Addicted to Aquaria

Fluorite Black

2009-07-31T10:48:00.000-07:00

I've got the the planted aquarium substrate in place. The "special dirt" is now in it's home. I'm glad that I went and did about a bag and a half, it's given me a lot to work with. It doesn't look too deep as far as the tank is concerned, but there is plenty of room for root growth. The best part about having the extra depth is that I can shape the bottom and give it some life. A flat layer of gravel at the bottom of a tank is boring. When I look at my tank I don't want to see boring, so aquascaping is the way to go.

I actually added the substrate before the water, but since my camera was down I wasn't able to take pictures until after I had added the water. So for continuity's sake, I am posting the pictures of the finished substrate now. The strainer helped create an even sized substrate that looks quite nice. I am happy with the appearance of the results. I am excited to see what benefits the Flourite will bring to the growth of the plants that will be living in this aquarium.

One of the most exciting things for me is the rock while sitting on the gravel. It sits very securely and provides ledges around the corners. I have dug some of the gravel out from under these ledges and created a couple of small caves. It's a little difficult to see in pictures above and below this paragraph, but there are four areas of shelter created by the rock. This is wonderful, because a fish that has plenty of places to hide is much less likely to do so. The neatest cave is the one in the back right corner. It's so large that I can stick my four fingers into it all the way up to the knuckles. It definitely provides the most security, as the entrance to the cave is facing the black background.

I'm happy with my substrate choice up to this point. I read all sorts of warnings about the tank becoming forever cloudy if the substrate isn't rinsed well enough. I must have done a good job, because I haven't notice any cloudiness in the water even when I disturb the substrate. No problems here.

Water at Last

2009-07-31T10:32:00.001-07:00

I've added water to the tank. It's about time. I've been slowly making changes to the tank for about 2 months now. I added dechlorinator to the water and let it reach room temperature before adding it to the tank. There really wasn't much of a reason to wait for the water to be the right temperature as there was nothing in the tank...but it seems to be a good habit.

I set up the two filters and ran them for a couple of days. I waited until I was confident that the bio media in the AquaClear 30 had established enough bacteria to maintain the cycled state when the smaller filter was removed.

Cycle Complete

2009-07-26T14:00:00.000-07:00

The cycling of the rock is complete. I've been doing water tests on the rock in the bucket for the last couple of days. Recently the NH3 and NO2 have bottomed out and I have a rock and a small filter that are full of beneficial bacteria. I am going to move the rock and the whisper filter into the 10 gal tank soon. I plan on running the cycled filter and the uncycled AquaClear filter at the same time so that the power filter can get seeded with bacteria. More updates soon.

Rinsing the "Special Dirt"

2009-07-24T13:09:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile since I've posted. My camera has been out of batteries. Since photographs are such an important part of this blog, I decided to wait to post until I had a functional camera again.

In the time that my camera was down, I've made several changes in the tank. Most importantly I've added the substrate. I started about a week ago.When I opened up the first bag and caught a mouthful of dust. The entire bathroom went cloudy and I had to open a window to vent off all of the dust that accumulated. I realized that I had underestimated how dusty Fluorite really was. I knew that I had some work to do before I could put it into the tank.

I poured the bag into on of my 5 gal buckets. I filled the bucket full of water and sloshed the Flourite around in the water. Then I poured off all of the colored water into the spare bathtub that we have in the back of the house. I probably did this eight or nine times. Thats a least 40 gallons of water to rinse off most of the dust in the substrate. Then I took large handfuls of the gravel and rinsed them in a spaghetti strainer (for aquarium use only) for about a minute for each handful. The strainer let the smaller pieces of Flourite through and left me with nice even sized substrate.

This of course left a mess in the bathtub. A mess which I am yet to clean up. Oops.

Perfecto

2009-07-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

I've made some little changes in my setup for my 10 gal tank, most notably I added a lid and an airpump. There isn't alot to say about each one so I'm going to talk about them mostly with pictures. Yay! pictures.

