Tank Update "again" <IMG SRC="http://www.caudata.org/forum/clipart/happy.gif" ALT=":-)" BORDER=0>

Rob, I'm so jealous, that is so beautiful!

Might want to move the Banana lilly though to the back of the tank and spread the leaves towards the front. Your axies might break the stems and then you wouldn't have lovely lilly pads.

I wish I could get my tank like that - My tank is so plain right now. I don't have time for land scaping with my art and writing
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I'm also going to be doing a big terrarium project here soon too.

Your tank is just beautiful. I could spend all day looking at a tank like that
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Rob what bulbs do you use. I currently have a grolux and my plants are doing good, but not that kick i wanted.
 
Thx Sin
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i think the red plant is a "Red Foxtail"
and is going really well "so far" grown a fair bit already
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and thx also Rheann
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the banana lilly stems are very flexible and hopefully my axies wont break them "think i'll be alright?" i really want it where it is cause it gives a bit of cover from the lights i have, my white albino axie especially loves to hang out in the stems
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she wraps her legs around them and sits amongst them and they hardy move
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Stipe, i use 1 x 36' powerglo and 1 x 36' growlux
i was a bit worried it would be a bit bright for my axies @ first, but i have plenty of spots for them to get out of the light and they seem to be fine and now spend most of the time hanging in the plants and the light doesn't seem to bother them.
i just added the extra growlux about a week ago now and it also seems to have fixed my brown algae problem too
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gonna try the Sera CO2 Plant Care Set
from here : http://www.aquaticlifeaquariums.com.au/default.html?lmd=38755.411331
and gonna try the fert u mentioned in the other thread
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i would really prefer not to use ferts but i think i will have to with all the plants iv'e got now...
 
Dont buy the CO2 stuff from that site or any place, WASTE of MONEY!. The best thing to use is a homemade one, cost you zero dollars ( use spare house hold stuff) and much safer, as you dont know whats in teh tablets they give you. IF you post again, let me know if you wat me to post instructions for a home made CO2 reacter, it takes long to write out so i wont do it now.

A little hint i learnt is that when a leaf is floating on the surface of the water and the stack snaps in half or breaks, DO NOT remove the leaf from the water. Make sure its always afloat and in no time at all the stalk will grow towards the gravel and start a new banana lily plant. YOu get the most sucess from this when it naturaly breaks of.
 
yeah Stipe if u can be bothered writting the instructions or point me to where they are on the net it would be appreciated and i'll check it out
Thx
Rob...
 
Stipe, I want instructions too if you don't mind please, thanks
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Good O' Stipe, comes up with the neatest stuff. :D
 
WOW Rob!!! Your tank always looks great!!!
It just gets better and better!!
Whats this about blokes not being as good at thins like this?? - Rubbish!! Your putting all the girls on show heehee

Great tank Rob, you babies must be so happy!
Im so jelous right now!!!
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Oh and Stipe... ive seen posted pics of your CO2 reactor (im sure it was yours) and id be realy interested to read instructions of how to build one myself.
If l can...
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(Message edited by jojo_is_here on February 09, 2006)
 
stipe is your CO2 reactor made out of yeast, sugar and water?

And rob, does your hairgrass grow well? i went on a plant spree again, i'm setting up another tank, and i bought some
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Ok guys here is the information about the yeat thing, i couldnt bother typing it up so i copied it from my previous post.

The Generator

The CO2 generator is simply made from a 2 litre plastic soft-drink bottle. Drill a hole through the lid, force some airline tubing through the hole and seal both sides with silicone sealant. Ensure that this seal is airtight. Alternatively you can drill a hole through a rubber bung (bought from somewhere like Para), force a small-diameter rigid tube (perhaps from an undergravel filter uplift) through, and attach your airline to this. Depending on factors such as the carbonate hardness, number & type of plants, amount of surface agitation, number & size of fish, etc. a 2 litre generator should provide enough CO2 for an aquarium of ( 200 litres. For larger aquariums a larger generator or several generators connected together may be required to produce enough CO2.

The Reactor

The next step is to build a CO2 reactor. The purpose of a reactor is to aid in dissolving the CO2 in the aquarium water. This can be as simple as using an airstone to produce many small bubbles which will dissolve more quickly than a single large bubble.

Another method is to invert a container, place it in your aquarium and allow the CO2 to bubble up and be collected. The CO2 will remain in this container until it diffuses into the water. It probably pays to have a current directed across the opening of the container to constantly bring fresh water in contact with the CO2.

If you have an external canister filter you can feed the CO2 directly into the intake tube. The time it takes the CO2 to exit the filter should ensure it is totally dissolved.

