Ishar's 20GH Planted tank

[ishar]

Well she is set up! The CO2 is hooked up at just under 1 bps (I timed 52 bubbles in one minute). It is working like a dream... now... lol. It was a pig to get working though. Apparently in doing my DIY paintball cylinder hook up I didn't have good seals, so the CO2 would leak everywhere. But once I got it sealed correctly it worked fine. However, my Dad got a hold of the project, and without my consent took my regulator to a place called Ideal Supply near my place, and hooked me up with a single piece adapter to go from my tank to the regulator. I do not know what it is called or anything. So this means no detailed DIY from me like I had every intention of doing- I took good pictures of each step of the old set up, but it did not work and I do not know if it was because of me, or this particular regulator or what. I might till do one up, with many warnings and disclaimers .

So anyways, the diffuser is still in place under the powerhead, and the CO2 is dissolving into the water quite well I think. I get the odd tiny bubble making it to the surface, but for the most part they all dissolve into the water.

I am going to go do a trimming now since my plants have been out of control since I upped the fert dosage, and I figure I should get them under control before the CO2 really kicks in lol.

 

[ishar]

Well more on CO2.

I am running just under 1 bubble a second, and my KH is 12 degrees and my pH is at or over 7.6 (yikes!). According to some online sources this gives me barely over 9ppm of CO2. Does this sound like a good amount? Or should I up the bubble rate? I am reluctant to up the rate too much as I am worried that my HOB filter will just outgas the extra, but I am not sure. Any suggestions?

 

[ishar]

PICTURES!!! July 10th update

There has been a TON going on in my tank, including a snail infestation and fert regimen changes (tripled my doses today) and the CO2 has been quirky. Once everything stabilizes and I figure it all out I will post that info here. As for now it is picture time!! Sorry for the crap quality.

FTS

Moving from lower right, to lower left, to upper left, to upper right, in succession.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Nice tank. Looks bigger then a 20H

 

[Katie217]

lookin goooood ishar!

 

[ishar]

Well I haven't updated in a while, but nothing really happened. My shrimp died for unknown reasons, my plants do well and then die off in cycles- looks like a NO3 deficiency but I mean, really, I am dosing upwards of 20ppm every day! I got some riccia so it has been growing fantastically.

However, the real reason I am posting is because my tank sprung a significant leak last night- likely due to stresses on the tank during the move from home to school. I went out and bought a 20L this time, as to resilicone would be way too big an inconvenience to me and I am not sure I would trust myself just yet for that anyways. I will silicone it some day, but for now I will adjust myself to a 20L, and will begin my journal anew.

Thank you all for following along with this tank and its successes and failures. I hope you all learned some things from it. I hope you join me on my next adventure as well .

 

[ishar]

hmm. So as it turns out, the tank does not actually have a leak. I had my CO2 hose not attached to my regulator, and some weird siphoning action began. I didn't pick it up because I had a towel over it. I only noticed when my new 20L started 'leaking' (man did I ever yell and curse lol. I was SO mad!) did I notice the problem. So on one hand I got the better shaped tank I have been wanting and I had a very good excuse to take down the 20H to add soil to the substrate, and now I see that I have two perfect condition tanks instead of one . On the other hand, I am out 50 bucks I really couldn't afford to spend for now reason .

 

[emmanuelchavez]

I am out 50 bucks I really couldn't afford to spend for now reason .

Dang... if only you found out about the "leak" before Sunday.. you could've driven to the states and gotten a tank from PetCo for $20... although, with gas prices... It would've cost you more. *crazysmil

Do I sense two 20 gallon tanks in the making for Ishar?





BTW, kinda random... but what ever happened to the rest of the installments of the Adventures of Stickman?

 

[ishar]

oh yes, I plan on having 2 20s at some point, but I have to wait eight months or so until I get an apartment instead of this student home.

And my animation series sort of went in hiatus over the summer months, but I have ever intention of continuing with it during the school months - thanks for asking

 

[ishar]

On a side note, I am actually planning on turning my 20G into a vivarium with some geckos .

Anyways, I realized I didn't link to the new journal for my 20 long, so here it is
Ishar's 20 Gallon Long Planted Tank

 

[ishar]

I thought it would be useful to post a summary and analysis of what my tank went through and why and when here, as I thought those coming here for help on various issues could find a lot of help in my experiences, yet have a hard time sifting through all of the many posts. So over time I will add to this list and edit the list as my knowledge changes over time. Please note, that this is now about one year after starting this tank and my journey into planted tanks