Originally Posted by James0816

Good Morning and first off....Merry Christmas!

Peat is usually used as a bottom layer. You will need something finer than gravel to cover the peat as it will work its way through the gravel. You can do a layer of peat, sand then gravel if you want. Have you thought about the look you want? (I.e. gravel, sand, etc.)

You can add a couple fish now and do a fishy cycle. Though not very popular it can be done. When cycling the tank this way, you will have to be very diligent on testing and maintenance so as to not harm the fishies. Are the goldies going in here?

Your water parms will vary. One thing to note with peat is that it will lower your PH. While most species are adaptable to most PH levels, it is important to know what stocking you will be going with as some species prefer lower or higher than "normal" PH values. An ideal range would be 6.8 - 7.4.

The small bottle (gas seperator) is just filled with water. The gas created will build up in the reactor vessel and be pushed through the tubing to the seperator bottle. You will see the bubbles coming out of the tube and can get an idea of how much gas is being generated. Then as the pressure builds in the seperator bottle, the same process as before. It will get pushed into the tank.

With DIY CO2, you will not be adding too much gas to the tank..even for a 24x7 setup. What most people do is to run a standard air stone at night to get O2 into the tank. Plants use O2 during the night time.

When using the Jell-O method, after the gas level drops to where it is no longer effective, you pour out the water on the top and replenish with a new yeast batch. The only time you add Jell-O is if you are starting completely from scratch. I normally recharge with new yeast once and then redo the entire mix.

Use a device called a drop checker to determine your CO2 level. This is a small container that has a fluid called 4dKH solution in it. You want it to be Green. This tells you that you have the proper amount of gas. Blue will be too little and Yellow is too much.

Originally Posted by chadasmus

i tried using peat moss that was intended for planters, then sand, but no gravel. my water was really cloudy for a week or two and then was really yellow to an almost brown color for a month or more before i just removed it all. is that normal and is there a way to get rid of the color in the water? did i use the wrong kind or is that what you use? i had 2 different tanks with plants and after 6 monthes or so algea would take over and kill the plants, i'm sure it was because of not haveing the co2 thing. when i finnally make it home and can start my new tank i will try that, so thanks for the info!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by trouble93

I already have the lights, so I have to work with what I have. With the peat moss can I for go the sand and add gravel on top of that? This is for my wife so of course it has to look pretty. And by adding the peat moss I don't have to add fertilizer ?

Originally Posted by trouble93

This brings me to another question about KH and GH I'll be using RO water. Will eather of these become an issue? And is this the same cyano you would see in a salt water tank? If so that would be a algae problem it would be a bacterial issue right? I just about have all I need to get started I'm still waiting on the hood it should be finshed tomorrow or Monday. So I think I'll go a head and start laying my substrate. In addition to co2 can I add like a bubble wand as well? And should I add carbon right away to clear up any cloudiness I may have?

Originally Posted by beaslbob

I don't use RO/DI water in any of my planted tanks. With ro/di you may have to add stuff to bring kh and gh up. and the plants filter out the nasties like copper.

The cyano is very similiar to saltwater cyano but obviously a FW version. True to the name in FW it is actually a blue green color. And it is a slime on the plants and grass. And yes it is a bacteria. Still I just kill the lights to fight it. It does show up when nitrates drop down to 0 and some FW planted type actually dose nitrates to help keep the plants thriving.

Yes you can add a bubble want if you want too.

carbon and water polishers and diatomous earth filters will clear up cloudy tanks. But all I do in kill the lights untill it clears.


my late .02

Originally Posted by trouble93

Ok this is what I have so far...I don't have any water in the tank yet I don't want to set it up I don't have to hood done. I have a bag of peat moss a bag of sand and gravel phosban reactor(for carbon) co2 reactor and a few plants floating in another tank. I just might go a head and set it up tomorrow and use shop lights in the mean time. Is there anything else I may be missing?

Originally Posted by trouble93

Ok this is what I have so far...I don't have any water in the tank yet I don't want to set it up I don't have to hood done. I have a bag of peat moss a bag of sand and gravel phosban reactor(for carbon) co2 reactor and a few plants floating in another tank. I just might go a head and set it up tomorrow and use shop lights in the mean time. Is there anything else I may be missing?

Originally Posted by beaslbob

I think you got pretty much everything you need.

Hopefully the tank is in the final position in your house. Moving a setup tank is a real pain.

Skip the co2 and rodi. Just setup the tank with the plants and shop lights and let it set a week. You might be amazed at how easy this is. Of course you need the fast growing (anacharis and vals) and slow growing plants as I have stated many times before.


And use the layering trick on the substrate. Wish I had many years ago. I would have avoided many tanks with cloudiness the first few days.


my .02

Originally Posted by James0816

With RO water, depending on your plants, you will have to dose some kind of ferts as all the nutrients are removed during the process. If your not comfortable with dry fertilizers as yet, you can look at using Seachems line of products. But that is a little more on expensive side. I would recommend starting out with a PMDD pre mix and then gradually switching to EI dosing. If you are interested in dry ferts, check out AquariumFertilizer.com.

Shop lights are a good/cheap alternative. I use them on most of my tanks.

Sounds like you're good to go.

Originally Posted by spawn

you can use fertilizers,but at the same time keep in mind that adding fertilizers in an aquarium can many a times cause death of a fish...be aware of that fact...

Originally Posted by James0816

I would say temp range could be ideally anywhere from say 72-78. I always keep mine on the upper end though. Seems that my fishy friends are more active at that point.

As for the photo period, 10hrs is a nice mark.

Originally Posted by James0816

I just posted my DIY CO2 method.

Here's the link:

DIY CO2 Made Easy