Or alternatively you can mount a wide diameter tube (an old gravel vac is perfect) vertically in the aquarium and feed the outflow of your filter or power head down this tube. Feed the CO2 in from the bottom of the tube and allow it to bubble up against the flow of water thus keeping the bubbles of CO2 suspended while allowing fresh water to constantly mix with and dissolve the CO2. Some fiddling may be necessary to achieve the correct balance between tube diameter and flow rate. If the flow rate is too slow the CO2 will collect at the top of the tube, if the flow is too fast the bubbles will be forced out of the reactor. Additional gravel, foam, bio-media, etc. could also be placed in the tube to impede the upwards flow of the bubbles. A very small vent (such as a needle hole) at the top of the reactor is also advisable to allow any ``extra'' gases such as nitrogen (N2) and oxygen (O2) to escape. The source of these gases can be the original air in the generator which will be displaced by the production of CO2 or if there is a bubble of ``CO2'' in the top of the reactor dissolved gases may come out of solution in an attempt to equalise the concentrations of these gases between the bubble and the water.

There are probably countless variations on these themes. Where possible make reactors out of transparent materials so you can observe the rate at which the CO2 is being produced.

Setting it going

The final step is to prepare the mixture which will produce the CO2. Dissolve 1 cup of sugar (any type of sugar will work) in about 500ml - 1 litre of water and pour into the generator. Dissolve 1/2 - 1tsp. of yeast (bakers yeast is available at any supermarket) in a small amount of warm (NOT HOT) water, add to the generator and top up to the required level with cold water. It is important that you do NOT overfill the generator. Once the yeast is activated and starts to produce CO2 a certain amount of ``froth'' will be produced. Enough head room must be left to ensure that this froth is not forced up the airline and into the aquarium. The addition of 1 tsp. of baking soda will help buffer the mixture and extend its working life. It also reduces the amount of froth produced.

If you use hot water to dissolve the sugar allow the temperature of the mix to reach room temp before connecting the reactor. As this water (and the air above it) cools and contracts it may start a siphon going, dumping aquarium water into the generator, if the production of CO2 has not yet started.

The above quantities are not critical so you can experiment with them if you wish. In general the quantity of yeast controls the rate of CO2 production, and the quantity of sugar controls how long the mix will last. Ideally you want a mixture which will produce CO2 at a steady rate for an extended period of time.

This mix should produce CO2 for at least 20-40 days (often longer). As it takes 12-24 hrs (depending on temperature) for a new mixture to start producing sufficient CO2 it is best to get a new batch started 24hrs before the old batch needs replacing. Alternatively you could have two generators producing CO2, one of which is replaced every week. This latter method probably provides for more stable conditions in your aquarium. The end result of the CO@ reacter is a alcaholic substance at the bottom of the bottle. It smells like wisey and my day had a taste but spit it up because of the bad taste. So dont try it, mabey if you like sniffing wisky then ok.

Heres a picture of my reacter pluges to a small filter. I no longer have it pluged to that as i found it does not disolve the CO2 gas in the water as good. STICK THE TUBE UP THE INTAKE OF A CANISTER FILTER IF YOU WANT GOOD RESULTS, dont
expect anything otherwise.
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Oh yeh if your wondering why i have tape on my bottle cap, its just there for reasurance
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Stipe, I remember your other post now, I'm so sorry that I forgot, but thanks so much for reposting this!

I'm going to build this - once I'm done with my Fire Salamander and Fire Belly Newt habitats.

Thanks again very much
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Rheann make sure you post pictures or your newts and salamenders + their enclosures in the Vivaria & Equipment/Product Reviews section. I want to see your guys
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Thx Jojo
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but it's not that great anymore i'm sad to say
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have a bit of a problem as posted in the tank setups section
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thx for posting that stipe
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will suss it out and have a go...
 
THANKS Stipe!!! I remember seeing that pics somewhere - sorry you had to post it again!!!


Rob
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i just read that post about 5 mins ago... poor rob!
 
i spent about 2-3 hrs last night pulling stuff out and cleaning, also cleaned the filter properly this time "it was infested" + chucked a cpl of plants away
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took most of the java moss out that was under my anabias cause thought it might have something to do with it also
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but now it looks pretty good again. for how long i dont know ?
going to get some fertilizers next week too...
 
did you chuck the plants away because of the brown algea or that worm tubes, cuz my anubuses are covered with brown algae, but i dont want to through them away but i cant clan them
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the anubias u can usually rub the algae off the leaves cause they have very strong leaves i put them in my other tank with clean dechlorinated water and just rub the leaves between my fingers and it comes off pretty easy
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but i had a cpl of plants that wern't looking too good so i through em away...
 
I cleaned it the other night, only managed to get half off. Im scared that the algae will cover the leaves so no light can reach the anubus. I can seem to get all of it off.
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yeah it's pretty un sightly not sure what effect it would have on the plant itself, i seem to be able to get all of mine off but it still rears it's ugly head again shortly after. i think it's just a matter of getting on top of it b4 it gets too bad
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p.s. i think the anabias seems to like the rubs i give it when i clean it cause it is seems to actually be thriving
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i have a cpl of new shoots on mine
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(Message edited by kharmakazi on February 11, 2006)
 
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