I added a top to the aquarium recently. I didn't have to go out and buy it, I already had it from when I used this 10 gal as a hospital tank. I pulled it out and got it cleaned up. It's a MarineLand Perfecto Glass Aquarium Canopy. I chose a glass top rather than a full hood. I don't like being limited in the amount of light I can put over my tank, so glass was the choice.

Unless I had a reason to not have a lid, I don't think I would do without one. The difference in evaporation loss is significant between having a lid and not. Besides, without a lid, I can't prevent jumpers. It works great. It's attractive and was very simple to setup and use. The plastic strip on the back is easy to custom cut to fit various aquarium equipment. Its also nicer to look at than an ugly black hood.

But the glass canopy wasn't the only thing that I added to the tank. I also hooked up an air-pump. I shopped around and chose a Hagen Elite 801 Air-pump. It was cheep. Only $8. I compared that to a $20 equivalent Tetra model. I chose the former, knowing if I wasn't satisfied then I could return it. I've heard lots of positive things about Hagen's products, so it was worth giving this one a shot.

I put a check valve into the airline and connected the airpump to a three way gang valve. I then split the air into two separate paths and led them with airline tubing holders into the bottom of the tank. I have air diffusers (airstones) at the end of each of the tubes. The third gang valve outlet is open just a little to bleed off extra pressure and help the air-pump last longer. For clarification, my CO2 system is bypassing the gang valve. The air-pump and CO2 systems operate independently of one another.

I guess I had more to say than I thought.
Well, that's all I've got for now. I'm still daydreaming about the possibilities.

Cycle the Rock

2009-07-10T20:07:00.000-07:00

So with all of the solutions that I received for the $14 rock, I chose the ones that seemed the safest and simplest. I poured a pot of boiling water over and into the rock. This is to hopefully kill any dormant organic life remaining in the rock. Afterwards, I took the rock and put it in a 5 gal bucket. I put a Tetra Whisper In-Tank Filter in the bucket and attached it to a cheap air pump. I am going to cycle the rock in the bucket. The dead organic matter in the rock are going to decompose, providing an ammonia source. The rock is essentially going to fuel the cycling process. Here is what I've got.

I have been tracking the cycling process using my water test kit. Right now I have about 2 ppm NH4 and 1 ppm NO2. The cycling process has begun. Not all that exciting to watch, but at least it doesn't take any work. Nature takes care of it all. When I am done, I'll have a rock populated with a variety of beneficial bacteria ready to be placed in my tank. More updates soon.

Cat "fish"

2009-07-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

I have a new catfish for my tank. She's young right now and will outgrow the tank in a few months. Check her out....

Actually, a couple of days ago, my dad and his girlfriend came home from dinner with a kitten. It had been abandoned in the restaurant parking lot. After about a day, it was fairly evident that she was going to stay. We have named her Luna and decided to keep her. She's about 8 weeks old and is possibly the most adorable thing on the planet.

She's too cute.

DIY CO2

2009-07-05T13:28:00.000-07:00

All over the Internet, many people have put their two cents in on how to make a do-it-yourself CO2 system. Now it’s my turn.

Since there are so many sets of instructions available online, I am not going to add to the confusion. I don’t believe that there is any one way to make a CO2 system that is better than others. Everyone has slightly different needs and will need a variation that best suits their situation. I did several weeks of research before arriving at the system that I have today.

I am going to describe my homemade CO2 system and the reasons behind the decisions that I made.

To start out, I needed an airtight container which I could store the yeast mixture. Even though most of the instructions online are for a 2-liter bottle, I chose glass. Glass is stronger and more attractive than plastic so I started looking at jars that I could convert into a CO2 generator. I decided to use Ball 1 Qt. Wide Mouth Canning Jars. They look nice and will be able to hold up over long-term use. The wide mouth is to make it easier to clean. I needed three jars build this setup.

