Date: 1/28/06
pH: 6.8 (added CO2)
Temp: 77
KH: 5
GH: 6
NH4:
NO2: 0.05
NO3: 5-10
PO4:
Iron:
Dosing: 5 mL Flourish, 10 mL Flourish Iron
Notes:
Finally added compressed CO2 after waiting for the regulator. After waiting for over a month for a Milwaukee regulator, which I ended up never receiving (ahem, I tried to order from www.aquabotanic.com, which drop ships from the manufacturer), I ordered an Azoo regulator from www.drsfostersmith.com. So far, it’s working perfectly.

I made a homemade bubble counter out of a spice jar and air hose connectors, and used aquarium silicon sealant to seal around where the connectors enter through the lid of the spice jar. I used ordinary silicon air hose with a check valve between the bubble counter and CO2 tank, and another check valve between the external CO2 reactor and bubble counter. The second check valve isn’t really necessary, but it doesn’t hurt. I set the CO2 flow rate to be about 2 bubbles per second. Using pH and KH values, I estimate the CO2 levels to be about 24 ppm, which is my target.

I already had a 130 W 48” CF light fixture, which cost about $100. The fixture totals to 2 watts/gallon. To save on costs, I compromised and added an extra watt/gallon by purchasing a 48” T8 shop light from Home Depot. It holds 2 32 watt T8 lights, which are more efficient and narrower than the conventional T12 lights. The light fixture had a reflector with a dark grey paint finish. I simply lined the inside of the reflector with aluminum foil to help improve reflection a bit. The total cost for the fixture and bulbs came out to about $30 including tax.

I had decided to try to reduce the dosing of Flourish to 5 mL daily, instead of 10 mL daily, and almost immediately, the new leaves on the stargrass started to grow in a paler green. I don’t know if it had something to do with the Flourish, or the addition of Equilibrium. I just received my order of Flourish Iron, and so I dosed 10 mL of Iron in addition to the Flourish.

Over the course of a week, a thin layer of organic matter builds up into a film on the surface. So far, the black mollies, which reportedly are supposed to skim that layer from the surface, aren’t doing much. I mean, that is pretty much the only reason I got those fish.

The nitrites are decreasing, meaning the mini-cycle from the addition of new fishes is almost over. I usually do a water change today, but since I had just added the CO2, I thought I’d let things sit for a day before changing the water. I just received my python hose (got sick of lugging the buckets around), and I want to try to start a 50% water change regimen (a la Tom Barr’s Estimative Index method), instead of the usual 15-20% change.