2ft - Miracle

Forgot to post the final photo, too bad it is not fully mature yet. It should look better if the E.vivipara and HC grow thicker.

DIY CO2

I decided to use DIY CO2 for this setup to speed up my plants growth. Both non CO2 and daily Excel dosing does not give enough grow rate.

My DIY CO2 setup is pretty simple:
- 2 bottles of 1.5L soft drink (empty)
- 2 bubble counter
- 2 check valve
- Airstone
- CO2 hose

I did not use diffuser since it may not generate enough pressure to push CO2 through but I put airstone under filter inlets. That way most of the CO2 will be suck in by filter but it may cause airlock in some filter if lots of CO2 is created. Buble counter function as an indicator which bottle need to change. The check valve is to prevent CO2 from leaking out when one of the bottle being replace. I did not premix the solution together at the same time.


Simple sketch


I've been researching through out the net about DIY CO2 recipe and found that wine yeast suppose to be used instead of normal bread yeast. Apparently alcohol is toxic to yeast and alcohol is by product when yeast consume Glucose to generate energy in Anaerobic condition. Wine yeast on the other hand can tolerate highest level of alcohol and acidity. Thus in theory wine yeast will give you longer CO2 generator


Aerobic condition:

Glucose + O2 --> CO2 + H2O + Energy

Anaerobic condition:

Glucose --> CO2 + Alcohol + Energy

Searching around for wine yeast and found out that it cost 10 times more than normal yeast from supermarket. So forget about the idea of using wine yeast and use instant yeast instead (Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) from Bake King

My recipe:

- 2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon of yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1000 ml of water

Honestly it really not bad. I was haunted by post on forums, people was saying that DIY CO2 have unstable output. On contrary, I was able to get good stable output at least 0.5 bps for a month.


Update (12 October 2011)
BPS output from 1 bottle through out 37 days.

Some photos update, with proper camera this time.

2ft - Miracle

My new scape, I called it miracle. Why? Because I'm growing HC without CO2, it will be really a miracle if it is grow. Not that I'm doing it on purpose, recent safety regulation in my office does not allow pressurize gas tank inside office. One thing in mind, if the HC does not grow I will just take it out and replace it with lapis sand.

The scape was begin on early January 2011, just right after new year holiday. Just nice to start new year with new scape. Nothing special in mind, just typical NA style with some variation of using tree like drift wood.

The photo below was taken about 2 weeks after setup. Without CO2 the plants grow are terribly slow but HC does not show sign of melting which is a good sign. Sorry about the quality, it was taken using point and shoot camera.

I decided to dose excel regularly, to boost the plants grow rate to meet ADA competition date line.The photo below was taken end of February which is about a month after the first picture. Plants grow is very slow despite the daily excel dose. Interesting part is the hairgrass grow shorter. The hairgrass was re-plant from my previous scape, so it already with submerse leaf. I guess it try to adapt to new environtment, by shedding the long old leaf and grow new shorter leaf.

The HC grow is ok although it should be able to grow faster. Moss is growing skinny despide 24C water temperature, something that you normally see at high temp. The way it is now, it wont meet the May dateline. It make me think of doing DIY CO2.

Technical spec

Size: 60x30x32(H) cm

Light: 36W

Filter: Eheim 2213

CO2: none

Substrate: ADA Aquasoil Amazonia II

Fertilizer: modified EI

Flora list

1. Eleocharis parvula

2. Eleocharis vivipara

3. Hemianthus callitrichoides

4. Microsorum pteropus

5. Fissidens fontanus

6. Mini fissiden

7. Taxiphyllum sp. (flame moss)

8. Vesicularia dubyana (Singapore moss)

Fauna list

1. Hyphessobrycon amandae (Ember tetra)

2. Caridina cf. cantonensis 'crystal red'

3. Otocinclus affinis