I chose to use two single quart jars to create the dual CO2 reactors. Quart jars have a similar volume to a 2-liter bottle, but have the advantage of being able to be rotated. This allows for a smoother transition between batches. I connected the jars using a metal T-valve. I chose metal because it will hold up much better to any abuse and will last longer over time. It’s not that I intend to abuse my CO2 system, it just seems like choosing metal was the way to “do it right”.

I am using is Hagen Elite Airline Tubing for this project. I bought it with the understanding that is was silicone tubing and would therefore be CO2 resistant. I am unable to find anything about silicone or CO2 resistance anywhere on the packaging. Turns out that the clerk at the LFS was misinformed or made an uneducated guess. Oh well. I am happy with the tubing; it held up well during the production process and was quite easy to work with.

When I drilled the hole for the airline tubing at the top of the jars I chose to make the hole a little small. I then cut the tubing at a 45 degree angle and pulled it through with some pliers. This created a tight fit that supposedly seals better than silicone sealant. I find this a little hard to believe, but I didn't have any problems with air leaks or pressure loss when I tested out my system. It works, and is quicker and cleaner than using some silicone goop.

I hooked up the generators to a bubble counter that I made. When I put it all together It looked like this...

The jar on the right is the bubble counter. It's a simple contraption that I described in my first blog post. If you would like to read it, you can go here. After the bubble counter I inserted a check valve. For me, this is a necessary precaution, it helps me rest assured that no catastrophic accidents are going to occur. *crosses fingers*

I then run the airline tubing into the tank. It is guided by airline tubing holders underneath the intake of the filter. The rising CO2 bubbles will be sucked up into the filter and get chopped up by the impeller. This allows the CO2 to dissolve more easily.

The websites that I found the most helpful in creating this system are listed here. I probably read a dozen others before starting, but these are the ones with that most shaped the DIY CO2 system that I am using.

http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_co2.php
http://www.gpodio.com/diy_co2.asp
http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/co2-narten.html
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Diyco2.htm

Altogether I believe that I have setup a CO2 system that will work well in my tank. It's fancier than most similar DIY CO2 projects but will do the trick. I really like the results and will look forward to seeing how it holds up over long term use. Hopefully it will help me maintain the crucial balance for raising plants successfully.

AquaClear 30

2009-06-29T21:52:00.000-07:00

I recently had lunch with my grandparents while they were in town. We went to a local diner where I had the best cheeseburger that I have had in at least a month. I love cheeseburgers. We talked about various things, typical table talk. I politely interjected that I had a lovely birthday dinner with my father the night before. My grandmother looked horrified, she had forgotten my birthday!

She wanted to make it right and asked me if there was anything I needed. I thought for a moment and came up with something that I “needed.” I told her about a filter I was looking at getting for my new aquarium and then I suggested that she could help me pay for it. After lunch we went to PetSmart to get the filter. I offered to pay for a part of the filter, but she purchased the whole thing. It is a Hagen AquaClear 30 Aquarium Power Filter.

I had considered getting the AquaClear 20 for my 10 gal but I wasn’t sure that it was up for the task. The AC 20 is rated for 5 – 20 gal. tanks and is the smallest filter that Hagen has on the market. I had read a review online that suggested that a 10-gallon was the most that the AC 20 was really able to handle. Having only seen one negative review, I can’t treat that opinion like fact.

Opinions aside, I decided to get the AquaClear 30. I know that it will have enough filtering capacity to handle whatever I throw at it. The AC 30 is rated for 10 - 30 gal tanks. I feel more comfortable using a larger filter than necessary. Besides, the AquaClear filter family has tons of positive reviews. I hope be able to give it a positive review after having used one for a while.

I set it up in my tank yesterday. It required some assembly, but nothing major. It looks nice. I guess there’s not much more to say about that for now.

