-
Forum
-
Tropical Aquariums
-
Tropical Plants
-
Co2
×
Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Co2
-
txt_mess (txt_mess)
-
Topic Author
-
Visitor
-
06 Sep 2007 16:08 #1
by txt_mess (txt_mess)
Recently got a Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System , I know it's not really any better then once you make yourself but thought I'd ask anyway. Got the standard refill sachets are they any good should I add anything more then just them and the sugar ?
Anyone use it before any tricks for getting the best use out of it ?<br><br>Post edited by: txt_mess, at: 2007/09/06 23:09
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
-
Visitor
-
06 Sep 2007 19:23 #2
by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
safe yourself the monet by just adding a bit of baking powder and a packet of yeast plus water to the sugar
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Less
More
-
Posts: 379
-
Thank you received: 1
-
-
06 Sep 2007 22:50 #3
by zig (zig)
Refill sachets are normally pretty useless tbh, they are usually out of date.
Your better off spending a couple of euro on yeast from tesco or somewhere like that,and it literally is only a couple of euro for 6 months supply of yeast, I used to use 'McDougalls fast action bread yeast' these came in a box with several seperate sachets which kept the yeast nice and fresh, it was always consistant, never got a bad batch, but do check the best before date anyway. I used to buy them in tesco in the section where you would buy flour etc.
I cant remember how much I used for each mix, I think it was half a sachet of one of these and the recommended amount of sugar. little while later lots of CO2 bubbles.
Cheap and easy, I would change each mix every 10 days or so.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
-
Visitor
-
07 Sep 2007 08:36 #4
by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
I agree with Zig. Much cheaper.
@Zig,
change the whole thing every 10 days? Seems somewhat excessive unless you really need an awful lot of CO2.
What I would do is to use a 5 or 10 litre container and just adjust the amount of sugar. It will last for weeks. You can slow down the CO2 production if you don't need as much CO2 over a shiort period. Either by adding a spoon or two of baking powder or for every 200g use one of those gelatine sachet used for flan fruit cakes.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Less
More
-
Posts: 379
-
Thank you received: 1
-
-
07 Sep 2007 10:15 #5
by zig (zig)
Excessive!!......Well the nutrafin units are very small, I would guesstimate less than 1 litre capacity so they run out of steam fast enough anyway, you would probably get 2 weeks out of one of them if the mix was correct.
I had 2 of these running over a highlight tank for more than a year and would swop them out alternately every 10 days to give a good steady supply of CO2, worked well but a lot of work to keep it consistant, and consistancy is your enemy here, inconsistant CO2 levels will generally lead to bouts of algae.
Another small tip for txt_mess.....If your tap water is any way hard don't bother with using the bicarbonate of soda in the mix as it only clogs the CO2 pipe or diffuser depending on what you use, sugar yeast and water will do just fine and lead to a lot less clogging issues IME anyway.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
-
Visitor
-
07 Sep 2007 10:50 #6
by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
@zig,
yeah, forgot those nutrafin units aren't the biggest in the world. I just add bicarbonate because my tap water is so soft. That gelantine stuff for cakes works a treat though, no matter how hard your water is
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
txt_mess (txt_mess)
-
Topic Author
-
Visitor
-
07 Sep 2007 10:50 #7
by txt_mess (txt_mess)
Cheers for the comments lads , had gotten the kit for free so i am not out of pocket but wanted to give it a good try to see if it can improve the setup in one of my smaller tanks before I let it loose on the big one or if the money stretched end up with a Co2 canister system.
Will give the yeast from Tesco a try and see what reponse I get from the plants going to fun in in a record 96 thats planted with Amazon swords ( well established) , pygmy chain swords and a small grass which I was told is Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis.
Aiming to try and get that carpet effect but will post and let you know how it goes over the next couple of weeks.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
-
Visitor
-
07 Sep 2007 12:11 #8
by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
If you mean Echinodorus tenellus by pygmy (is that still PC?)chain sword, make sure you vaccum between the plants or else you will get pockets of uneaten food dead leaves, etc. in between plants which will in turn translate into nasty black algae that are almost impossible to get rid of. Echinodorus quadricostatus is much easier to keep even though it grows slightly larger but the distance between the individual plants is bigger and thus easier to keep clean.
What other Amazon swords do you keep? If it E. bleheri you won't need additional CO2. It'll grow pretty much anywhere once you have a suitable substrate. Try getting hold of some potting clay and make little pea-sized ball and sun dry them. Squeeze one of them onto the root system. I does wonders for the plants. I'm a bit of an Echinodorus nut (another thing I got genetically from the old man:lol: )I like the natural varieties rather than all those hybrids popping up these days. E. schlueteri would be a nice plant for the size of your tank and also E. angustifolius which looks a bit like a very thin-leafed Vallis.<br><br>Post edited by: apistodiscus, at: 2007/09/07 19:12
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Less
More
-
Posts: 379
-
Thank you received: 1
-
-
07 Sep 2007 12:29 #9
by zig (zig)
Holger do you have any E.angustifolius? any chance of a couple of cuttings?
I have been looking for this plant for a while now. Tropica used to do it but now have stopped propagating it. I could probably get it on ebay but last time I found a seller it looked nothing like E.angustifolius, probably something from his garden!
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
-
-
Visitor
-
07 Sep 2007 15:11 #10
by apistodiscus (apistodiscus)
Unfortunately not any longer. They all turned to mush in the great discus die-off this year. Didn't know that Tropica stopped doing them. Will ring the old man over the weekend and see if he has any
Please Log in to join the conversation.
Less
More
-
Posts: 379
-
Thank you received: 1
-
-
07 Sep 2007 17:57 #11
by zig (zig)
apistodiscus wrote:
Unfortunately not any longer. They all turned to mush in the great discus die-off this year. Didn't know that Tropica stopped doing them. Will ring the old man over the weekend and see if he has any
Holger that would be great but don't go to too much trouble mind, I will trade you some dry trace fertiliser if a trade is possible but no bother if your dad has none.
Please Log in to join the conversation.
-
Forum
-
Tropical Aquariums
-
Tropical Plants
-
Co2
Time to create page: 0.046 seconds
