Miller's Journal

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/16/2023 at 10:01 PM, A3M0N said:

I've used Krylon Fusion, let it cure for 7 days. 

Thank you.

[Odd Duck]

I would encourage you to fasten your wood pieces to a rock base before you plant.  I wish I had in my 100 G nano because I still ended up with floating wood pieces after cutting the zip ties holding on the rocks.  The wood had been soaking for over a year for one piece, right around a year for the other piece.

Tank looks great, though.  I’m looking forward to watching it develop.

[anewbie]

On 3/20/2023 at 3:07 AM, Odd Duck said:

I would encourage you to fasten your wood pieces to a rock base before you plant.  I wish I had in my 100 G nano because I still ended up with floating wood pieces after cutting the zip ties holding on the rocks.  The wood had been soaking for over a year for one piece, right around a year for the other piece.

Tank looks great, though.  I’m looking forward to watching it develop.

I never had this issue; but i am curious if you know what type of it was as i suppose different types have different degrees of buoyancy.

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/20/2023 at 2:07 AM, Odd Duck said:

I would encourage you to fasten your wood pieces to a rock base before you plant.  I wish I had in my 100 G nano because I still ended up with floating wood pieces after cutting the zip ties holding on the rocks.  The wood had been soaking for over a year for one piece, right around a year for the other piece.

Tank looks great, though.  I’m looking forward to watching it develop.

Good advice. I should probably glue rocks to it's base so it will be hidden under the sand.

On 3/20/2023 at 3:21 AM, anewbie said:

I never had this issue; but i am curious if you know what type of it was as i suppose different types have different degrees of buoyancy.

The twig is Spider, not sure if the stump is Spider or something else. Spider floats for a while so it's possible the stump is Spider. I bought it several years ago and can't remember.

[Miska]

I am absolutely adoring of this set up. I cannot wait to see what happens next! Thank you for posting.

[anewbie]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:48 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Good advice. I should probably glue rocks to it's base so it will be hidden under the sand.

The twig is Spider, not sure if the stump is Spider or something else. Spider floats for a while so it's possible the stump is Spider. I bought it several years ago and can't remember.

Just an FYI: but i've not had problem with spider floating after let them sit in water for 7 to 14 days. Doesn't mean i won't have problems in the future 😉

 

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:09 AM, anewbie said:

Just an FYI: but i've not had problem with spider floating after let them sit in water for 7 to 14 days. Doesn't mean i won't have problems in the future 😉

 

The twig is already sinking, but the stump is going to take a while for sure. The larger branches currently in the 75 still want to float and it's been several months now.

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:07 AM, Miska said:

I am absolutely adoring of this set up. I cannot wait to see what happens next! Thank you for posting.

I'm going to document how I'm going to inject CO2 in such a large tank. It's a method another person came up with that hasn't been tested yet, at least publicly on forums. He reached out to me and is assisting me along the way. It's honestly brilliant, and is so simple. I hope it works.

[Miska]

I am very interested in CO2! I keep looking at a complete set up on Fb and not doing it because I am a newb. 

I can't wait to see what you two come up with!!

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:23 AM, Miska said:

I am very interested in CO2! I keep looking at a complete set up on Fb and not doing it because I am a newb. 

I can't wait to see what you two come up with!!

I was a noob too. I would encourage you to use it. It's a game changer and opens many doors for a beautiful planted tank.

[Miska]

Plants are my life, for real, I've loved them forever and I have a case of "If I plan enough I can do it" then I never do it.

 

Thank you for the advice! I am going to see about buying the set up. 

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:28 AM, Miska said:

Plants are my life, for real, I've loved them forever and I have a case of "If I plan enough I can do it" then I never do it.

 

Thank you for the advice! I am going to see about buying the set up. 

Just get a good setup, you need one that's stable. 

[anewbie]

On 3/20/2023 at 8:22 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

I'm going to document how I'm going to inject CO2 in such a large tank. It's a method another person came up with that hasn't been tested yet, at least publicly on forums. He reached out to me and is assisting me along the way. It's honestly brilliant, and is so simple. I hope it works.

What i am doing is building a 2 foot reactor out of pentair filter housing ; the input comes from the sump after the socks and the output goes into tub with the return pumps so all the return pumps can pull co2 rich water (there are 4 return pumps). I haven't tested this yet because well the tank arrives in about 4 weeks and another 3 or 4 weeks to get it setup and cycled but that is the plan  - if it doesn't work well (waste too much co2); then i will just put it on one of the returns. Sometime this week or next i'll test the reactor portion in the bath-tub to make sure it doesn't leak.

Edited March 20, 2023 by anewbie

[Odd Duck]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:48 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Good advice. I should probably glue rocks to it's base so it will be hidden under the sand.

You’ll be glad you did.  It was such a PITA to attach them to slate after they had been soaking in the tank and were good and slimy.  Much better to do before biofilm gets a good start, plus you won’t be disrupting plantings, etc.

On 3/20/2023 at 4:21 AM, anewbie said:

I never had this issue; but i am curious if you know what type of it was as i suppose different types have different degrees of buoyancy.