The smelly rock. I left it out in the hot sun for three days. The smell is gone; but I haven't gotten it wet again, so the problem may not be solved. I am waiting for a little more feedback to a post that I have on the Aquarium Advice forum. Current suggestions include a hydrogen peroxide bath, lots of soaking and water changes, and pouring boiling water over the rock.

The post I am refering to is available here.

I'm willing to the suggestions in the post, but I don't want to go to the extra effort if I don't have to. Hopefully (crosses fingers) the sun took care of the problem. Chances are, I'm in for some kind of headache in the near future.

B-Day & Cookbooks

2009-06-29T09:44:00.000-07:00

So my birthday was three days ago. I had intended to blog that night and realized that I wasn’t feeling up to it. I started writing but nothing was flowing or coming out right, so I stopped. I received a birthday present from my Dad. It was a nice card and a bag of “special dirt” that I had asked for.

Preparing to set up my tank I asked two separate people for a bag of “special dirt” for my birthday. When they asked what makes ‘special’ dirt, I told them that it’s designed to help grow freshwater aquatic plants. What I specifically asked for was some Seachem Fluorite. It was one of the aquatic plant substrates that I was considering for my 10 gal tank and I figured it would be the easiest one to find. I have been asking for it in hopes of not having to buy any substrate for my aquarium.

I could try only using one bag of Fluorite in my tank, but I wouldn’t have enough depth, and there wouldn’t be any to use for aquascaping. When I calculated out my desired volume (10 x 20 x 2.5 = 500 in^3) and compared that to the volume of a 15.4 lb bag of Fluorite (325 in^3) I discovered that I needed 1.3 bags. That’s too great a difference to get away with one bag. Besides, it will be better having plenty to work with rather than not enough. I’m glad I asked two people.

I’m not going to jump into rinsing the Fluorite just yet, I recognize that that is a lengthy process and I will need to have a block of time freed up so that I can devote it to rinsing this extremely dusty substrate. I’ll probably have a post about my experience rinsing fluorite sometime in the near future.

The card was really special. I had never seen a fish themed card before; it really fit for me with my new hobby. I’ve only been fishkeeping for about five months now, but my interest in the hobby has done nothing but grow. I sometimes jokingly refer to aquaria as “my addiction.” It’s a hobby for me, but the obsession that I have resembles that of an addiction.

About a week ago, I was at an estate sale that was selling cookbooks. It had boxes of cookbooks. They covered three large tables in the garage and a perimeter of boxes on the floor around the tables. The walls of the garage were bookshelves with cookbooks from waist height to the ceiling; There was a 25’ x 10’ room behind the garage with cookbooks on shelves from the floor to the ceiling. It was ridiculous. My estimate would be over 4000 cookbooks!

It reminded me that I have a hobby, which is a far stretch from an addiction. The cookbook lady… may have had more than just a hobby.

Something Smells

2009-06-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

About two nights ago went over to my tank and realized that it was putting off an offensive odor. I did some brief investigating and discovered that my lava rock was stinky. I smelled it in several different places and got an equal number of different smells. In general I found the faint smell of musk and mildew.

Six days ago, when I first got the rock I hadn't noticed any smell. The rock even looked rather clean. I rinsed it anyways, for good measure. Afterwords, I soaked the rock in a 5 gallon bucket. When I put the lava rock into the water in bubbled and fizzed letting off air trapped in the rock. I realized that the holes in the outside of the rock went through its entire internal structure. It was like a heavy, stiff sponge.

A sponge indeed. When I removed the rock from the bucket about two days later it bled water. I put it on a towel where it continued to let off more water until the chair underneath the towel was wet. I shook the rock out and it appeared to be empty so I found a suitable placement in the tank. And took some pictures.

It let off more water while inside the tank! I soaked it up with a paper towel and didn't think much more of it after that. That is until now. I figure that there is still water inside of the lava rock. That moisture inside of a dark warm rock would make a fantastic environment to grow mildew. Well crap. I wanted to put that rock in my tank.

