Beginner's Questions

**Flowerhfanatic** · 10th Sep 2008, 22:35

Hi All,

I am all excited about my new 3 by 1.5ft. Currently cycling my tank and intending to have glosso, hairgrass, moss, nana petite, downoi but cant think of stem plants yet at the moment.

There are couple of questions that I would be grateful if you could provide me with some explanations:

1) I am using a drop checker using KH4 solution and instructions says that the best color would be green. ie ph 7 based on kh4 (i presume). With these am I able to hit 30ppm of CO2? can anyone direct me to the chart as i couldnt find it after doing some search..

In relation to the KH4 solution, i mixed tap water with some sodium bicarbonate until i get a KH of 4. Is this accurate measure as i learnt that you need distilled water to get an accurate version. is this true?

2) I have a 5l CO2 cylinder with electronic solenoid bought from a bro here and intending to on it for 8 hours (maybe less, depending on my stocks of plants) together with the lights? Is there any sequence that i should follow? activate the lights first then CO2 or vice versa. How about the timing for switching off? I am confused in this part as i have heard many variations

3) I have ordered some plants from MizuWorld and will be delivered this Friday. After bleaching them, must i float these around the tank first before planting them? For how many days?

4) I bought an ANS lily pipe and noticed that the outlet will 'pull' some water from the surface. 2 questions here:

a) will it act as a surface skimmer as well? if yes, it would save me some bucks for fauna

b) as my reactor is connected to the outlet lilypipe, will it dilute the dissolved CO2 as 'pulling' water from the surface will have O2 intake and hence, my cylinder needs to work harder my emitting more bubbles per second.. hence wasting C02

5) I dont intend to buy moss thread. can those normal thick threads that we use for sewing serve the same purpose? of you would recommend fishing lines but these dont dissolve. if yes, what brand is good and economical?

6) Do i need to have air bubbles when the plants are in sleep mode? As they will compete with faunas for O2.

Sorry if i am too long winded but will really appreciate your input. have a nice day.

**davescube** · 11th Sep 2008, 02:02

I can only give you some answer... ( might be wrong ) Do correct me

-- Plant do not compete O2 with fish.. They consume CO2 in day time and produce O2 at night time. Even if you dont add air bubble, your livestock should be fine. In addition, air bubble will make your CO2 gas escape, which is bad

If I were you, I would avoid using air bubble.

One of the bro teach me that when introduce a new livestock to the new tank, use air bubble for a few days, remove them afterwards.
thats just one of the tips.

-- I dont think you have to float the plant around your tank, but make sure you clean them throughly. you dont want to have pest in your tank, even if you do, u will learn something extra in this hobby

thats what make this hobby fun, its not just about fish and water haha

-- fishing line can be used, try to get a fine one for easier tying(did i spell wrongly?) and for better looking. might take quite sometime to cover them with moss if you use thick lines.

-- Hmm, on the CO2 at day time and off it at night time..
On the other hand, you can control the time of the tank..
for example, at night, you on the light and CO2 system, and in the morning, you off the light and CO2 system..
Thats what I do as my lighting gets hot without the air-con on..
I only on the light for 7 - 8 hours a day.. about 6p.m-1a.m
and they are all doing fine..

I usually cover something on top of the tank first before on the light, As my shrimp usually get shock with sudden increased brightness on them

And slowly remove the cover..
Same thing goes to when offing the light.
Quite troublesome though, but I will figure out something for the cover

**TTS** · 11th Sep 2008, 11:43

I used sewing threads (black or dark coloured) to tie the moss to my DW... so far the moss had been growing quite well and the threads are no visible

**Flowerhfanatic** · 11th Sep 2008, 12:04

Thanks a lot dave and TTS. very nice moss ! may i know what type?

But Dave, all these while i though that plants will respirate when they dont photosynthesis.. maybe i was not paying attention during my Bio class 20 years back

**TTS** · 11th Sep 2008, 13:30

Originally Posted by Flowerhfanatic

Thanks a lot dave and TTS. very nice moss ! may i know what type?

Hi Flowerhfanatic... to tell you the truth... I also not too sure the exact type

I guess it's X'mas moss lor

**beetlejuice403** · 11th Sep 2008, 14:24

Originally Posted by Flowerhfanatic

Thanks a lot dave and TTS. very nice moss ! may i know what type?

But Dave, all these while i though that plants will respirate when they dont photosynthesis.. maybe i was not paying attention during my Bio class 20 years back

Hi flowerfanatic,

your thoughts & knowledge from your previous Bio classes are not wrong...

In fact, plants respire [i.e take in oxygen] all the time 24/7. except that during the day (or when light is present), it will photosynthesize & hence take in CO2 & produces O2 (beneficial for the other livestocks in the tank). When light is not present (night time), plants will not take in CO2 as it has no light to photosynthesize, instead, it competes with the livestocks in the tank for O2 (although the competition is quite minimal, unless you have a very dense 'forest' inside...). That's why CO2 is normally not 'on' at night to prevent excessive CO2 in the tank which may be harmful for the faunas...