I don’t know.  One piece I got from Belinda’s Driftwood, the other I got from a LFS.  The piece from the LFS soaked for the shortest time because I found the piece from Belinda first. It also floated the best after being released from the rock weights.  🤦🏻‍♀️  Both were soaked (held down by bricks) in a black barrel for months outside in Texas heat before going into the tank.  They got hosed down and scrubbed before going in the tank.

Edited March 23, 2023 by Odd Duck
Ugh. Typos.

[Mmiller2001]

The shallow boy is breathing CO2. What a chore. So, I guess I'm testing how a horizontal CO2 reactor works. The gentleman that came up with the design, created a CO2 spray bar and it works off the same principle. The only difference is the Horizontal Reactor isn't visible. Hopefully the horizontal Reactor works and works just as well. 

Here's the link if you are curious how it works. I went to Ace Hardware, so total cost was about 25 bucks.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/horizontal-co2-reactor-estimations-for-a-big-tank-or-small-tank.70766/#post-708451

And here's his CO2 spray bar.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-spray-bar.69554/

This is a genius if this works.

Here's some pictures of my instillation.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Mmiller2001

[Theplatymaster]

On 3/21/2023 at 7:44 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

The shallow boy is breathing CO2. What a chore. So, I guess I'm testing how a horizontal CO2 reactor works. The gentleman that came up with the design, created a CO2 spray bar and it works off the same principle. The only difference is the Horizontal Reactor isn't visible. Hopefully the horizontal Reactor works and works just as well. 

Here's the link if you are curious how it works. I went to Ace Hardware, so total cost was about 25 bucks.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/horizontal-co2-reactor-estimations-for-a-big-tank-or-small-tank.70766/#post-708451

And here's his CO2 spray bar.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/co2-spray-bar.69554/

This is a genius if this works.

Here's some pictures of my instillation.

how does this work?

is it like a bubble bar but for C02?

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/21/2023 at 5:59 PM, Theplatymaster said:

how does this work?

is it like a bubble bar but for C02?

Basically, you create a lazy river under a column of CO2. This large surface area contact diffuses the CO2 into the water and is carried to the tank. To picture it, imagine an artic ice sheet over the ocean; where the ice is the CO2 and the water has current under the ice. The contact area melts that ice and pulls it along the current.

[anewbie]

On 3/22/2023 at 6:38 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

Basically, you create a lazy river under a column of CO2. This large surface area contact diffuses the CO2 into the water and is carried to the tank. To picture it, imagine an artic ice sheet over the ocean; where the ice is the CO2 and the water has current under the ice. The contact area melts that ice and pulls it along the current.

I guess the critical aspect is to make sure the co2 never gets below the exit point; else you will waste undisolved co2; this suggest the bigger (diameter) of the tube the better ?

[Mmiller2001]

On 3/22/2023 at 3:25 PM, anewbie said:

I guess the critical aspect is to make sure the co2 never gets below the exit point; else you will waste undisolved co2; this suggest the bigger (diameter) of the tube the better ?

Length and diameter for sure. I achieved a pH drop from 7.35 to 6.25. I will continue testing over the next few days. I added a drop checker late today just to visually verify the pH drop, but it was late and had to leave for dinner so I couldn't verify it this evening. As soon as the CO2 turned on, there was slow creek trickling like noise.. So it being silent could be an issue, at least for my build. 

[Mmiller2001]

I will add the injection rate was less for this build versus my 20 inch Cerges reactor on the 75 gallon to achieve about the same pH drop. I consider this a big deal and a selling point for this design. Tomorrow will tell me more. I need to find the injection rate which hits my target pH at light on, and holds that pH drop at peak CO2 uptake. And find the off time while still holding near peak CO2 until the light turns off.

[Mmiller2001]

The tank is a bit cloudy or dirty glass from handling. I'm not sure, but leaning towards cloudy from the cycle beginning. Did the first round of planting yesterday and coming to a few plant decisions. I feel like I'm going to have to give up on some of my favorite plants because they just don't feel right with where I think I'm going plant wise.

I also removed the one wood branch and the leaning rock from the left side. I'm feeling the scape is good enough. I'm definitely not an aqua scape aficionado. 

[Mmiller2001]

Planting round 2.

Green dust algae started. New reactor working a bit better than the horizontal configuration.

 

[Mmiller2001]

Phone edits.

New reactor.

[Mmiller2001]

I'm reading mixed reviews and wondering if you all could answer a question for me. I bought 3 Clown Plecos, and didn't even think about potential plant eating. If you've had these, did they eat your plants? It would just be the 3 in the 120.

 

[SugarBassJoe]

On 4/10/2023 at 8:04 AM, Mmiller2001 said:

I'm reading mixed reviews and wondering if you all could answer a question for me. I bought 3 Clown Plecos, and didn't even think about potential plant eating. If you've had these, did they eat your plants? It would just be the 3 in the 120.

 

Never had an issue with my clown pleco eating plants, and if he does its very minimal, he's in a heavily planted 20G and everything seems fine, I do see him munching on the driftwood from time to time, but not to often, I feed a a healthy amount of Repashys Morning Wood, that might be helping.