I took the rock outside and left in on the table on our back patio. It's supposed to be over 100 F for several days in a row. If anything, it should help dry out the rock. But I am afraid of what problems I could introduce to the tank when I allow the rock to get wet again. I am going to have to do some research before proceeding with that piece of decor. Oh well, that's one advantage of taking it slow.

50W Stealth Heater

2009-06-24T07:50:00.000-07:00

I wasn't sure if I was going to do product reviews in my blog. I figured that it would be lame, or that nobody would want to hear about some piece of equipment. I changed my mind. The knowledge required to make an informed decision is a very important part of the fish keeping hobby. That would naturally apply to any of the equipment that is used. So I am going to do a review of my heater that I recently placed in my 10 gal tank.

The heater that I will be reviewing is a Marineland Stealth 50 Visi-Therm Submersible Aquarium Heater. I picked it up about two months ago when my backup heater went on the fritz and started heating nonstop. I couldn't use it or it'd end up boiling my fish. I needed a heater to set up a hospital tank for a sick platy so I went out and bought one. I am very happy with my selection.

As far as basic function, it does everything that you ask it to. It reliably heated my hospital tank for over a month, and I had no problems with it. It's accurate. I tested it with two separate thermometers and was spot on to the dialed temperature. I had the tank at 81 F while doing a progressive saltwater treatment and I never saw the temperature drop to 80 or below.

Its small. Only about 8" in length. That made it a good choice in my little tank, and it is fairly easy to hide. If you don't believe me, then look at the picture of the rock in the tank from the $14 rock post. Well, it's easy to hide as far as heaters go. But it looks so nice, it may not be worth trying to hide it. The sleek black casing is simple and attractive.

The other things that I like about the heater may seem like little things. It's adjustable. I never thought much about the importance of an adjustable heater until I had one that only operated on a fixed temperature. Trust me, any control freak has got to have heater controls. Also the suction cups function excellently and suspend the heater as to provide more contact with the water.

Finally, It has a great safety feature. If it is taken out of the water then it will automatically shut off. This prevents the heater from overheating and causing all sorts of damage. It's a nice feature for me because I sometimes forget to unplug the heater when I lower the water level while doing a partial water change.

The price tag on the heater wasn't bad. I paid $26. Altogther, I find this heater hard to beat. I rate it 5/5 stars.

Above you can see what happens when you use glossy black paint as a background. It creates a mirroring effect. This should prove to be very attractive.

The $14 Rock

2009-06-22T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I've been dying to find a centerpiece for my 10 gal tank. I wanted to go with something natural. I was at home while my dad and brother were at a baseball game. I started getting antsy, so I decided to go browsing for driftwood at the local fish stores. I went to my primary store, which is close to my house and has a pretty good selection, and I looked through the driftwood. I found a piece of driftwood that I fell in love with. It was beautiful.

So I got smart before just snapping it up and buying it on the spot. I asked for a 10 gal tank that I could put it in. Once I put the driftwood inside I realized that there was hardly any room for anything else. It took up the whole length of the tank and kind of dominated the setting. It was simply too big for a balanced aquascape. When I asked about the price, they wanted $25 dollars for it. Way more than I wanted to pay for something that wasn't fit for the tank. I had to find something else.

The local fish store told me some other places that I could look at driftwood, including a place at an intersection that I regularly cross. I went to that intersection and looked around. Apparently the woman at the fish store didn't have her info straight. The store didn't exist in that location. I don't even remember what its called now to look it up online.

Anyways, on the way to find this inexistent aquarium store, I stopped at a saltwater store. I figured they might have a better selection of rocks than the freshwater stores in the area. They had about a dozen bins of rock, jackpot. ...Or not. Only one of the bins contained rock that wouldn't raise the pH. I'm not sure what kind of fish I will keep in the tank, so I don't want to limit my options by choosing rock that alters my water chemistry.

