# Is this O.K.?



## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

Hello, everyone!
I was wondering if you guys could tell me if my set-up is coming along nicely, or maybe headed for disaster..Ive gradually become more & more into it over the last month or so.
I have a 20 gal high w/a Coralife 65 watt aqualight(?) 6700? My substrate is Flourite red, I put this in a few weeks ago & have been gradually stepping it all up since then.
I have my original 4 rummie noses, 1 Emperor, 1 Lemon, 1 Red Eye & 7 ghost shrimp. They all survived the change-over to live plants, which was a real mess.
Instead of listing my plants, here is my pic of my tank as of tonight, after adding more plants.(still kindof dirty)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v301/beSteelmyheart/fishtanklive011.jpg
Am I too heavily planted?
Is my wattage ok to support this?
Is 9 1/2 hours a day o.k.?
Is the Nutrafin CO2 system going to be a good thing for my tank? I just bought one today & haven't installed it yet..
*Should I set it at 70 liters? From what I understand, that looks to be the highest setting. I don't really want to mess w/DIY CO2 right now, I've read up on it & it sounds like a pain in the butt. I'm also limited on space & don't want ugly bottles sitting out on my floor..
Was it a good thing to dismantle my bubble wall?
I'm having trouble with Java Moss..is my light too much for it?

I'll try to keep my questions limited for now, but I was wondering what you guys thought in general. I hope I'm off to a good start!


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## yildirim (Nov 25, 2004)

Hi,

It is a good start for now and definitely not heavily planted but would be easier to suggest after some time when the plants settle more and fill in the empty spaces. There is no info about your dosing regime for the tank and you are not pumping CO2 yet. So current ligthing and period is more than OK but not a problem. DIY CO2 is not such a big pain but pressurized is always much much better in long term run and consistency. Light is not a big issue for Java moss, there could be some other reasons if you are not satisfied, hard to decide from the picture. IMO you should move the bunch of red from left front corner to back center where it could get better light and empty space and also the bunch seems a bit crowded maybe you can consider dividing it into two.

Not bad for a new start.

YILDIRIM


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Hey SkinniMInni,

You have a good start there. Definitely not too heavily planted (no such thing, imo  ). A couple of points to mention, what is your kh? You need to know this prior to venturing into CO2 so you won't have any problems with pH crashing. IMO, you are borderline with your lighting as far as requiring adding CO2 or not. At least, you need Excel added, in other words, some carbon source. Yildirim is right about having your ferts in order. You want to be adding your macros and micros as well.



> Was it a good thing to dismantle my bubble wall?


 Yes, it will help to maintain CO2 in your tank, especially if you're not going the pressurized route.


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## SkinniMini (Mar 26, 2006)

Thanks, Yildirim & Bert!
Sorry I didn't give alot of info last night-I just did a round of water testing..
I have the Tetratest kit which includes the gh & kh, but will be honest, I don't understand much beyond adding drops to 5 ml of water. I'm led to believe that the amount of drops to make a change in color is the level of hardness, so my GH is 8, & my KH is 3-then it goes on to say the accuracy is increased with 10 ml of water, but I didn't do that because I don't understand what they mean by 1 drop of testing fluid=1/2degress dH, they don't explain it very well. Could I assume that the # then is just divided by half? It also comes with a co2 content graph, which I don't get yet, either, but my PH is at 8.0. If I look at this graph the way it's laid out w/PH & KH, my co2 concentration is 1,0 mg/l. I have _no idea _what the comma signifies. I'm out of their recommended range for co2. It also states that all figures relate to a water temp of 25 C. Well,being an American dinosaur, I'll have to look up the conversion on that. my water temp now is 80, the light is on a timer & has been on for 7 hours. I live in Florida & don't have a heater, this room is pretty stable temperature wise, but will get hot during our summer. Also the room has no windows & stays pretty dark during the day.
Do you know of any quick links on water hardness that I can study up on? I hate running blind on this & would be grateful!
Other tests are: ammonia-0, nitrites-0, nitrates-25. Now those last 3 have been the same since Mar 21, naughty me, I haven't done a water change, but my Ph has risen since then from a 7.0ish.
My fertilizers/additives are all Seachem, I've been adding some Excel, but probably in low doses everyday, like 1ml, also have the supplement, 0.7-0.01-0.37, more low doses maybe every few days, & have the iron with a low dose once. I also got a free bottle of some Nutrafin plant gro with that co2 unit, 0.15-0-0. 
I've read somewhere on this site that this nutrafin unit is meant more for smaller tanks, & from what I understand, should the depth of substrate & actual level of the water factor into it somehow? My substrate depth is an uneven 2 1/4 inches, higher in some spots, my water level from there is maybe 13". Tank 12 1/4"x24". I know there's a formula that applies to all of this, but can't find it..
I chose this co2 unit because my tank stand really isn't a tank stand, it's a solid, pretty peice of furniture that I refinished & have had for ages that fits this size tank perfectly-it has no opening in the back to run things thru, & I hate to have to cut it. The unit would hang nicely on the side, or in the back of my tank. Also, the fish guy has a beautiful planted tank running on this system, I think it's a 20 gal, but taller & more narrow than mine. It's a pretty good place, the guy has been around for years & it's become a family thing, he has some gorgeous planted freshwater tanks, & awesome marine stuff-he & his wife are into planted tanks. He didn't push the system on me, I just decided on it for myself.
I'm wondering if anyone has figured out a way to use this store bought hardware to use as a DIY unit instead of using the store bought packets..
Let's just say I install this co2 unit tonight...what should I start looking out for, a drop in ph? Do I need to test that everyday, with my hardness tests, or is it something that can wait a few days, a week...
I appreciate your help & patience & sorry if I babbled your ears off! 
Colleen


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

You're going in the right direction. Here's some reading that will help your understanding of planted tank basics:

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/01_intro.html

http://www.rexgrigg.com/

(homework!)


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Laith's references are excellent ones. Regarding the question about kh - what they are saying is if you increase (double) the volume of water you are testing, you will have more accuracy. For example: if you follow their directions and use a 5ml sample and it takes 4 drops for the color to change, then your degrees of hardness of kh = 4. If you instead take a 10ml sample and then start adding drops, you might expect it to take 8 drops to induce the same color change. But let's say it only took 7 drops to have the change. You would divide it in half to get it back to the original methodology and your kh would now be read as 7/2 = 3.5. It gives you a little more accuracy is all they're saying.

Don't worry about the temperature equilibration with your values. For our purposes, it's not a problem. I am a fellow Floridian and in the summertime tank temps can reach 85, no problems for me, at least.


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