Ripper Hollow

My 26 gallon aquarium is classed as a “high tech” aquarium. I run a large amount of light on this aquarium (about 7.5 watts per gallon), so the plants need a good source of CO2. The more light you have, the more CO2 (and nutrients) the plants need.

Equipment:

1. 10 lbs CO2 tank
2. Electronic regulator
3. Glass diffuser

The electronic regulator let’s you adjust how many bubbles of CO2 you want in a certain time frame (4 bubbles per second (240 per minute) down to 1 bubble per 10 seconds). Right now I have it set to about 4 bubbles per second.

The glass difuser has a ceramic disk that turns the CO2 into tiny bubbles to help it disolve into the water better.

I have to refill my CO2 tank about once a year.

I need to get a drop checker so I know I’m getting the right amount of CO2 in the tank. I had a drop checker before I moved in to my house, but I still can’t find it.

I plan on getting a Hydor Koralia Nano power head to help evenly distribute the CO2.

Popularity: 100% [?]

I’m currently in the planning stage of my 20 gallon aquarium.  I already have the tank (it’s a tank that I’ve had for a while now), the lighting, the filter, heater, and some of the hard scape materials.  I still need to get the organic soil, sand, plants, and of course, shrimp and fish.

Equipment I Already Have:

1. Single GLO Life-Glo T5 HO 24W 6700K
2. 20 Gallon Tall Aquarium
3. Eheim ECCO 2232
4. Catalina Titanium Heater 100W
5. Two Red/Brown Sand Banks

Stuff I Still Need:

1. Organic Topsoil (un-fertilized)
2. CaribSea Tahitian Moon Substrate

Planned Fauna:

1. Neon Tetra x10
2. Red Cherry Shrimp x5
3. Amano Shrimp x5
4. Otocinclus x5
5. Zebra Nerite Snail x5

Planned Flora:

1. E. tenellus, Marselia minuta, or dwarf sag
2. Hygros, Bacopa, Rotala indica, Ludwigia repens, Hydrocoytle leucocephala for stem plants
3. Mosses, ferns, anubias, and crypts

Popularity: 52% [?]

I have a strange nutrient deficiency (or something) going on with one of my plants. the leaves are curling and turning black. The black parts are fairly rough to the touch. I’m also still having trouble with string hair algae. I change 50% water weekly, and dose dry fertilizers, 1/16 tsp Trace & Fe 3x week and 1/16 tsp KH2PO4, K2SO4, 1/2 tsp KNO3 3x week. I think I’ll try increasing my CO2 injection. I need to find my drop checker. I have no idea where it is, and I really don’t want to order a new one.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Update: Seems that this is normal for this type of anubias.  I might also have a low phosphate level.  I’ve decided to up my KH2PO4 from 1/16 tsp to 1/8 tsp.  I’ll see if that helps.  I need to get a phosphate level test kit.

Popularity: 20% [?]

It’s been a few days since I re-scaped my 26 gallon aquarium. You can find more photos here, and my aquarium journal here.

Popularity: 22% [?]

I ordered a bunch of new plants for my aquarium this week. These include crypts, anubias, mosses, and a carpet plant. Here’s a list:

Crypt wendtii
Anubias nana
Anubia minima
Crypt parva
Christmas moss (for moss wall)
Weeping moss (for moss wall)

I haven’t had the time to plant them, so I just tossed them into the tank until I can rescape. I plan on rescaping tomorrow. I’m going to pull all the plants out and change everything around. Wish me luck!

Popularity: 6% [?]