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Hey...whos done it...do you use the regular 2L soda bottle or a 1L soda bottle? Any other tips when dealing with smaller sized tanks? Currently it's only about 1.8wpg and has two "mini" size filters (one AC and one tetra tec)...stock is only two very small danios and a few thousand of their closest MTS friends .

And any ideas on how to hide the bottle itself ...this is for a tank on my desk @work...I don't want boss to come in and have a heart attack @the ugly tank equiptiment . The CO2 I'm running on my 20 @home I spraypainted the bottle black...not sure that was really a good idea or not .

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

Hi Babel,

I've never really understood why anybody would want to hook up any kind of Co2 to a small tank. The plants will outgrow the tank too quickly leading to lots of maintenance to keep it in shape, particularly in an office tank. If using slow growers then no need for co2 either. With 1.5 wpg the diy co2 seems like unneccessary trouble.

Tom Barr reccomended a method to me for non Co2 tanks that works beautifully for small tanks. It's possible using this method to grow practically any plant under the sun. It's extremely low maintenance so good for office tanks. I use this method in my own 5 gal and it works beautifully so far.

I'll try to dig out the thread. Basically it''s about limiting co2 rather then adding it. This is done by not doing any water changes (you see how this would benefit an office tank). Plant heavily, moderate light, feed the plants well and dose Flourish Excel for a few weeks to get the plants established. Once established stop the Excel. No water changes just top up for evaporation. Dose KNO3 if needed and a little bit of liquid traces (about 5ml) weekly. Plants look good and stay healthy but grow very slowly, again a good thing for an office tank.

You can find Tom's comments in this thread http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/54892.html
He describes it better then me.

Last edited by bensaf at 29-Mar-2005 20:48

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

T'anks bensaf,
I'll have to read thru and digest that one. I'm actually trying to get the plants to grow fast, they've been in that tank for months to years and havent' grown much if @all...even the hygro . I'll hopefully be converting the tank over to a multi tank soon and will be removing most of the plants, but I want the java fern that is in there to grow more before I convert the tank. I know the java I have in my hope tank does appreaciate the added CO2

^_^


[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

For your purpose I would use a 1 ltr bottle and half the recipe for a 2 ltr.

Put the bottle under your desk and run the tubing discreetly up with the rest of your power cords.

Petsmart sells black tubing that would hide very nicely with the rest of your cords.

I would also keep a valve of some sort handy just in-case this ends up giving off too much CO2.