That one bin contained a mismatch of different rocks, mostly unidentified. Underneath a small slab of marble countertop I found a rock that was just what I was looking for. It is a 6.9 lb. black lava-rock.

The rock at this store cost $2/lb. That's cheeper than most of the aquarium stores in the area. I measured the rock and got an idea about how much tank space it would be taking up. It seemed like a good deal, so I went for it. Besides, if I had second thoughts about the rock, I could return it for store credit.

I soaked the rock overnight and rinsed it off really well. Here is a picture of the rock inside of the tank with the new black background. You can ignore the airline tubing and air-stones for now. I am going to post more about my DIY CO2 setup in a later post.

That evening I showed my girlfriend Sarah my new rock. She was quick to give me shit about buying a rock. I tried to explain that there isn't a good selection of lava-rock lying around in Kansas, so a store was my best option. She proceeded to give me a hard time, and then told her friend on the phone so that they could laugh about it together. I can't just go get any old rock because of the dangers of what the rock could introduce to the aquarium. I don't think she understands. Besides, I like this rock.

Black Background

2009-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

Below you can see the only picture of my 10 gallon tank in an unchanged state. I feel excited about getting closer towards a finished product. Being on a tight budget I have had to practice a lot of restraint and not just buy everything at once. The benefit of taking it slow is that I can learn a lot about my choices before making a decision.

Two days ago, I made a step towards setting up my 10 gallon freshwater planted tank. I added the background. Most of my freshwater aquarium books talk about backgrounds. I was hesitant about this because I often like to find out where everyone is in the tank. But after weighing the pro's and con's of a background I decided I was better off adding one.

There were two major reasons I decided to do a background on this tank. The first reason seems a little obvious, a natural tank dosn't look right with wallpaper on the other side of the glass. Its tacky, and distracting from the tank. I almost chose for this reason alone. The second reason I discovered on accident. When checking out information on under-gravel PVC caves, I found some wisdom that was rather compelling. "A fish that has many places to hide will end up hiding less." By using a background on two walls of the tank, I am providing security and more effective hiding places within the tank.

I had many choices as far as backgrounds go. I don't really like the printed background rolls that they have at the LFS. Besides, I was afraid that a stick on background wouldn't remain flush with the glass, or would have unsightly air bubbles trapped inside. I decided to paint the glass. From opinions that I have found on various fish forums, a spray-painted background was the way to go. So I went out and bought a small can of black spray-paint.

The power was out at home, because the power company had about 6 hours of "repairs" to do. Anyways, with the power out, my brother was absolutely bored out of his mind. It didn't take much to talk him into helping me. We rounded everything up and created a newspaper perimeter where we could work. Then we taped up the sides of the aquarium that are supposed to stay clear. It was a little tricky taping the newspaper to the tank on a windy day in such a way that none of the tape touched the surface to be painted. The wind made this a two person job, so I was glad to have the help.

We cleaned up the glass to prepare it for painting, then I panted the outside of the glass in 2 1/2 light coats. I shouldn't have added the extra half coat; it was overkill and the paint dried funny. Oh well. The looking at the background through the tank looks pretty sharp. I'm mostly satisfied with the results, though the perfectionist part of me has trouble accepting anything I do.

I chose a black background because darker colors in the tank are supposed to bring out richer colors in the fish. I have experienced the opposite to be true. When I have had my Betta in a white 5 gal bucket while I wait for his bowl to reach room temperature, he will loose a significant amount of color. I'll take him out of the bucket and he will be very pale. Black will look nice and help me hide my heater (which is black.)

I don't have a picture of the finished result right now. But any picture of the tank in future posts will feature the black background. My first impression is that it looks nice, and sure beats wallpaper.

