60cm ada cube garden aquarium & shrimp

[gmdiaz]

Wow! That is such a great looking aquarium. I love the clean, elegant arrangement of HEALTHY plants with the one large & one smaller accent rock. . .before I saw the pictures of the shrimp on the "living lawn", I was thinking, I love everthing but the green "gravel" OK, so I am not wearing my glasses for close up reading.

I've never heard of the pressurized CO2 system. . .what is involved?

[aquanut415]

Originally Posted by Marty

Top notch photos !!! Makes me want to start a heavily planted black water angel or discus tank. What is that plant?

the plant is called Hemianthus callitrichoides, otherwise known as HC. its kinda newly available in the hobby(last 3-4years or so), not the easiest plant to keep.

thanks for the kind words! and no go on the angels or discus til you are a pro at keeping planted tanks. much easier to keep tetras and corydoras together. or just corydoras and shrimp.

[aquanut415]

Originally Posted by gmdiaz

I've never heard of the pressurized CO2 system. . .what is involved?

http://www.oceanhomesetc.com/store/images/co2set.jpg

you need one of those, and then you have to choose a device to distribute/dissolve the co2 around the tank and into the water. there is a lot to look at and consider before jumping in, unless you are a jump right in kinda person. i strongly suggest reading up, there is a lot of equipment and more different ways to do things than you can imagine, and no one agrees on anything. except it all starts with that co2 canister.

if this is something you are really serious about start here Aquatic Plant Central

-- and you orchid guys think you are nuts! just wait till you see that forum... today i was online with 900 other people!!!

[Tindomul]

Oh, is that StarWort? I believe you can find the stuff growing in freshwater wetlands around the North East. Very cool!
CO2 canisters is what I have been missing. I just don't want to go through all the trouble. How do natural ponds and rivers do it?? I suppose by having enough natural CO2 producers in the water. Thanks! That ground cover looks incredible.

[aquanut415]

Originally Posted by Tindomul1of9

Oh, is that StarWort? I believe you can find the stuff growing in freshwater wetlands around the North East. Very cool!
CO2 canisters is what I have been missing. I just don't want to go through all the trouble. How do natural ponds and rivers do it?? I suppose by having enough natural CO2 producers in the water. Thanks! That ground cover looks incredible.

starwort?? you mean the ground cover? i don't think so, but its a common name and who knows really... its actually from cuba, and we imported it only a few years ago. i still have not seen anyone else claiming to find it growing wild anywhere but in cuba. i sell the stuff like mad to hobbysists all over the world for a pretty penny.

and you mean you don't have a few co2 tanks lying around? IMO you aren't a horticulturalist till you have more co2 tanks and regulators than projects to use them on!

also....ponds and rivers make lots of co2 by the decomposition of of organic material.. but also, atmospheric co2 moves into solution some... its really much more complicated than that. but in truth, very little is really known about how it all works in nature. most algae research has been done in oceans, and in general threre is lack of understandnig and consensus about how it all works in nature. in the aquarium we just blast our tanks with extra co2, and let the scientists duke it out.

[Tindomul]

Can you tell us more about the CO2 canisters? What they look like, how you hook them up, how you keep from overdosing to the point where the water gets acidic or hypoxic, etc......

[aquanut415]

Originally Posted by Tindomul1of9

Can you tell us more about the CO2 canisters? What they look like, how you hook them up, how you keep from overdosing to the point where the water gets acidic or hypoxic, etc......

here is a link to a canister and regulator all hooked up..

http://www.oceanhomesetc.com/store/images/co2set.jpg

and here is a website full of info regarding co2, and a lot of other info about equipment and setup.

Rex's CO2 regulators and stuff

the guy who runs the website has done a decent job with the co2 equimpent section, but in every other regard the website is absolutely garbage. his assumptions are old and outdated, and often even disproven. but he continues to proclaim he is right...oh well the site is helpful for those just getting into pressurized co2 and aqurium keeping.

here is a link to a good regulator and solenoid combo i recommend to buy...

AQUARIUMPLANTS.COM's Co2 Regulator)

anyway... to answer your other Q.. how do you know how much co2 to put in??
this is another area where there seems to be a lot of disagreement among hobbyists. its really more a matter of experience and choice.

i would tell an amateur aquarium keeper to not keep fish or shrimp for a while, wait till things are working and growing, then add critters. if you are doing things this way, you can add as much co2 as you like, its not gonna hurt the plants.

however, no one wants to be an amatuer, so most people will keep fish from the get go. so then i would say this...start with about 2bubbles per second and go up from there. realistically you will add co2 till your fish go to the surface and gasp for air, then immediately dial back the co2 while adding an airpump to aerate the tank and drive off excess co2 till the fish are no longer gasping. then turn off the airpump and continue blasting away with co2 and the new lower bubbe rate. a good rule of thumb is about 2 bubbles per second per 20gallons of water, but this is only an estimate. i can get closer to 8bps when the plants are really growing fast and using the co2.

if you keep the co2 in favorable levels.. +30ppm is a good start, and have a constant supply of nitrate phosphate and potassium; less than 10ppm for all 3.. then ofcourse you have to throw on a bright light cf, t5ho, or HID... things grow like MAD!

hope this helps, ofcourse you can always keep asking Q's..

[aquanut415]

Rex's Guide to Planted Tanks

this website is full of info good for beginners, nothing more.
he over simplifies everything, and fails to recognize the value of some of the newest best products available. but again, good co2 information.

[Tindomul]

Thanks for the help. I'm not into fish anymore, more of a plant freak .
I would do it just to be able to grow plants.

[aquanut415]

stay cool out there!