I guess by air bubbles, do you mean adding in an airstone? Airstone aeration is normally added to increase oxgenation to the tank. This may be necessary if your tank has very little water surface agitation to allow dissolved O2 to get into your water... If everything is in balance & self-sufficient in the tank, an airstone is just optional.. As bro Davescube mentioned, adding an airstone may lead to loss of CO2 instead; it also creates a mess near the area where the bubbles rise & 'pop' (I tried before, the 'poppings' splashes onto my tank's surfaces & plastic cover of my lightset... More water loss also = more water top-up required.)

For new plants, you may wish to soak it in very diluted portions of bleach solution to get rid of any snails & its eggs on them. After soaking, remember to run it (or better still, soak it with) under running tap (or aged water if you have) to get rid of any traces of the bleach before introducing into your tank..

For the thread, you may use those normal cotton sewing thread (but I find them very obvious in the tank until the plants had gotten them covered), Get those very fine fishing lines to tie as it's cheap (Daiso has it @ very cheap prices) & easier to handle..

As for the light & CO2 timing, if budget allows, you may wish to get a timer to control the duration for peace of mind... For me, doing manually - but sometimes will over/under provide the duration lah..

Sorry, unable to advise on (1) & (4) as I had yet to go such 'high-tech'...

Cheers!

**Flowerhfanatic** · 11th Sep 2008, 14:32

haha thanks beetlejuice... really good advice and will take note of these... no worries for (1) and (4) hopefully some old bird will drop some hints later....

so i guess, i shouldnt be bothered about buying the air pump - yeah, air bubbles is O2 that i was referring to....

**Flowerhfanatic** · 11th Sep 2008, 14:33

Originally Posted by TTS

Hi Flowerhfanatic... to tell you the truth... I also not too sure the exact type

I guess it's X'mas moss lor

i order some jave and taiwan moss... hope they will look like this!

**TTS** · 11th Sep 2008, 14:49

Originally Posted by Flowerhfanatic

i order some jave and taiwan moss... hope they will look like this!

I'm sure it will... just give it a little time to adapt to the new environment.
Happy planting!

**jacian** · 11th Sep 2008, 15:10

Welcome to AQ and congratz on your new tank.

Originally Posted by Flowerhfanatic

Hi All,

1) I am using a drop checker using KH4 solution and instructions says that the best color would be green. ie ph 7 based on kh4 (i presume). With these am I able to hit 30ppm of CO2? can anyone direct me to the chart as i couldnt find it after doing some search..

In relation to the KH4 solution, i mixed tap water with some sodium bicarbonate until i get a KH of 4. Is this accurate measure as i learnt that you need distilled water to get an accurate version. is this true?

Based on the chart, kh 4 with ph7 will give you 12ppm of CO2. I do not think green colour means ph of 7, I guess it will be more towards the slightly acidic range of 6.6 to 6.8. It does not matter whether tap water or distilled water is used as long as you got the kh of 4.

Originally Posted by Flowerhfanatic

4) I bought an ANS lily pipe and noticed that the outlet will 'pull' some water from the surface. 2 questions here:

a) will it act as a surface skimmer as well? if yes, it would save me some bucks for fauna

b) as my reactor is connected to the outlet lilypipe, will it dilute the dissolved CO2 as 'pulling' water from the surface will have O2 intake and hence, my cylinder needs to work harder my emitting more bubbles per second.. hence wasting C02

Yes, the lily pipe does work as surface skimmer but not as effective. To remove the oil film effectively, I place the lily pipe above the water surface in the night. It provides some lights-off aeration as well.

Don't worried too much about the CO2 wastage, CO2 is cheap.

**Flowerhfanatic** · 11th Sep 2008, 17:22

Originally Posted by jacian

Welcome to AQ and congratz on your new tank.

Based on the chart, kh 4 with ph7 will give you 12ppm of CO2. I do not think green colour means ph of 7, I guess it will be more towards the slightly acidic range of 6.6 to 6.8. It does not matter whether tap water or distilled water is used as long as you got the kh of 4.

thanks jacian! nice name

so the solution inside the dropchecker needs to be kh4 and not the water in the aquarium tank right? is my understanding correct?

about CO2, i have heard of biotope.. and my cylinder is 5l. to fill it on the spot, may i know how much will this filling up cost? thanks!

**jacian** · 12th Sep 2008, 12:28

Yes, the solution should be of kh4 instead just using the water from the tank.
The top-up should cost about $20.

**blue33** · 12th Sep 2008, 13:31

Yes! Topup is $20 for 5L tank, i just topup few days ago at Bioplast. Is about 3/4 full after topup. You dont use tank water because it has too many minerals and nutrients inside.