Common Nutrient Deficiencies

2009-06-15T06:50:00.000-07:00

One of the most frustrating things about having a planted tank is having a mediocre planted tank. Once you've seen a beautiful planted tank, an average tank no longer seems acceptable. I have that problem in my moderately planted 5 gal tank. Well, that's a joke. I used to have a moderately planted tank, but some of my plants have died. The healthiest plants in that tank are the ones that are made out of plastic.

The tank that I am writing about isn't anything tailored to grow aquatic plants. It's a 5 gal hex with 2 wpg florescent lighting. It has regular aquarium gravel, occasional liquid fertilizer, and no additional CO2. I have a happy and healthy algae population that keeps the two otto cats busy. It also contains two female platys and a couple of ghost shrimp. Overall, the tank looks kind of sad.

Anyways, I do not provide a good example for how to grow beautiful plants for a lush aquascaped aquarium setting. I'm still learning. That's why I'm devoting a 10 gal to achieving aquatic excellence. Hopefully with plenty of research and some balanced decisions I will end up with a planted tank that I can be proud of.

I was looking for aquarium blogs on the internet and stumbled across a blog centered around freshwater planted aquariums. You can find the blog by visiting http://www.aquatic-eden.com/ I found it a very informative and helpful site. One of the things I found the most helpful, I will share with you. Here it is.

Credit goes to Zapins at http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/

I don't know very much about planted tanks. But I do find this very helpful, and incredibly informative. I realize that had I been armed with this information a couple of months ago I may have been able to save one of my plants. Oh, well. It's probably a greater aid to my upcoming 10 gal. With higher light levels and CO2 the plants in that tank are going to consume nutrients like crazy. I'm sure that I may reference this photo more than once as I find out what the proper balance of fertilizer is. Hopefully, it can help me ward of disaster.

I hope that this photo or any of the links can be a helpful resource for you. As a novice to the aquarium hobby I am finding that knowledge is power. So I am arming myself with as much of it as I can get my hands on.

Photo for contest

2009-06-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Recently I uploaded the pictures on my camera to my computer to receive a pleasant surprise. One of the photos that I took of my Betta turned out better than I had expected. After setting it as my desktop photo, and spending an unnecessary amount of time looking at it, I decided to enter it in a photo contest online. The contest is at http://www.aquariumadvice.com/ which is a helpful forum that I am a member of.

So far, I am the only person who has submitted a photo to the contest this month. That means if my photo wins then I won't have much bragging rights. It's almost lame to win a contest by default. That aside, I am still proud of the photo. Check it out.

The fish's name is Fawkes. He is named after Dumbledore's phoenix, from the Harry Potter series. He was my first fish. I rescued him from PetSmart last January. He has been a real pleasure to keep. I'll surely have more stories about him in the future.

CO2 bubble counter

2009-06-11T11:05:00.000-07:00

My first post, yay! I wasn't sure what to write about, so I chose something a little technical as it would be easier to write about than something broad.

When I first tried to setup a DIY CO2 generator like I found online, I took one of the suggestions and shook the generator to make it produce CO2 faster. When I did this I got some of the yeast solution into the airline tube. I watched in horror as the pressure from the CO2 inched the yeast solution through the tubing into my tank. Just imagine what sugar, yeast, and alcohol will do to an aquarium. My first thoughts were of a god-awful algae bloom and fish with alcohol poisoning. I disassembled it before it reached the tank, but I obviously needed to make some changes.

I did some more research and found a bubble counter.

Credit goes to Shaji Bhaskar at http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/bubble-counter.html

Most of the DIY CO2 setups that I found online did not include a bubble counter. I included one for two reasons. First, if any of the yeast solution gets into the airlines then it ends up in the bubble counter instead of the tank. Second, since I’m using air stones to distribute the CO2 I have no good idea how much CO2 I am producing. By counting the bubbles per minute I can get an idea of the amount of CO2 being produced by the yeast.

I am glad to have made the addition to my CO2 system. For me, it makes the system more functional. I am also comforted to know that I've made it safer for my fish and plants.