Well, I am now a converted believer in the power of CO2. Since adding a simple Hagen DIY yeast kit to my 20 gallon, I have seen an incredible turnaround in plant growth. That is to say, the plants are growing with great color! However, the drawbacks to the DIY yeast are unfortunately obvious. The production of CO2 has slowed down dramatically since the first two weeks of mixing up the packets, sugar and water. I'm now toward the end of week 3 and the bubble count is much lower. (I'm going to try to calculate the CO2 content of the water using the old PH-KH method.)
But now that I have seen the incredible power of CO2, I want to leave behind the DIY and hook up a real system to a 30 gallon tank I am gradually building up. I found a great price on what appears to be a full Milwaukee rig (excluding the CO2 canister, of course):
http://www.aquabotanic.com/abstore/index.html
Any thoughts on this setup? Can I use it with a power filter (an AC70), or does that pretty much defeat the purpose? Is it time to go with an Eheim? And if that's the case, do I need to go with Ghazfanar's in-line CO2 reactor?
Thanks again for all of your help. It is truly thank to GWAPA that I have a great planted tank that I enjoy each and every day.
Milwaukee set-up
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keeperofthefish
- Posts: 60
- Joined: Wed Jun 08, 2005 6:06 pm
- Location: Washington, D.C.
I'm glad to hear that the DIY method is working well for you. Generally speaking, for DIY you *need* to mixed up a new sugar/yeast solution every 2 weeks.
This Milwaukee setup is exactly what you need, and exactly what many of us use. (I just bought a second set of these this past month, and love it.) As far as aquabotanic, I can't speak for everyone, but I know one of my orders from them took a month to get. They apparently forget to ship it. I did eventually get the goods, but just a word of warning. I'll leave it up to others to suggest an alternate store.
As far as the reactor goes, you're not going to be able to use your power filter. If you want to keep the power filter, you'll want to buy/make something like the "Power Reactor" listed on aquabotanic's site. Or a diffuser. If you've been wanting to get a canister filter anyways, the Eheim with Ghazanfar's PVC reactor is certainly a good design.
This Milwaukee setup is exactly what you need, and exactly what many of us use. (I just bought a second set of these this past month, and love it.) As far as aquabotanic, I can't speak for everyone, but I know one of my orders from them took a month to get. They apparently forget to ship it. I did eventually get the goods, but just a word of warning. I'll leave it up to others to suggest an alternate store.
As far as the reactor goes, you're not going to be able to use your power filter. If you want to keep the power filter, you'll want to buy/make something like the "Power Reactor" listed on aquabotanic's site. Or a diffuser. If you've been wanting to get a canister filter anyways, the Eheim with Ghazanfar's PVC reactor is certainly a good design.
I would suggest www.aquariumplants.com for ordering the regulator setup. I've heard nothing but good things from everyone I know who's ordered from them and when there are problems they fix them quickly.
Like Kris already suggested, a canister filter would definitely be better. You don't want to have a lot of surface agitation as this is what gases off CO2 and oxygenates the water. In a planted tank you want the CO2 to stay and the plants to oxygenate the water.
Like Kris already suggested, a canister filter would definitely be better. You don't want to have a lot of surface agitation as this is what gases off CO2 and oxygenates the water. In a planted tank you want the CO2 to stay and the plants to oxygenate the water.
