Leaning Toward Completely Insane

Turns out the Hydor instruction text is likely correct and Hydor Figure 1 provided with the instructions is wrong.
Here are the instructions: "Take the pressure reducer (N) and make sure that the regulation knob is closed (turn clockwise) -Fig. 1-", I thought when turning the valve counter clockwise as indicated in Fig 1 a spring controlled pin would be released such that CO2 would be blocked from escaping into the central well. Unfortunately it didn't and this time the CO2 escaped from a different pressure relief hole. You might say that clockwise is "righty tighty" is obviously closed but Fig 1, and the fact that a small plus sign to the left of the word Hydor and a minus to the right led to imagine minus meant closed and Fig 1 was correct and counterclockwise was the way to go. A further indication these instructions are screwed up is that next statement referencing the valve reads "Slowly turn clockwise the regulation knob on the pressure reducer checking that the CO2 reaches the bubbles counter, then proceed with the first regulation setting the desired amount of bubbles". Following the text instructions the valve is already in the completely clockwise position! Geese. Open/closed, plus/minus, clockwise/counterclockwise! I have a nice CO2 burn on my hand now and a second wasted CO2 cartridge. Reading more: Aaaaagh. Sorry no more. Read more!

Hydor CO2 Troubleshooting

Here I describe several days of Hydor trouble shooting, including working with Hydor customer support. See the links to the right for more related entries. Please know that my comments pertain to the Hydor CO2 Green NRG Exclusive/Advanced system.

I have attached the pressure reducer to a new 74 gr cartridge firmly by hand. When I open the pressure reducer no gas escapes. When I turn the pressure reducer from open to closed I can hear brief puffs of escaping gas but then it stops immediately. No consistent gas is released. When I screwed the cartridge gas on the first time some gas escaped around the threads so I know the cartridge is pressurized. When I unscrew the cartridge slightly some gas escapes around the threads so I know it is still pressurized. Any advice?
---As I unscrewed the valve somewhat some plastic was extruded from what I assume is a pressure relief hole. Now CO2 will flow from this hole when the valve is somewhat unscrewed from the cartridge.---Well, I got the pressure relieved and unscrewed the valve so I see what was going on. It looks like there were two "o-rings" in the valve, two clear disks with a hole in the center. One of them looks shredded. Was the unit supposed to ship with both rings inserted? I screwed the cartridge on with hand strength only and I'm not a strong guy. Any thoughts out there? I'll grab a new cartridge tomorrow. I wonder if operating with one "O-ring" is acceptable. I did attach the valve to the provided air line and dipped the end into water and saw no movement at all, so I'm still concerned. Reading more: Please Comment. I'm waiting to hear from Hydor. I'm tempted to go buy another cartridge and try again with only one disk inserted, but the cartridges are over $20.
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Hydor CO2

I received my Hydor Co2 system in the mail today. It's the "CO2 green NRG exclusive" model.
Reading more: The dis advantage of this model is that it only works with the proprietary small cartridges. Other models work with paintball cartridges and larger tanks. The "CO2 green NRG advanced" model would be the way to go as I understand it has an adapter for paitball sized canisters. Read more!

Python Water Changer

I just gotta say I really appreciate having a Python No Spill Clean & Fill thingy. It's very convenient for partial water changes. I can barely remember years ago using a tube and bucket. I'm continuing to do daily small water changes. Reading more: I'd be happy to answer questions you may have about this product. Read more!

Just In: Blood for your aquarium:

OMG, check this new release from Hydor! I love it, I mean I hate it, oh good grief! It's blood streaming out of a cow skull. What's not to love/hate? I have been noticing more decorations utilizing led lighting of late. I'm going for a more natural look, but for those darker aquarium fans out there, this might be for you. Um, do I need to say it? Er, it's not really blood.
Reading more:
Check the Hydor link for ordering details. I'd write more, but I don't have more to say right now. Why not leave a comment?
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Plants, Aquariums, and Cons

I've found Rex's Planted Tank Guide to be quite useful. As a teacher and scientist I've been irritated by advertisements for the water purification gadget (the Eco-Aqualizer) you see to the right. Rex gives an excellent analysis. Find it here: bad science. Add your web site suggestions via a comment. I am also enjoying The Planted Tank. The forums are great and I like to browse the submitted aquariums. Read more!

