New tank, CO2 help, recommendations or alternatives...

Discussion in 'The Planted Tank' started by s0nginmyheart, Oct 25, 2016.

to remove this notice and enjoy 3reef content with less ads. 3reef membership is free.

  1. s0nginmyheart

    s0nginmyheart Plankton

    Joined:
    May 14, 2008
    Messages:
    4
    Hello everyone! It's been almost 7 or so years since I've had a tank (my last one was a 46g freshwater tank). Plenty of questions and hoping you can chime in...

    My husband and I recently talked about getting a tank together and we recently purchased a SeaClear 50g acrylic tank... and decided on trying a planted tank. We bought a couple different kinds of substrate (for plant growth and regular substrate), and have been cycling the tank since Saturday. I think we may have bought too much as I think we're about 4 inches deep where it was suggested to have at least minimum 2 inches. I'm thinking about removing some of the substrate - should I?

    We also bought some real driftwood at LFS and have been submerging them in hot shower water each day to remove the tannins. Most of the pieces are too big to boil in a standard pot. They're currently a tea-color so I don't know if I should wait even longer until it's clear or, I just found a suggestion to use "Purigen" which makes the water super clear. Anyone have any experience with Purigen and its effectiveness on driftwood?

    We bought a few plants at LFS but have not put them in the tank yet. I also bought variety seeds from Amazon to plant later. I have been reading that we need some sort of CO2 system in order for the plants to properly go through the photosynthesis process. I am looking for some recommendations and trying to find reviews on different kinds last night became overwhelming. I don't think we'd be able to DIY something - seems a little labor-intensive to do lol. So if there is an all-in-one kind of kit available, please let me know. I was also thinking of trying to find a microbubble emitter (like an air stone) but one of the nicer ones started at $200 for a 20 gallon tank only. Eesh. If there is a comparable product that would be good for up to 50 gallons, please also let me know.

    Hoping to get everything set up in the tank properly before we add plants and fish!

    Thanks!