Monetc
Contents:
- [F] CO2 setup - pennies per day!
by monetc-at-milton.u.washington.edu () (Tue, 28 Jul 1992)
by monetc-at-milton.u.washington.edu ()
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992
Okay. I think that it is safe for me to post this now : note! I dont
take credit for this idea - when in Seattle, please visit 'The Fish Store'
on Roosevelt. They are knowledgable (sp!) and friendly.
Setup: 60 gallons, freshwater, Aquaclear 300 filter, EboJaeger 250(?)
heater.
Substrate: a mix of small (standard aquarium) gravel on up to 1cc pebbles.
Lighting:120 watts of commercial 'grow lights' and 'Spectralights'.
Fish: 3 species of small to medium sized tetra. One p***ostomus (who
mostly gets green beans from the garden.. and loves 'em!)
This tank is planted with several species of Vals, Crypts, some java ferns,
bolbitis, amazon swords, and a large anubias lanceolata. The tank has been
running for a few months and all plants are growing happily..I have not
has anyone attempt to exit via the top yet, but I can see where it will
happen soon.. my saggitaria natans has been divided and moved several times
now.
and now the reason forthis post: I have been playing around with CO2
(injection isnt the right word for this.. how about) 'augmentation'. I am
using baking yeast and corn syrup in a two liter soda bottle. The actual
mix is still under experimentation. The CO2 enters the tank via a 'toy'.
I have measured a .2-.3 drop in pH while the 'device' is running (current
pH ~ 7.0-.1). The bottle sits atop the hood and thus gets heated and
stimulated by the heat from the lights (12 hours / day).
The maintenance of the 'device' is that I pour out 2/3 of the mix once
per week and refill the bottle (to 1" below the top of the parallel
section) with warm water and the fill to the base of the curve with
corn syrup. Agitate gently to dissolve the mess. It takes about
6 hours to re saturate the mix with CO2 but when it starts
runnning I get 2-3 'bursts' of bubbles / minute and this continues
throughout the week fairly steadily.
Things to consider: I need to ditch the toy and make a better way to
promote gas exchange. The various *.aquaria 'techno-weenies' are
prbably warming up the flame-throwers for my lack of proper testing -
sorry. For the price of the various kits I can get lots of nifty plants...
and so far everyone is happy.
last things: there is no substrate heating, additional fertilizer (outside
of the fish waste), or attempts to pot any of these plants. Someday
when I am rich Im gonna shoot the moon and build my own SST (thanks for
the net post G&K Booth - Im sorry that your AFM article got maimed.)
Jon (monetc-at-u.washington.edu)
as usual, >----> cat flames >> /dev/null.
.
:x
The Krib
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