Lighting

Aqualight Lunar Blue Moon Glow
The DrF&S price looks reasonable.
I'm inspired by this pic of a tank lit by the above light.
Note: not my pic.
As I mentioned in my first post my lighting consists of two 36 inch and two 24 inch fluorescent tubes (100 watts total). The doublestrip 24 inch fixture was on hand and I purchased the doublestrip 36 inch (DrF&S) $94.99. The bulbs are a mix of Flora Sun 24" 17W ($15.99), Nutri Grow Plant Lamp 36" 30W ($16.49), and Spectra Rays Full-Spectrum 24" 20W ($11.99).
More to come. I'll do a post on my thoughts regarding these tubes.
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Tannic Acid

My Malaysian driftwood is releasing tannins as expected, but not as much as I thought it might. As you can see the water is only a little brown. Aesthetically, it looks natural. What about water conditions? The pH I inherited from the previous setup was over 7.0. The eco-complete substrate may raise the pH a bit, whereas the driftwood tannins may lower it. My goal is an acidic environment for Blue Rams (pH below 7). I'll be patient as see how the water stabilizes over time and I'll continue to do small water changes every day or two. I won an auction for a Co2 generation system day before yesterday. I'll report on this when it arrives. Injecting Co2 should keep my pH where I want it. I have more to learn about water chemistry for sure. Wow, check out this heated discourse on water chemistry. Total alkalinity/buffering capacity 120ppm. Total hardness 120ppm. Nitrite at or near zero. Nitrate 80ppm. I found this article on driftwood. There's lots of good info out there in various forums as well. Read more!

What's under there?

Here's a peek at what's under my tank. I'm looking forward to giving the Seachem Matrix a try. It'll go in the Fluval 305. See anything interesting? The plan is to work on water quality this week. Add plants Monday, assuming they arrive then. And add fish shortly thereafter.

Is anybody out there? I'll post a picture of the tank with then now tannin added water later today. Read more!

Objective

I hope to have a heavily planted tank with Blue Rams as the fish stars. Some of these tanks are my inspiration. I plan to only post original pics, so I'll forgo posting any pics of other folks plants or fish. Instead here's a pic of me and my buds. L to R, Pat the archeologist, John the statistician, Luke the carpenter, and me, David the psychologist. I'm doing 10-20% water changes every day so I'll post an update when I do that tomorrow. It'll be interesting to see if the driftwood affects the Ph of the water.

We've been friends since high school. What to know more? Just let me know. Read more!

Current Occupant

Emerald Green Cory or Brochis splendens.
He/she has survived in this tank for years, even back when Earl the red ear pond slider lived here. I'm happy to have him here eating and pooping, but I feel I either need to get him some species mates or find him another home.


Would he be a good member of a community tank with blue rams? I wonder if he would eat any eggs they produced. I read female Green Corys have more girth and males are more slender. I'm thinking this is a female.
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Driftwood

I'm pretty excited to showoff the piece of driftwood that will be the decorative centerpiece of the tank. I acquired it from the local fish shop (LFS). The tag it came with identifies it as Malaysian Wood XXL. You can find the website listed on the tag here, although I don't see the XXL listed. I paid $55 for this piece. The price seemed quite reasonable. When I showed my wife the price tag she did not complain. It's quite large, about 24Lx13Wx18H. I anticipate some tannins.

The piece in it's original form had one spar that was a little off. The LFS dude suggested I take a chainsaw to it. It never occurred to me to modify the pieces of driftwood I'd seen. A jigsaw did the trick. Read more!

Beginning

Aquarium: 50 gallons (36 L x 18W x 19H inches) already on hand. Originally served as home for a red eared pond slider (Earl).
Substrate: Eco-Complete Plant Substrate from http://www.drsfostersmith.com/ (DrF&S). Four twenty pound bags, shipping only $11.99.
Lighting: two 36 inch and two 24 inch flourescent tubes (100 watts total). The 24 inch fixture was onhand and I purchased the doublestrip 36 inch (DrF&S) $94.99.
Heating: Jäger TS Automatic Heaters 150 watt (DrF&S) $27.99.
Filtration: Fluval 305, on hand.



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