp of NaCO3 or CaCO3. Pour in hot water, nearly boiling (plastic will warp if too hot, use bottle for soft drinkss). close cap and shake until all sugar dissolved. Put in 2 tbsp corn starch and shake thoroughly. Wait for mixture to become cooler and then put in 1/2 tbsp pf yeast. shake thoroughly and make sure all the yeast are well suspended. connect, there will be CO2 in less than 3 hours.
Will last longer as you used half a bottle of sugar instead of 1 cup. yeast will last long as NaCO3 or CaCO3 raises the KH of the mixture to keep pH from dropping too low and kill the yeast.

corn starch???wats the purpose of corn starch??? and where to get??